No way can that 440 make 400+ HP!!

[RECHRGD]

I was reminded today why I rarely go to car shows anymore.  Went to my first show of the year yesterday and got a lesson from an old fart (older than me even).  Apparently, no big block mopar can make over 400 HP, unless it is turbo or supercharged.  So you guys are living in a dream world if you think different heads, cams, intake, carbs or exhaust will make any difference.  I just needed to pass that on......

[ws23rt]

Thanks for passing that along   Apparently I and many others have a misunderstanding about what a horsepower is
We may be old but we can still learn new stuff.

[tan top]

       , that's told us       

[Drache]

Well crap! I want a refund on my Dart then! 

[JB400]

Some people

[Mike DC]

  
Usually it's the young farts who insist that your big block couldn't possibly be making XXX horses without a power adder.  

[Kern Dog]

I would have told the assclown to get in his Tercel and try to follow me. Better yet, I'd strap the human fossil in the passenger seat of my car and show him several  drift sessions, Full throttle starts, a 0-100-0 blast and a few freeway on& off ramps. Afterwards I'd go to Wal Mart for Formula 409 and towels to clean the seat.
Car show idiots are easy to deal with. I almost look forward to the know-it-all jerkoffs.

[ws23rt]

I think this guy is one of those young farts.  He just happened to age without gaining wisdom. :eek

[RECHRGD]

Actually, he was schooling a friend of his.  I was sitting in the shade about 30 feet from the car, but he was talking loud enough to easily hear the comments.  We had to put the HP numbers on the participant window cards and mine said 400+.  That's what prompted his words of wisdom.  We just laughed, it wasn't worth trying to engage to him.  What was even funnier, was when he looked at a wild '68 Roadrunner next to me, he just shook his he and walked off.  The Roadrunner listed a 440/512 stroker with 600 HP.

[myk]

Maybe this moron thinks your cars are running with stock blocks?  But yeah, way too many idiots at shows.  What I usually do is park my car and literally jump out of it and run away so I don't have to listen to all of the know-it-alls and preachers when it comes to the car...

[ws23rt]

When it comes down to it this is part of the fun.   A car show brings in more than gear heads.  It is a show.

I enjoy seeing the cars and talking to the owners but people watching sometimes trumps the cars.

[RECHRGD]

When it comes down to it this is part of the fun.   A car show brings in more than gear heads.  It is a show.

I enjoy seeing the cars and talking to the owners but people watching sometimes trumps the cars.

Agree completely!   

[1974dodgecharger]

Like i said I been told many stories and share them on here and no one believes me one bit.

I was told all drums have better stopping power than any disc of modern age not by one, but two people. 

the 440 one is a new one that I never heard before.....

[myk]

Like i said I been told many stories and share them on here and no one believes me one bit.

I was told all drums have better stopping power than any disc of modern age not by one, but two people. 

the 440 one is a new one that I never heard before.....

I actually don't understand how disc brakes are better than drums either.  I figure that drums have more friction material working so.......Nevertheless rear discs will find their way on the car eventually...

[Stegs]

I was reminded today why I rarely go to car shows anymore.  Went to my first show of the year yesterday and got a lesson from an old fart (older than me even).  Apparently, no big block mopar can make over 400 HP, unless it is turbo or supercharged.  So you guys are living in a dream world if you think different heads, cams, intake, carbs or exhaust will make any difference.  I just needed to pass that on......

sounds like something a Chevy guy would say.....they all seem to have have their head where the sun don't shine....(atleast that's the chevy guys around me in my neighborhood)

you can drive a smallblock mopar or ford, that will blow the doors off their BBC, and still they will leave saying "chevy power" 

[wingcar]

It's truly amazing the education you can get from car shows and the "experts" that attend them....

[Ghoste]

Like i said I been told many stories and share them on here and no one believes me one bit.

I was told all drums have better stopping power than any disc of modern age not by one, but two people. 

the 440 one is a new one that I never heard before.....

I actually don't understand how disc brakes are better than drums either.  I figure that drums have more friction material working so.......Nevertheless rear discs will find their way on the car eventually...

Define better.  Drums typically have more swept area and they are self energizing.  Thats why large commercial vehicles typically have air operated drums.  On a street car, drums all around?  Well things change to deal with a different set of conditions.  With the weight bias to the front and the front brakes doing most of the stopping front discs make great sense if for no other reason than preventing brake fade.  Of course there are other reasons because how many of us have done two panic stops in a row?  I like having drums on the back for the same reason heavy trucks have them.  Sports cars are another beast again.  It makes perfect sense to have discs all around to dissipate heat as quickly as possible in road racing.  As for four wheels discs on most modern cars, I would bet it has as much to do with marketing and cheaper to manufacture in the modular assembly world than any other reason.
But thats one mans opinion.

[Cooter]

Damn. I guess the dyno operator lied to me then. My numbers were grossly exaggerated.

[Homerr]

The trick to our own happiness comes from our own sense of self - which in terms of the car could be the sense of accomplishment of owning/building/maintaining a car.

Only those that give away their power will let the words of others sway their own emotions.


In other words:  know that your car is over 400hp, and don't take the bait of detractors like this guy (or the bait of gushing praise).

[John_Kunkel]

And some folks will argue that the original 440 Magnum's horsepower was actually close to 400 HP...advertised as 375 to fool the insurance companies who promptly upped the advertised HP to the actual HP. (called factoring)

[Ghoste]

Yeah it does kind of work both ways doesn't it.

[6spd68]

Some people will say anything to make themselves feel special.  The fact that you own a gen 2 Charger; means you've already trumped him at life anyway...

[Ghoste]

 

[68pplcharger]

Sound like he is speaking from his own experience in incompetence. 

[rt green]

well thats just great.  now, how do i get the smoke back in the tires?

[Mopar4me]

The guy said no big block Mopar could make over 400 HP. What about the Hemi it's a big block and it made more than the 425 advertised HP. Should of told him that,

[Ghoste]

Those kind of experts are never wrong, the best thing is almost always to ignore them.  Although I'm usually no good at following that advice myself.

[twodko]

Well hell, this clinches it! I'm selling my gutless 440 R/T.

[redmist]

The best thing I ever did was bastardize the crap out of my engine. Half the people that see it think I put a modern Chevy LS in the car, and the other half think I don't know WTF I am talking about when I tell them it's just a basic .030 over 440.   

[69wannabe]

I haven't taken my charger to any show's or cruise in's all summer and I haven't really missed it sad to say. I do drive it out regularly and get a bite to eat or just cruise through town and have enjoyed not to have to listen to all those comment's by those who think they know more about your car than you do Maybe next year I will be brave enough to hit a few of the show's but I kinda doubt it

[RallyeMike]

It take all kinds. I see the humor in it and try and roll with it:

I once told a know-it-all guy my 60 Plymouth was a modified 57 Chevy and he walked away spouting that "he knew it all along", he could "see the lines.....blah blah blah..."     Enjoy it.

[Patronus]

I told a guy once my Sunbird wagon had nitrous on it. 

[Ghoste]

I once told this girl I met in a bar...        oh never mind, we've all done that.

[472 R/T SE]

You didn't know that Bob?

That's why my #'s block is under my bench.  I just couldn't get more than 390 HP out of it.

Truth be told, I think the #'s motor is just as strong as what's in the car now.   

[Lord Warlock]

Its probably likely the guy remembers how the hp numbers went down dramatically when they changed the ratings from gross hp to net hp in 72? and they realized big blocks don't put 400 hp to the ground. At least not to the majority of cars out there.  These people haven't kept up with the times and how hp is often exaggerated on newer models.

I will say that the older guy is at least more fun to talk to at a meet since he may have actually drove one of our type of cars when they were new, I much prefer those over the new age enthusiast that thinks a cold air kit adds 100hp, slamming the car to the ground with wheels outside of the wheelwells claiming it'll run circles around a stocker, or those who think a sticker from a speed shop or manufacturer adds hp and torque.  The 90s and early 2000s with teens in hondas and supras thought they owned the roads in cars that topped out at 96mph.

[Todd Wilson]

I remember one time I had just got my 71 Charger done and was at a show and the car still needed some odds and ends and the interior (still isn't perfect) needed some door panels and a few other things anyways this guy who had just restored a 65 Mustang pulled me off to the side and was gonna share a secret with me. He is talking in a low voice telling me all about his mustang and there's this place you can call and I can order everything I need to finish up my car.........This place is called Year One.......... Call em they have everything............ I just laughed and told him yeah if you are restoring  Mustang but you cant get a damn thing for my 71. This was 10-12 years ago. HAHA!


Todd

[6spd68]

The 90s and early 2000s with teens in hondas and supras thought they owned the roads in cars that topped out at 96mph.

I remember those days, fortunately I was able to straighten many with my T-Bird though 

[GOTWING]

We have a 360 making 336hp to the REAR WHEELS and it is nothing super trick. Soooo at the flywheel that's easy 400hp.. 

[Tilar]

You boys have to understand that at one time, nobody knew how to make HP match the Cubic Inches. And this has been in my lifetime. So if someone claimed to have a 440 that pushed 440HP, You were either a liar, on some sort of drugs or a fucking magician. You could get close, but not past it,

[ws23rt]

You boys have to understand that at one time, nobody knew how to make HP match the Cubic Inches. And this has been in my lifetime. So if someone claimed to have a 440 that pushed 440HP, You were either a liar, on some sort of drugs or a fucking magician. You could get close, but not past it,

I remember them days     The street hemi did it (as advertised) and is a big block mopar.

[Ghoste]

As did the DeSoto 341 Hemi in 1956 and the 283 Fuelie Chev engines in 57.

[Lord Warlock]

The 327 did it in the 60s with the 350hp and 375hp 327.  And the 350 has done it.  improvements to motors has come a long way.  Smaller motors seem to do well with 4 valves per cylinder, wonder why they haven't implemented that on the larger motors yet.

[Bob T]

As did the Aussies with the 302 hp 265 cui 6cyl 71 E49 Charger

[TUFCAT]

well thats just great.  now, how do i get the smoke back in the tires?

To make a point of recharged signature line of 13.53 @ 105.32, that's moving very good for a stock 440. For 1969, that would be considered very impressive!

[Mike DC]

Smaller motors seem to do well with 4 valves per cylinder, wonder why they haven't implemented that on the larger motors yet

There are some good reasons why the bigger motors aren't getting the development of the smaller ones.

4 valves per cylinder, multiple camshafts, etc . . . it's all about giving the motor the ability to make more power at a higher RPM.  But larger motors are typically used on vehicles that need low-RPM torque more than hi-RPM horsepower.  (If the vehicle could have been built with a smaller hi-RPM motor instead, then they would have do it that way.  Smaller motors lead to better gas mileage.)  The multiple valves also increase the size & weight & complexity of the heads, which becomes more troublesome & expensive on a bigger motor than it does on a small one.  
 

[71gtx]

 

[keith88]

I don't worry about such claims i have a 318. But that being said nascar dose get that type of power out of there small blocks so i would imagine that it would be possible ...but it would cost a pretty penny.