Wanna build a strong 440, open for suggestion please.....

[tcs69rt]

Tomorrow I am getting a 1978 440 motor out of a truck. Motor was rebuilt 10,000 miles ago (who cares, haha) and I know that they are de-tuned motors, unlike the original 440 in my 69. I planned to use some rebuilt 440 HP heads, edelbrock intake & carb. I need suggestions to get the most HP out of it. I am on a budget but we all no that we find extra $$$ sometimes, haha! What pistons & cam would ya recommend? I could buy other heads, so any suggestions? Thanks! TC

[Rolling_Thunder]

if you wanted to keep the factory pistons (for now) since you're in a budget I would find some closed chamber heads and bump the compression that way - A good engle cam is a K56/K58 on a 110*LSA - add some headers, your intake and carb - would be a basic but good running 440.

[tcs69rt]

I will look into that .... thankyou!!! TC

[69wannabe]

A good set of pistons are not cheap these days!! TRW/speed pro makes a set of forged pistons #2355's that have good compression with open chamber heads or keith black #237's are a good piston with open chamber heads too. I had a 440 with the speed pro's and a comp cams extreme energy 274 hydraulic cam, 346 cast iron heads with 214 intake 181 exhaust valves, an RPM eldebrock intake, a holley 750 double pumper carb and hedman headers and it was sweet and plenty powerful and dependable!!! It was slighty pricey but a good combination. My friend has a 73 440 in his general lee charger and it is cast crank with the speed pro pistons, comp cams extreme energy 268 hydraulic cam, stock 346 heads, an edelbrock performer intake, a holley 750 vacumm secondary carb and hedman headers and it is plenty powerful too!!!! Just a couple of good 400+ horsepower combinations that we have had good luck with!!

[tcs69rt]

Got any videos of them running? What exhaust & mufflers go good with that combo? Thanks! TC

[c00nhunterjoe]

My suggestion is pull a head and see what pistons are in it... ie; flat tops, dished, valve reliefs. Etc. Then see how close to 0deck height they are. That will give you a good idea as to what to buy. We can speculate all day long as to what combos to build but until you have a head off its pointless

[69wannabe]

I am running hedman 1 3/4 hedders with 2 1/2 pipes out the back with super turbos. I had 3 chamber flowmasters on it for awhile and it was just loud and it resonated through the interior too much. The turbos were reasonable and the car stills sounds great idiling and has a deep smooth sound going down the road. If you engine has been rebuilt there is a good chance it may have a good set of pistons in it if they were replaced. Like said above, just have to pull the heads and see what you got. I am fairly new to the forums and I don't really know how to upload pics or video's 

[c00nhunterjoe]

Here's my 383 with a racer brown "510"  cam through heddman 1 3/4 tubes and 3 inch exhaust with flowmaster 50 series suv mufflers
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rLEfS8-eCTw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[tcs69rt]

That sounds healthy!!! Very nice....

[Cooter]

DO NOT run CLOSED Chamber IRON heads if you swap out the pistons for TRW "four Eyebrow" pistons. YOu will be going by the Airport for fuel.

Too much static Compression. Ask me how I know. ALUMINUM heads= OK. 

[Kern Dog]

Since you asked for advice, make sure to take note. Pay close attention to compression ratio. When ordering parts, it seems cool to get the high compression pistons and the biggest cam you can, but that attitude can bite you.
Running high compression means the engine has to be in top tune all the time. You will have to run the highest octane fuel sold at the station. If you get in a spot where only the low grade unleaded is available, you'll be knocking, pinging and causing internal damage. Running a more moderate compression ratio will allow you some breathing room while still making great power.
There are cases where guys have carefully built 11 to 1 engines that run fine on 91 octane, but do you want to risk damage if only 87 is available?