Doing a little dyno testing on a low compression 440.

[500Jon]

Hey old Guy....

Wonderful work there fella!!!
I've built a lot of 440's, don't think I've seen any .160 down the bore pistons though?
Mostly around the .120 giving 8.2 comp with late heads?
Fantastic figures with the mods you made!
452's will easily beat those donkey 516's...

Question please...what's the best compression for an iron headed 440???
We always say 9.5 to 1 is as good as it gets...for pump gas...

Got a 1964 Fraud 427 here that has a cast crank, didn't seem to worry those guys lol!!!

[heyoldguy]

There is no best compression, just the best for the combination you build. I have run iron heads with 7.5:1 to 11.9:1 compression on 91 octane.

[500Jon]

Valid point there Old Guy...
I've run 12.5 with iron heads and pump-gas too.
My point was, best compression for street motor.
Some Folks I know have really struggled with anything over 10 to 1.(static)
I always think that's down to the cam being too small and too much DCR?
The older cams from MP are not up to snuff anymore....
Lunatti are doing well for street 440's with dual patterns.
Milder intake lobes and bigger exhaust, giving good vacuum for Brake Boosters.

At least a budget build 440 doesn't need expensive machine-work...