500HP is cake with a 440, IF you have fully ported 906-452 open chamber heads with 2.14/1.81" valves and milled aprox .060" on the chamber side and .072" on the intake face (so the intake lines up perfectly), or Edelbrock RPM/E-Street or Trick Flow 240 heads, etc. The pistons need to be zero decked, or close, with the aluminum heads and maybe .020" negative deck with the iron heads. You'll want 10.5:1+ compression with the aluminum and 10:1 max with the iron heads. Depending on the weight of the vehicle and gearing, etc., you can run a RPM dual plane (heavy) or Torker/M1/Street Dominator etc. (light). A moderate solid flat tappet cam like 250-260*@.050" with .550-.580" lift will do the job, 108LSA for track duty and 112LSA for more of a street setup (idle/vacuum, etc.). I have made this kind of power on a 446" with iron heads and a custom version XE285HL (245/255*@.050", .545" lift, 112*LSA) hydraulic spec'ed by me. I used heavy TRW 6pack pistons, so you'd do better with SRP, ICON, etc. forgings (weight savings), and OEM LY rods with ARP bolts. I used Crane iron adjustable rockers and 3/8 pushrods, at this level you don't even need roller gear. With good flowing heads and decent compression, you need 1 7/8 headers really, Hookers seem to work nice, but the Schumachers will probably do @500HP. The 5300lb. C-body wagon my 446 is in runs 12s in the 1/4mi, and it has cheapie E-body headman shortys, due to the insane price for decent C-body headers. Use a 850 Holley DP or if your car is portly (like mine), use the 950HP, which actually has smaller venturis for more velocity. Enjoy!
