Joined: Mon Jun 26 2006, 11:31PM
Location: Newtown, PA
Posts: 239
Well it's been a LONG time coming, but I finally got it done. For those of you who think your project is taking a while, keep the faith. Although it doesn't look like my complete project (actually putting this in the car) will come to pass, it feels good to see some of the fruits of my efforts (and CASH ). So, without further delay..........
This last pull was enough to convince me to buy the 4 hole tapered spacer ($115). Overall, not bad for a stock 440 .030 over and bolt on parts! The basics- Eddy heads, std performer intake, crane 1.5 gold roller rockers, MSD ready-to run with Blaster 2 coil, and a Holley Street Avenger 770 out of the box. Should also live forever making the power where it does. I'll post some more specifics soon, but wanted to get this up to start. The shop was awesome. Bitner Automotive in Hamilton, NJ just outside of Trenton. They are a father/son team that has tons of experience and races circle track too. There were several others working there doing different things, but these guys (Fred and Mark) ran the dyno session. HIGHLY recommended!! I will think hard about this over the next few days and have a talk with my wife, but this is probably going up for sale. It will take almost another $2k to actually get it in the car, and I don't know if that is in the cards in the near future. I will put it up here and on Moparts if I decide to sell it. Let me know if you have any questions. Dave
Joined: Thu May 01 2008, 11:15AM
Location: Chicago,IL
Posts: 2868
What cam? What exhaust, manifolds or headers? Don't want to rain on the parade, but a 440 with Eddy heads that's not making either 500+ft lbs (solid street engine) or 500+ hp (a little racier) has something wrong with it or the components are mismatched.
Joined: Mon Jun 26 2006, 11:31PM
Location: Newtown, PA
Posts: 239
I was hoping for 500+, but wasn't sure I'd get there. It's been so long I can't be 100% on the cam without my file here, but I think it is a Crane H-278? I know it is just under .500 lift and the duration isn't very much. IIRC it was touted as mild street and a slight upgrade from stock. I wasn't building it to rev. He put on circle track headers with 2 inch round primaries but we only had oval port gaskets. Could be something to do with his dyno because he told me a stroked Hemi he ran a couple of weeks ago went 505.
Also, the Moparts "default 500hp(525) " 440 in the tech archives has a lot more cam (and solid) than this, 1.6 rockers, and more intake. I really don't think I'm far off. <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Thu May 12 2011, 09:43AM ]</span>
Read that and I think you'll be disappointed. Stock headed, stock cam, with intake, carb, headers has you beat for tq and close on HP. Go to test 7 and put that modern cam in it and they blow yours away-with stock heads.
Again, just pointing out the facts, especially if you do decide to sell it, I would expect a lot of questions about the results. Maybe their dyno is really stingy.
Joined: Mon Jun 26 2006, 11:31PM
Location: Newtown, PA
Posts: 239
Those heads obviously flow less than the Eddies, even with the valve job, but again that engine has more carb, cam and intake. I will go over and talk to them on Monday to see what they say about the raw numbers, maybe I'm missing something here. Right now I can't think of what issue there could be. The shop that did the machine work and assembled it is very experienced, as are the guys who tuned it. There is no possibility of a lack of quality from either one. It fired on the first crank, needed very little timing adjustment, and ran incredibly smooth and strong. Great throttle response, too. If there was an issue of some sort, I'm sure it would have shown somewhere in the readings, wouldn't it? I'll talk to the builder again, too. I remember going nuts about cam selection at first, especially since the original plan was to put this in a driver with power brakes/ steering and air conditioning. The builder said to me "As it is now, it's going to boil the tires off of whatever it goes in." At that point I stopped and left it alone. I would love to hear from others with similar builds to get their thoughts and numbers, too. Thanks again, Dave <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sun May 15 2011, 05:30AM ]</span>
The 2" headers hurt you everywhere.That motor would be happy with either 1 3/4 or 1 7/8 tubes.Likely 1 3/4 tubes would be best for you.That will increase the torque numbers and especially at lower rpms where you need it.