help me build a 440 for a c body

I'm finally getting around to build a 440 for a 68 fury1 2door sedan (my first car had it 20 years). Looking for advice so I don't build a turd. I bought a bunch of stuff from someone that drag raced in the early to mid 90's and hoping to use some of the stuff to build a budget 440 to run mid 12ish. My plan is to build a 10:1 440,906 heads that have been bowl ported,crane adustable 1.5 rockers,Mopar 528 solid cam,Mallory unilite,performer rpm or weiand sigle plane intake.850 Holley carb. 4 speed and 323 gear(car is a 3speed on the tree).

I have every thing but the cam and performer rpm. Not sure about what cam to buy I would like to use a solid lifter. Or if I should buy headers.also not sure if the heads are going to cost me more than its worth to use them. I did get a 590 and 620? Lift Mopar cams with the stuff I bought but they seem to much. Thanks

Is it a drag race car? What is the goal for the car? Do you have pistons yet?

I would focus on getting the right piston head combination, and it probably would not include the 906 head given a choice. A bowl ported 906 will probably flow 235-240 cfm, and will be a non-quench 9 or 9.5:1 if you want to run pump gas. You can still get there with the 906, but you'll have to make it up else where in the combo.

A 10 or 10.5:1 CR aftermarket head with quench and better flow numbers will make easier, but may cost more depending on the current status of your head/piston situation.

Are you absolutely certain you want to build a turd?

Ha I missed that,fixed it.

The car will be a street car that goes to the track 3-4 times a year. I have 2 assembled short blocks both have trw pistons one has flat tops and one has domed pistons

Stranger builds have been done, but a stick w/3.23s + HEAVY car isn't going to be easy on driveline parts.

a kb184 piston with an open chamber head will make more power than a 10:1 flat top open chamber head combo. flat tops and open chamber heads aren't ideal with today's gas.

Sell both those short blocks and build a 400 block stroker motor, 505(4.250 stroke) to 518 C.I.(4.300 stroke) AKA aside, those cars are heavy, to make your power goals achievable you need C.I., the longer stroke will increase the C.I. and the torque dramatically You need torque to start to move the mass The last pump gas 440 motor I dymo tuned and built was a 464 C.I. motor with a offset ground 440 crank increased the stroke to 3.91, made 430 HP (.926 HP per C.I.)and 470 Ft lbs torque with iron heads( 9.6 to 1 comp. ratio) with a very mild street hydrauilc cam ground on a 112 LSA for power brakes, the same parts, compression ratio, camshaft, cylinder heads and intake and carb. in a 4.250 stroke motor would have made similar HP per C.I. and more Ft lbs per C.I. IE 505 C.I. X .926 = 467.9 HP. Put a better set of new aluminum heads on that short block and bump up the C.I. ratio to 10.25 to to 10.75 to 1 and the HP per C.I. will increase to around 1.10 HP per C.I. or more depending on the heads and camshaft and so on The major bad thing about making more power per C.I. is the increased cost of the better parts I love 4 speed cars, I hate working on the driveline parts though IHTHs

I just looked at my pistons. They are trw L2295f they look like the kb184 pistons. I'm not sure if they are similar or not. I'm trying to do this on a tight budget so I would like to use as much of this stuff I have as possible.

I'm going to leave the bottle cap hubcaps,radio delete and bench seat on the car. I would like it to look factory made...

I have 2 other motors I'm trying to put together over the winter so money is tight. I figure I can always change the gear to a 391 in the next year or so.

Build it with the 2295's and the 590 cam. Use the heaviest flywheel/ clutch (143 tooth, 11") you can find. Your tires will save your driveline . You'll love it for not much $ When you get some dough, swap gears for more fun...

mine is a 440 + 0.30 with the 2295 pistons. 10.78:1 compression.
ported edelbrock heads, ch-28 dual quad intake and to 600cfm ede carbs.
1 3/7 to 3" exhaust system, 3.91 rear axle and a solid flat tapped cam from
scott brown. roughly .530 lift on both side and 236/246 (265/278 adv.) duration.
car runs 12.8 at the quarter mile and can go 300miles on a road trip without a problem.
rockers are the black indy ones. switch now to a solid roller nd bigger headers,
but that was a good powerful engine. made 440rwhp@6000rpm at the dyno.

If the car is going to see a lot of street time I wouldn't use the 590 cam. It has no street manners,idles around 12-1500. The 557 would be better.IMO. You said tight budget get a valve job, check the valve springs replace if needed. Run those heads, use what you have. Headers if you can afford them. If you are startin from scratch things to consider. Ignition system, cooling system, a good drive line. Remember the key words "on a budget"

I'd find a used edelbrock ch4b intake and run the mp528 cam. Would make for a great street car.

Can someone please tell me why a muscle car needs manners? Is that not irony at its finest? Build a Bently, they have manners.

The ones with no manners are the most fun. I just figured it's a big heavy car, and with stock valve heads I'd be better off with a dual plane and more of a low/mid range cam.

I'm not sure whether to run the 528cam or a voodoo solid or a Hughes solid.

If I had better heads a gear and headers I'd probably run the 590

It's a C body - not a muscle car. It's a heavy weight that has to be pushed forward. While I agree with the "use what you can" the question becaomes can what you have be used to get the result? I think a C body, manual trans, with 3.23s will need a bit more head and cam to make it into the 12s. However, that could be made up by going bigger on the stroke. I'd sell everything for the shortblocks but one machined block. Use the proceeds to buy a stroker kit, and a set of Stealth heads. The .528 cam can make great torque with good heads. That should be able to do what you want, right up until it rips the driveshaft out or shears the pinion gear...lol.

Thanks for all the advice. Dropped the heads off at the machine shop for a refreshing. He is going to call me if they need I ton of work.


I noticed one short block has a 8 bolt crank so I have to figure out what that's all about.

Make sure all the 8 bolt holes are threaded.

R.

I believe you were told you do not own a muscle car

Could be an industrial crank? I think some of those had the 8 bolt pattern. No big deal - just need to make sure the right flexplate is used and that the crank hub size and reister is the same.
My 300 is no muscle car. My Imperial isn't either.

OK. Well they made big block 4 spd cars from the factory. It's really not much bigger than a b body. I don't think 12 second is that much to ask. If I wanted to go fast I'd build an a body. I'm not saying its a muscle car but it would be a lot more fun to drive with a 440 4 spd than a 318 3speed.

Who cares if it is a "muscle car?" What does that have to do with the price of eggs in Amsterdam?.

Ha exactly

The pre 1961 and earlier Mopars had 8 bolt cranks that had to have studs from the torque converter or flywheels that went through the holes in the crank and had nuts on the block side of the cranks to hold them onto the crank, they didn't have a center locating ring on the back of the cranks either. The 426 Race and Street hemi cranks had the later style crank(and a lot of the race stroker cranks) in them with eight threaded bolt holes in them like the wedges and all the other 1962 and later motors have. The early cranks won't work in the later motor either, due to starter and other problems with the lot longer flange distance from the back of the motor

Hey its muscle enough - put it side by side with a '68 RR and play spot the difference....

Base model one aint much difference in weight to a "B" either - most of the size difference is air

If anything its superior, there is a butt tonne of chassis connecting the upper A-Arms to the rest of the car

No its not technically a muscle car, just think of it as having a whole gym

Yes I own one too... lols

I like your cam choice, the 528, but the gears need to be 3.55 or 3.73 for some compromise in getting this car to move. I run 3.55s on the street with a 27.3 inch tall rear tire, and I go to cruise nights sixty miles away, no problem even on the freeway. On the heads, I would do my best to budget for aluminum heads. The 906 castings have weak points, and having cracked a set with a lot of $$ in them , I don't like to see guys putting money into those castings. By building it right with good quench, .050 or closer on piston to head clearance and lower drag 1/16 rings on a flat top piston, you will make a good amount more torque and you need all you can get with what you want to do here.

Thanks for all the advice

Our '67 VIP run 10.6's naturally aspirated. Sure it had 4.10 gear, but the tires were 32", and the trans was an automatic, 1.8 first gear. The manual will propably be a challenge with the long gear ratio. Other than that, it shouldn't be very hard. Our old '67 III run 13.8/103 with a smog short block (not much CR), slightly cleaned open chamber heads, MP 280 hydraulic cam, 1 3/4" headers, Torker 2 intake, 3310 Holley, stock torque convertere and 3.23 gears.

What the hell is your problem?

Nice do you have any pics of the cars.