440 block questions

[charger2fast4u]

i have a 1972 440 engine in my 68 charger. i hear alot of debating about how good these blocks are compared to the earlier year one's due to block strength. is a 72 block good to turn into a 512 stroker or bigger or is it better to find a early year 440. it will be my daily driver.

[firefighter3931]

i have a 1972 440 engine in my 68 charger. i hear alot of debating about how good these blocks are compared to the earlier year one's due to block strength. is a 72 block good to turn into a 512 stroker or bigger or is it better to find a early year 440. it will be my daily driver.

The thinwall late model 440 block is nuthin more than an urban legend. Some of the best blocks to use are the 76-78 cast crank 440's 

The best way to tell is to have the block sonic checked at the machineshop....then you'll know if it's a good "performance build" candidate or not. 



Ron

[aifilaw]

it used to be that the older models were better just because of availability and condition. The newer ones were the first to get snatched up in the performance building. But now a lot of the older ones have succumbed to rust, et cetera.
Honestly there's not a lot of difference as far as this topic is concerned regardless of year. you can still bore them out to 0.04 or some 0.06 depending on the year without hitting water and having enough to run some serious power through, just make sure someone hasn't beaten you to it.

No 440 comes close to the inherent stoutness of even the most abused short-deck 383 though

[Musicman]

If your really interested, you can follow this link... it pretty much covers each and every aspect of the subject.

http://440source.com/blockinfo.htm

[charger50071]

The older blocks from the 60's and early 70's had a higher nickel content in the iron, making them a little stronger. Also the more times a block is cast there tends to be core shift and this is where cylinder wall thickness is a factor.

[John_Kunkel]

Also the more times a block is cast there tends to be core shift and this is where cylinder wall thickness is a factor.

It's not likely that any of the casting cores lasted more than a few months, so core shift within any one day's production was just as likely as it would be over the span of years.

[charger2fast4u]

on my block it says it has a .010 undersized crank. is there anything bad about this? and why did they make it undersized?

[dukeboy_318]

it just means the crank has been turned and polished by a machine shop, the .010 undersize means the diameter of the crankshaft where the bearings are is smaller than factory, just match it with .010 undersize bearings and you're good to go, also let me reccomend this book here, a little out dated but overall very good info.  thats how i learned some of this stuff.

1= http://www.amazon.com/Big-block-mopar-engines-Don-Taylor/dp/1557881901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200703682&sr=8-1

and this one

2=  http://www.amazon.com/Big-blk-Mopar-Php1302-Chuck-Senatore/dp/1557883025/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

[my73charger]

A friend of mine just built a 76 440 block.  I am not sure but I know it is over a 500 stroker.  He just bought lots of goodies for the inside like a new forged crank, pistons and rods.