Start with how much money you are willing to spend and how much drive ability you are willing to sacrifice. My suggestion is do a solid 440 shortblock with attention to detail on the rotating assembly.Lighter parts (aftermarket rods and light weight pistons)are better but not mandatory. The cam/heads/intake/carb selection depends on what gears you plan on running and how you plan to use it.
My suggestion would be a solid 440 magnum spec motor and substitute 440 source alum heads(cnc version even better)and maybe one step larger cam depending on gearing.A solid 10.0-1 with aluminum heads is plenty fine for pump gas.
Build for torque and don't fall for gimmicks or trick parts that you really don't need.A solid 440 with a good set of heads and a mild cam can make 500 horses pretty easy and still drive smoothly. Get a budget first and then ask yourself do I want to cruise and do impressive burnouts or do I want to race and have headaches.
Joined: Fri Mar 13 2009, 11:21AM
Location: San Marcos, CA
Posts: 713
Regarding the 915 heads (if I remember correctly), there are two flavors, 1.60 exhaust valve size and 1.74. I Only the 375 horsepower motors got the big valve head. I built a '67 GTX motor with '70 440 6bbl pistons and the stock '67 cam. It ran amazingly well (4000# Roadrunner with 3.23 gears and 727 ran 13 flat) it had way too much compression but didn't ping (on 98 octane, this was many years ago). there was only .024" between the flat top valve notched piston and the head, that's quench!
Joined: Mon Oct 10 2005, 10:24AM
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 160
My advice is, go with a 500" stroker with aluminium heads if you can.
The extra torque coming from the larger 4.15" crank-stroke will be very nice to have on a fullsize Chrysler. I have a 500" stroker in my '60 New Yorker and it's a blast to drive. The big engine just grabs the car and accelerates it like it weighs just 2000 lbs.
Well before I continue, I would like to sincerely thank you for your honest help and advice, its hard to find a good forum of people who really take the time to help others. Like I said thank you again. NOW going back to a couple more questions I have the idea of quench down (a few of my buddies are super gear-heads) I heard you can shatter a piston if its too much pressure. I want to go with the 440 source cnc heads, the stoker kit seems to be the way everyone on here would go and I trust this site a lot considering I've been on a lot of different forums and everyone just really seems to agree with each-other on here which makes me more confident on top of the fact you own these beautiful cars as well... (mopar or no car!). But do these stroker build kits come with the rods and pistons or just the crank and crank essentials? like this site for example, http://www.musclemotorsracing.com/short-blocks/big-block-stroker-short-block.html someone mentioned them as an example earlier so I feel this would just be simple to use again. Now I noticed there are two prices, theres the close to 4100 dollar kit and job and there is the 2000 dollar kit or job on the other link of their page. SO my question is, do they just do all the machine work and get everything ready for the stroker build itself minus the rods, pistons and stuff or is that included? And whats the best idea for a top end, just a good edelbrock intake with a nice holly 850-950 sitting on top of the 440 source cnc heads and if I felt like it some hydralic lifters and roller rockers? I know that the top end of an engine can really make or break a great motor, I would be doing the slighter over 500 cu stoker kit (not sure where to get it from yet) so I was wondering if the pistons and rods come with most kits or not, also how much cfm does the stoker closed chamber build like that require? And any good sources for trans kits? I know the 727 was pretty bullet proof but considering the torque rating on the 440 is already pretty crazy @ 490 I feel like it would be very wise to just build it up rather then blow it out. Also will I blow out my rear diff, according to the (very old and frail but still readable) build sheet the heavy duty rear end was not an option selected on my car.
Joined: Thu Oct 13 2005, 08:23PM
Location: Beautiful Down Town Roebuck Ontario
Posts: 227
Another vote for 500+ inches.
I would go with a 440 based engine. 4.25 stroke and .030 over puts you at 505 IIRC. And yes the 400 block is stronger but are you going to go 12-1500 rounds at the dragstrip? Spin it to 7500 rpm? Didn't think so. 440 block more than sufficient.
I have a 4.15 stroke 493 that makes 500 hp and 600 ft/lbs on 87 regular gas in a 66 New Yorker.
I see you are looking at 440Source CNC heads. Modern Cylinder Head was doing these so they should be good to go OOTB. Normally I would have them checked over by a competent machine shop for guide clearance and fix the valve job. I would probably give them a quick check anyway. There is no such thing as ready to run at least from the manufacturer. lol
Machine the block for zero deck and get a dished piston that will put your compression at 9:1 or less if you want something like mine. 34 cc dish put me at 8.97:1. That was with a .039 thick head gasket so you get good quench. 1009 Felpro is what everybody recommends but it won't work on most later 440 blocks because of the huge chamfer the factory machined at the top of the bore. The gasket then hangs into the chamber and will go boom. The gasket that comes in a Felpro kit is still .039 but the bore is bigger.
Transmission? If yours is running fine not slipping or doing any other weird stuff and doesn't have a million miles on it, you can likely get away with a shift kit and a converter spec'd for your intended use. A late friend of mine put over 200,000 miles on a push button trans in front of a very healthy 440 so they will go the distance. He had it freshened when he built the 440 in 1970. No trick parts, just factory type stuff.
I used a Mancini Racing race rebuild kit with a deep pan. Basically just heavy duty type clutches etc by Raybestos. About $300 and had a local somewhat famous trans guy build it for me. Another $300. Turbo Action converter from Mancini too. 2800-3000 stall.
Your rear diff should be an 8.75 so you are good to go there but the axle ratio might be less than ideal depending on what you want from the car. Mine had a 2.76 SG and the cam I chose wasn't real happy with the rpm range it cruised at. 3.23 gear made all the difference in the world. A set of good axles might be a good investment depending on how much time you want to spend at the dragstrip. When I swapped out the 2.76 for the 3.23 gear I noticed mine were twisting at the splines. Not sure how much of that was from me and how much was just from old age. The only time I had it at the track was with the 2.76.
It MIGHT have the orphan Dana 53 axle but I've only seen pictures of them. Never seen one in a bone yard. If it has a cover on the back with 10 bolts holding it on, it's a Dana. If the back is smooth and the diff unit is bolted into the front, it's an 8.75. 8.75 is better at least from a parts availability standpoint.
Also if you are going to buy the stroker kit from one place and have it built elsewhere (and elsewhere knows what they are doing) I wouldn't buy it "balanced". I'm a firm believer in if it comes out of a box it's FUBAR so everything needs to be checked and if necessary corrected. Checking a balance job takes just slightly less time than doing the job in the first place so I would just have my builder do it and then he knows it's right.
Chasing horsepower can be a daunting task if you get ONE component wrong. I have dealt with Edelbrock in the past and their products are great. They do all the R+R on their packaged kits. For a 440 they offer kit #2087 http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/edl-2087/all It includes the Performer 2 plane intake with NEW heads #6029 and a Cam and lifter set #7194 w/ a split .480"/.495 hyd. cam on a 238/246 duration cam. tame enough for the street and it will work well with power brakes which is very important. Comes with a double roller timing set,head/intake bolts and all gaskets. Throw on a #1411 Performer carb w/ 750 cfm and elec. choke and a set of 1 7/8 headers and some good rocker arms and you have 469 hp/515 ft lbs of torque. The only hitch here is those angled plugs witch make it a bugger for burning plug wire ends. Paint it ALL the same engine colour and it will look similar to stock or leave it nice and shiny. For $2,250 and another $300 for a carb this is the way to go.