440 build working with what I’ve got

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Oldiron440 said:
Here’s my low compression 9.5-1 440 that pumped out 525hp and 545tq and it’s stock enough that you could change the cam and valve springs then install it in a motor home.
I built it back in the mid eighties and followed the Mopar engine book. So it has the 1.81/2.14” valves, I did the pocket port on the heads along with cutting them to 80cc for a true 9.5 cr.
Pistons are heavy forged TRWs. And if I remember correctly it has a .557 lift mechanical purple shaft. So you don’t need to spend big money on parts to make decent power you just need to make sure all the parts work together.

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Dang right. Those Mopar engine recipes are still the shizzle. You can preach it till the cows come home, but people don't believe it.
 
HotrodColt said:
I’m finding 2.050" compression height plus .125" dome.
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Okay, yeah that's going to be quite a bit of compression. I can't find any details on those pistons as in how many ccs that dome subtracts.
 
HotrodColt said:
Would you trust pump E-85?
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Absolutely, my 500” 440 is 12.5-1 cr and I run pump E-85 in that. Most E-85 is 70 percent alcohol or more and that’s safe for 13-1 cr with an iron head. The key is test your fuel every tank so you know what you have E-70 is the winter blend but E-85 will support around 14-1 cr.
 
MOPARMAGA said:
Okay, yeah your going to have high compression.
What's your plan ?
I think since you have e85 available, do it.
Your engine is going to need it.
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That’s the new plan, my carb needs a rebuild anyway, so I’ll just convert it in the process. E-85 is available pretty much every major I plan to drive the car around. My biggest concern will be winterizing it to avoid the corrosion, I don’t have much experience with running alcohol or e85.
 
HotrodColt said:
That’s the new plan, my carb needs a rebuild anyway, so I’ll just convert it in the process. E-85 is available pretty much every major I plan to drive the car around. My biggest concern will be winterizing it to avoid the corrosion, I don’t have much experience with running alcohol or e85.
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Okay good, hopefully @Oldiron440 has the solution for you on that.
 
I don’t know what resources the OP has available to him, but it wasn’t uncommon to mill the domes off those pistons back in the day.
 
HotrodColt said:
That’s the new plan, my carb needs a rebuild anyway, so I’ll just convert it in the process. E-85 is available pretty much every major I plan to drive the car around. My biggest concern will be winterizing it to avoid the corrosion, I don’t have much experience with running alcohol or e85.
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Best way is draining the carb if you’re going to shut it down for any length of time, end of the season guys are running the E-85 low to empty then run a few gallons of regular fuel in the tank to the carb and your good.
 
You had better spend some time checking valve clearance and as mentioned before you can probably cut some of the dome down those pistons are probably heavy. I would weigh them before committing to using them, stock pistons are 800+grams so you really don’t want them to be heavier.
 
PRH said:
I don’t know what resources the OP has available to him, but it wasn’t uncommon to mill the domes off those pistons back in the day.
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I have access to a lathe and a mill, I am considering cutting them down slightly. One of the pistons was damaged and I found two different replacements, one is a newer lighter version and the other has been cut down slightly before. So I may match up the rest of the set to that one, which should lower the compression slightly.
 
PRH said:
I don’t know what resources the OP has available to him, but it wasn’t uncommon to mill the domes off those pistons back in the day.
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I trimmed mine 3 times over the years to suit the fuel avail.
They're about 10.5 now, - in my "original" Swinger today.
 
The TRW L2295F piston was like 50g lighter than say a L2355F, but……. They came with a 50g heavier pin to make the total weight basically equal to stock.
(My factory 1968 cast pistons and pins weighed 1086g)

The few times I used the L2295’s, I got factory replacement pins(50g lighter) to lighten the assembly up.
 
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Whatever the pistons weight is a balance job will be in order and if you’re going to balance I would polish the beams on the rods and install new bolts if they are stock.
I’ve never broken a stock polished rod and I have turned them to 7200 with both a 3.75” and 4.15” stroke.
 
Oldiron440 said:
Whatever the pistons weight is a balance job will be in order and if you’re going to balance I would polish the beams on the rods and install new bolts if they are stock.
I’ve never broken a stock polished rod and I have turned them to 7200 with both a 3.75” and 4.15” stroke.
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Fortunately, I have the full rotating assembly that previously had balance work done, evident by the Mallory metal in the crank, that the domed pistons came from, the forged crank and 6 pack rods were all together in a block, one piston was destroyed in removing them from the block. I got a newer style replacement for it, but it is lighter, I am currently trying to locate a heavier wrist pin to balance it out with the other pistons. That way I can avoid a trip to the machine shop, hopefully. As far as boring the block from .030 up to .060, my buddy does some machine work and has a boring bar.
 
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