Just re-reading... Your 440 is 9.8:1? Is nthat a result of measurign head volume and doing the math? Or is that the result of reading tha catalog which says "9.5:1 with open chamber heads" and you ran a little thinner head gasket? 230° at .050 isnt that much. You said the cam was installed "straight up". That means you installed the cam and lined up the dots on the timing set? Or it was installed at the recommended center line and that was verified by the degree wheel? The reason I ask those questions is that first, very little you read for published specs by manufacturers are accurate. The typical open chamber head measures out in the 85-91cc range. Or atleast the ones I've done have. Published specs I think are 84-88ccs. If they are bigger, and you do a valve job (sinking the seats slightly to re-use seats) then the volume increases. That's a decrease in compression ratio. Piston catalogues use published specs to come up with thier numbers, and then say "..should be..." as a disclaimer. In most cases, Mopar blocks are taller than blue print height from the factory..By a lot. So the piston designed for a 10.725 deck will be "low in the hole" if the real deck height of yours is 10.750 (I've found worse, but .015 to .020 is the norm). If youre pistons are .025" further than it's supposed to be, you just lost another .5 point. So theoretically, you could have as low as 8.8:1 if your chambers are bigger, and your deck is taller. The only way to know for sure is to measure stuff. If the machinist did that and did what was was asked, you should be fine. But your results are not good, or typical. So something's not right. In terms of importance, machining quality is about 45% of any build. Parts are another 15%. Assembler is the final 40%. Because the assember can catch and have fixed anything not "right". I know guys who seem like they can run 10s with a lawn mower, and I know guys who have the best of everything and cant even seem to get the car down the track. I would start with reveiwing any documnets the machinist and assembler had. You should have everything recorded somewhere if it was checked. If you dont have any. no biggie, but it means you need to pull it and see where things may not be kosher. Have you done a compression test? Do that and post the results. Make sure the engine is warmed up, all plugs are removed, and the throttle is blocked wide open. If it's under 150 psi, check the camshaft with a degree wheel.
