440 Cast Crank and Auto to Manual Conversion

[Challenger6pak]

The casting number is for a cast crank.  There is a good chance your 440 started it's life as a motor home engine.

[7Dcuda]

Ok guys, getting back to the original subject matter of this thread, can someone please clarify this 440 cast crank/drilled issue for me with respect to doing an auto to manual conversion.  Is there no hole at all on a cast crank or is there a hole but its just not deep/wide enough for the manual trans. input shaft?  Excuse my ignorance but I've never seen the trans. end of a mopar 440 cast crank before to know. 

Some have said all that has to be done is cut a little off the input shaft of the manual trans.  What are the issues with this?  Car is not a race/competition car just a hobby/weekend driver. 

According to a reputable MOPAR company that sells 4 speed conversion kits, for a cast crank installation, I'll need a special flywheel but my current harmonic balancer will still be used.     

[HP2]

Ok, that takes care of the flywheel, but what are you gonna do about a pilot hole? I've seen a few cranks where "Elroy" tried to drill 'em in the car, it wasn't pretty either...Cranks gonna have to come out anyway..

Well, seeing how this all got covered in the meantime, I was going to suggest physically checking the crank to see if it had sufficient depth to accomodate the trans. Being the cheapskate that I am, I've built mostly cast crank engines cuz I've found a lot of them that were practically being given away. In doing so, I've noticed that the majority of them have the depth to mate to a manual trans, but do not have the hole drilled for a pilot bushing. This is easily covered by using the late model roller style pilot bearing which will fit in to the auto trans register and accomodate the input shaft from the manual.

If the crank hole is not of sufficient depth, then we could talk about chasing down a forged crank or pulling the cast one to have it drilled. What I was tryng to get it is why jump immediatly to tearing down an engine without first checking the register.

[punisher72]

Hi 7Dcuda!
Very sorry about the high jacking of your thread 
Heres a photo of the end of my crank to give you an idea of what you need.
Right now im looking for a steel crank to replace my cast one.
I want to up the HP in the future and i will need the steely in there anyways.
Im just running out of time 
Goodluck 

[Cooter]

Yeah, you COULD cut the end off the input shaft (like the Chevy guys do) in order to fit it to the Cast crank engine, as long as you weren't worried about any type of resale value to the modded trans that now will need an input shaft in order to be run correctly in a Mopar factory type app. I know Of ALOT of A833's that were practically given away for this very reason(milled input shafts)...

Yes, to answer 7Dcuda, you CAN run the "special" flywheel on a cast crank (Provided it's a 318-400 internally balanced one, that is reballanced correctly), and cut off the end of your input shaft in order to make it work, if drilling the pilot hole isn't an option....One COULD install as mentioned, a pilot bushing in the auto register and make this work in a pinch...NO Cast Cranks were drilled..They were what looks to be a STARTED PILOT, but unfinished...I however don't believe in making the car fit the parts..I believe in making the parts fit the car..With all the strokers out there nowadays, I find it hard to believe that a steel crank swap is not a cheap alternative as most strokers are Steel cranks, internally ballanced...Stock Steel cranks shouldn't be hard to come by with all the strokers out there...

[Challenger6pak]

Don't cut the input shaft.  It was made that length for a reason.  If it is shorter is looses stability at higher speeds which will lead to problems. I know a guy who has 20 + 440's.  I'll see what he wants for a steel crank and let your know.

[Chryco Psycho]

That i s a Cast crank for sure forged cranks do not have #s on them , yes the crank will hold up for two days , probably two decades of racing

[Challenger6pak]

My buddy sold much of his parts during the last 2 years.  He is a mechanic and work has been very slow.  He doesn't have a crank but will ask around.  You would be looking at $100 for the crank.  Then it would need machined.

[Chryco Psycho]

I know of a good set of rods & crank available , I doubt theywould even need to be machined