'68 300 440 Build

Cazman

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Thought that I might document my 440 build. Took a different tack to start.

1. Removed the front clip
2. Tore down most of the engine as it sat in the stub frame (this was nice, as I could stand inside the frame and work. It provided a nice heavy base to really put some muscle to some of the bolts).
3. I built an inside beam hoist years ago to help remove inboard engines from boats, as a cherry picker was not long or tall enough. So, I rolled the front clip under, lifted the engine out, and then rolled the clip back. Pretty easy.
4. Trans is off to the rebuilder
5. Engine will go next, to what I have to work with.

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Interesting way to do that! Never had considered that you could do it that way, but it seems to work well.
 
Interested in the build and the "recipe" (cam etc) used as I ponder my 68 440 Dual rebuild.
 
Did you pull the front clip and stub frame just to do this or did you have it off to do other work besides the engine and trans?
 
The whole deal. Suspension, engine, and trans. Also, after I separated it I found some rot on the stub frame, so it worked for the better.

The other reason was the car is in a barn a few miles away and won’t really fit in the garage. This way all the above is manageable.
 
Ok, I have my block prepped and now I can decide what to do. Here is my final decision for my 4400 lb convertible to cruise around in, but still have some get up and go. Under the hood it will look mostly stock. Very good idle and vacuum. I spoke with Dwayne Porter to help with my decisions; he was very helpful.

Block - .030 overbore and zero decked
.051 Cometic gasket for .051 quench (Dwayne says it will be enough quench)
440 Source Stealth heads (no mods)
440 Source 512 stroker kit
10.3 compression
Performer Intake
MOPAR HP Iron exhaust manifolds
Cam - @.050 235/243 .497/.507 on 113 (Dwayne said that he has done this very set up before for someone else)
2.5" dual exhaust
11" MOPAR stock spec torque converter
2.76 gears
26.6 tire diameter
carb - TBD

Should easily exceed 600 ft/lbs torque, which is what I wanted. I will start putting it together next week.
 
Combo sounds good.
With your cam selection,for optimum performance in a heavy car I would suggest one step up from stock convertor (2250/2500 stall) and 3.23 or 2.94 gears with the 26.6 tires.
If you stick with the 2.76 gears,I would recommend adding the part throttle 3-2 kickdown feature into the valve body for better street driving.
My reason behind the recommendations is to take full advantage of the gobs of torque she will make.
Remember,before I started the BoaB I rebuilt my 68 440 NYer.

Interesting how you took apart the car for the engine removal,LOL
This is what i did on the other end!!!!
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yea, the 2.76 is the one stickler. I am going to try and see how it goes. I figure the gears will be easy to replace later if I have to.

If you stick with the 2.76 gears,I would recommend adding the part throttle 3-2 kickdown feature into the valve body for better street driving.
My reason behind the recommendations is to take full advantage of the gobs of torque she will make.

The trans is in the shop now. What is this kick down feature? I have not heard about it.
 
yea, the 2.76 is the one stickler. I am going to try and see how it goes. I figure the gears will be easy to replace later if I have to.



The trans is in the shop now. What is this kick down feature? I have not heard about it.
If the trans is original to the car it will not kickdown when under light load and engine will lug up moderate hills where you have to manually shift to second.
When you hammer the gas,it will kickdown to first hard then quickly upshift from there.

First featured in 904/727 behind /6's and 318's in late 60's and later in the mid 70's for big blocks.
inside the valve body there is an additional check valve the will kickdown from 3 to 2 under light load up a hill slow speed,or when you mash the pedal to pass a truck at hughway speed. no need to manually downshift. It helps with fuel economy and also uses the powerband of the engine more efficiently. .
Any 70's 904 or 727 has this and can be added to your trans.
So ask your tranny guy to add that to your trans..you will be happy that you did.
 
Starting to put things together. Most parts are delivered.
Now that I know where my pistons ended up - zero deck as I wanted, I checked the chamber volume of the 440 Source heads, so that I can predict my compression ratio.

If anyone ever wondered, their site says the chambers are "around 80 cc". I just measured and mine are between 82 cc and 83 cc. Not bad consistency for Chinese heads.

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