440 Build Starts Today!

[inot2old]

Nice looking car, Bob. lol   Sorry to hear about your wifes problems, but am glad she is doing better.  I hope you are going to paint that engine bay now that it is empty.  Good luck with your 440.  I would love to put a 6pk on mine, my buddy had one for sale at Carlisle for $2000, I would have bought it if I had the money.

[shadango]

Hey Bob...

My wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple years ago so I know exactly what you're going through.

The great news is that t.c. is the easiest cancer to treat these days with almost perfect success I am told. Everybody seems to say "If you have to pick a cancer to get, thyroid cancer is the one you would pick."  Sounds absurd I guess but all they are saying is that its easily treatable, the side effects from treatment aren't too bad and the success rate is very very high.

My wife went through the treatments and has been certified cancer free, which is the answer to my prayers.  She will still need to go back once a year for a while  to make sure.

PM me and I will share my experience if you want to talk about it.....hang in there friend. Just be there for her and the rest will take care of itself.

In the meantime, that car is looking awesome!  I am working on my tranny and engine vibration issue....I may be looking at a engine build (though not a BB) if I have the vibes after my new Breakaway and rebuilt tranny go in in a week or two.....so your thread is really great for info.

 

[RDF]

Nice looking car, Bob. lol   Sorry to hear about your wifes problems, but am glad she is doing better.  I hope you are going to paint that engine bay now that it is empty.  Good luck with your 440.  I would love to put a 6pk on mine, my buddy had one for sale at Carlisle for $2000, I would have bought it if I had the money.

Hey Bill,
I was thinking of the 6pck thing as well, but as you already know, it's just too expensive (at least for me right now).....I'll put them on eventually, but for now a good intake and carb will work.

Hey Bob...

My wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple years ago so I know exactly what you're going through.

The great news is that t.c. is the easiest cancer to treat these days with almost perfect success I am told. Everybody seems to say "If you have to pick a cancer to get, thyroid cancer is the one you would pick."  Sounds absurd I guess but all they are saying is that its easily treatable, the side effects from treatment aren't too bad and the success rate is very very high.

My wife went through the treatments and has been certified cancer free, which is the answer to my prayers.  She will still need to go back once a year for a while  to make sure.

PM me and I will share my experience if you want to talk about it.....hang in there friend. Just be there for her and the rest will take care of itself.

In the meantime, that car is looking awesome!  I am working on my tranny and engine vibration issue....I may be looking at a engine build (though not a BB) if I have the vibes after my new Breakaway and rebuilt tranny go in in a week or two.....so your thread is really great for info.

Thank you for this, I will PM you and share with you what's been going on....even though it's been 5 months since surgery and her radioiodine treatments, I hardly get sleep at night thinking about it.  I will PM you soon.

I just talked with my neighbor Ed who owns the sick, 68 Hemi Dart Clone that was in Mopar Magazine a couple of months ago.....greeat news, the guy that built the car for him is gonna sit with me and talk about everything we can do to the car; clean engine bay, hide wires, narrow the rear-end (maybe fully tub it too, if not too expensive), stuff like that.....this is great because he does show quality work for a fraction of the price; he just loves to do it.

Here's Ed's Dart.....talk about steamrollers.....

[RDF]

I got a call from Vic and my motor is complete.  I just owe labor now     But I should have that in the coming month or two and get this car back on the road.  I've had plenty of time to think about what I want to do with it and I've got some major plans.....stay tuned for more updates (sorry they can't come sooner!).

[tactransman]

Hello Robert! How's it going? 

[TROUBLE987]

Hey you going to have it dyno? i have had (3) 499 motors in the past.my first one me and my dad built when i was 17..it was a pump gas motor with a set of stock heads herb meccandless work the crap out of for us and it went 1230 in the quater mile in a stock trim gtx..then i sold the car and built another one to put in 71 cuda this one we went the same herb heads accept a 590 soild lift came,and had barrnett performance dyno it for us it made 570hp 550tq...i took the cuda to the track and it ran 1170 first pass i blew my trans up an the second one..so i put a jw trans in the car and the rear flew apart..it push the pinion gear thru the hog head..so i fix that and drove it for a while..then i had barnett build me a stroker..with a 650 solid lift cam and 12.5 comp..and with the same heads it made 637hp and 605tq all under 6200rpms..i started racing the motor and start seeing alot of problems..the 500inch motors with 10.5 comp are good for the street and to play around with but if u start building them like i was they are not going to last..like goody said...the problems i seen with the motors was bad main cap walk,the rod to stroke ratio is not good on them..so rpms on them is a no no,so if you go out and by a set of indy heads 440-1 fully ported you are wasting your money cause to use the heads for what they are you got to turn the rpms..and when you the mains when come out the bottom of the motor...so i guess what im saying bob is dont get carried away on the motor and it will be fine..but if you really wanna fly build the second best motor out of the mopar camp the 451 them motors are a beast..i have had 1 and once you build one you want ever look at a 500 nothing again and i have ran against all the big motors 500,572,you name it and when i tell them what i got they cant belive it..872 @150 10inch tire demon oh and on a stock block no problems for 8 years now..thats durability oh and of course with a 300 shot..

[RDF]

Hello Robert! How's it going? 

Hey Big T.....things are going ok.  Been super busy with work and especially with my wife.  She has had to go to Houston a couple of times this year for some neck scans but all went well and they show no signs of that yucky C stuff in there anymore.  She goes again in June for another full body scan so we're crossing our fingers that it comes back negative.

How's the shop doing?  I've missed working on my car, but somethings can wait.  I've finally gotten through the holidays (financially) so I'm saving the $$$ to pay the labor on my motor.  it'll be nice to get it home and to start working on it again.  I've got a 727 short-tail that I need to rebuild and am thinking I will do another thread on it like we did for the 904.  That information was so invaluable to me (and I hope others) that I think this will be the same.   

[RDF]

Hey you going to have it dyno? i have had (3) 499 motors in the past.my first one me and my dad built when i was 17..it was a pump gas motor with a set of stock heads herb meccandless work the crap out of for us and it went 1230 in the quater mile in a stock trim gtx..then i sold the car and built another one to put in 71 cuda this one we went the same herb heads accept a 590 soild lift came,and had barrnett performance dyno it for us it made 570hp 550tq...i took the cuda to the track and it ran 1170 first pass i blew my trans up an the second one..so i put a jw trans in the car and the rear flew apart..it push the pinion gear thru the hog head..so i fix that and drove it for a while..then i had barnett build me a stroker..with a 650 solid lift cam and 12.5 comp..and with the same heads it made 637hp and 605tq all under 6200rpms..i started racing the motor and start seeing alot of problems..the 500inch motors with 10.5 comp are good for the street and to play around with but if u start building them like i was they are not going to last..like goody said...the problems i seen with the motors was bad main cap walk,the rod to stroke ratio is not good on them..so rpms on them is a no no,so if you go out and by a set of indy heads 440-1 fully ported you are wasting your money cause to use the heads for what they are you got to turn the rpms..and when you the mains when come out the bottom of the motor...so i guess what im saying bob is dont get carried away on the motor and it will be fine..but if you really wanna fly build the second best motor out of the mopar camp the 451 them motors are a beast..i have had 1 and once you build one you want ever look at a 500 nothing again and i have ran against all the big motors 500,572,you name it and when i tell them what i got they cant belive it..872 @150 10inch tire demon oh and on a stock block no problems for 8 years now..thats durability oh and of course with a 300 shot..

Thanks for all that info!  This will truely be a street car and nothing more.  It may change a couple of years from now but for now, I just want to enjoy showing the motor off at a few local car shows and feeling the power behind it if I need to.  No drag-strips every weekend for me.....I may go out for a couple of passes to see how it does and that's all.  I'd like to get it dyno'd but I'm debating whether to do it in or out of the car....don't really know the advantages/disadvantages of either.....

[tactransman]

Good to hear about the wife.  My wife went thru the Ovarian "C" thing in '01 (9-11 as a matter of fact!) and she is doing great!! When you are ready to tackle that 727, just start a thread and we will "get at it!" 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Sounds all is going well Robert! Bet the 'Cuda runs pretty well now, post up some new pics when you can. 

[RDF]

Hey Bob...

My wife was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a couple years ago so I know exactly what you're going through.

The great news is that t.c. is the easiest cancer to treat these days with almost perfect success I am told. Everybody seems to say "If you have to pick a cancer to get, thyroid cancer is the one you would pick."  Sounds absurd I guess but all they are saying is that its easily treatable, the side effects from treatment aren't too bad and the success rate is very very high.

My wife went through the treatments and has been certified cancer free, which is the answer to my prayers.  She will still need to go back once a year for a while  to make sure.

PM me and I will share my experience if you want to talk about it.....hang in there friend. Just be there for her and the rest will take care of itself.

In the meantime, that car is looking awesome!  I am working on my tranny and engine vibration issue....I may be looking at a engine build (though not a BB) if I have the vibes after my new Breakaway and rebuilt tranny go in in a week or two.....so your thread is really great for info.

You're inbox is full.....please clear out...

[RDF]

Sounds all is going well Robert! Bet the 'Cuda runs pretty well now, post up some new pics when you can. 

Almost there Mike....not yet....I still have to get it back to my house and then get it back together.  I'm forcasting prob. late summer/fall before it's done.

Just keeping a checklist of things I need.  Feel free to suggest/comment on these as I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

Intake
Carb
Water pump
Alternator
Starter
Headers
Radiator
Rebuild Trans. w/manual valvebody
Floor Shifter

[Chryco Psycho]

for a 440 I would use a 850 Proform carb & the Holley Street Dom intake part# 300-14
Use a Dodge Truck Mini starter off a Magnum out of the wrecking yard
Spend some $$ on the headers if you buy junk you will spend the savings on burned ign wires , I would go with TTi or Dougs headers
You can install a Milodon or Eddy high flow water pump into a stock housing or get an Alum water pump housing from a number of sources

[RDF]

Well good news, I will FINALLY have the money to pick up my motor next weekend!    :

I am going down next Saturday to pick it up and drop off my 727 to have him rebuild it.  He's gonna give me a great deal for having my motor done there and I've been pretty busy at work which leaves me little time to do it at home (although I was looking foward to doing it with T online).

Once that gets done then the car is off to the body man to get mini-tubbed, frame rail support, and a motor plate......then fitted for 3" exhaust (that I still have from Stroker) and then she'll be up and running again!  I can't wait to get it back on the road!

I will put up some pics when I get it!

[tactransman]