Mission: You Wanna What? [LOL]

The Mission: Build a 500cid engine making 500hp using a Chrysler 440 as a starting point. The engine must produce 500hp reliably and at at a usable RPM AND require minimum to moderate maintenance to maintain tune while maintaining C.O.O.L. factor.

Equipment: Chrysler M440B block; 440 Source 500cid Stroker Kit; 440 Source Stealth bare cylinder heads; CH-28 Intake + Carter AFB carbs; or Hilborn Mechanical Fuel Injection

Procedure: Performance Arcing Engines in Bethalto, IL will machine M440B block to accept Stroker kit. Additionally, Stealth heads will be port matched to Glenwood Aluminum Exhaust logs and Edelbrock CH-28 or Hilborn Mechanical Fuel Injection; camshaft will be custom ground per performance Racing Specs

Budget: What's that?

Installation: 1974 Correct Craft Southwind 20

Purpose: to determine if it can be done as specified.

As always hould you or any of your I.M. Force be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct (?) in five seconds.

Good Luck!

Go Chrysler! My 75 Century MKII has a Chrysler 360 and my friend has a 440 in his 72 Century Coronado. Unstoppable engines, do it up!

Oh the raw material is here. I just need to sell off a few extra pieces that I don't need.

Then we are a go!

You're talking about a 500hp $$$$ build and you're not considering going roller? I'd question that logic. Do it for reliability alone, if not for performance (though you'd get both).

I'd go roller and I'd go RH to preserve proper handling, especially if the cost difference isn't huge. (I actually did just that with our 454 and the cost difference was substantial). Dont forget about all the other components youd be changing if you switch rotation. The v-hulls handle hp pretty well.

A vintage 440 stroker sounds pretty cool.

Put a cross ram on it. Paint it orange and put Ramcharger 426 decals on the valve covers ;). Making 500 ponies in a big block stock CID Iron head motor is pretty easy let alone a stroker with better heads. Max wedge guys do it all day long with stock exhaust manifolds. With a good flowing aftermarket head and induction setup you should be able to achieve those numbers at pretty conservative RPM and and conservative camshaft.

TRBenj wrote: You're talking about a 500hp $$$$ build and you're not considering going roller? I'd question that logic. Do it for reliability alone, if not for performance (though you'd get both). I'd go roller and I'd go RH to preserve proper handling, especially if the cost difference isn't huge. (I actually did just that with our 454 and the cost difference was substantial). Dont forget about all the other components youd be changing if you switch rotation. The v-hulls handle hp pretty well. A vintage 440 stroker sounds pretty cool.

Forgive my neglect, Gordon at Performance Engines had mentioned that we would be using a Roller Hydraulic cam in this application.

As for going RH, the cost id immense. The cam alone would be custom manufactured by LSM Engineering and would be approximately $2,000.00.

I am looking at rotating the front pump to go LH (I have the Paragon Transmission from the engine and I am looking into do a performance rebuild on it.) And I will need a LH prop at about 13X14 or so. We will definitely be playing with propellers once we get it dialed in on a dyno.

the only downside i see is that keer reer reer sound it will make starting

peter1234 wrote: the only downside i see is that keer reer reer sound it will make starting

Yeah, it will remind me of the old '69 Charger I had when I was a kid.

phatsat67 wrote: They will fit any bb Chrysler head..

MMM, I don't know. According to the Mopar catalog:

Mopar Performance Catalog (see P. 56)

These Cross Ram Intakes require the use of Max Wedge Cylinder Heads.

And still the very nature of an underhood tunnel ram, the RPM numbers (3,500 - 7,500) don't fit a marine pleasure boat profile well as it it designed for the Super Stock Drag Racing world.

Also, there are fixes for the system:

STR 14 Box Flow Dam Fixes

The STR 14-6 looks way COOL, but it has its own little problems:

Str 14-6

In the end, the headache of a Cross Ram in a marine application introduces too many variables that are easily avoided and handled by going dual quad high rise or Hilborn Injection. And I am not sure about Hilborn Injection. I still have a call in to them about my application.

phatsat67 wrote: 440 Build Just as a reference. Check out the guys tow rig for that Daytona at the bottom. I have seen it lots of times at the Mopar shows.

Impressive build Zach. Are part of the MidAmerica guys I used to see at the St. Louis Boat Show a few years back?

I remember showing up wearing my N.O.A. T-shirt and hat and received the Royal treatment.

They knew I was serious.

The only difference in max wedge heads were the closed combustion chamber like the 1967 440 hp heads only availiable on the gtx and rt. ports remained unchanged. The crossram will produce power. You could produce 500 with that stroker kit below 6000 rpm..

phatsat67 wrote: The only difference in max wedge heads were the closed combustion chamber like the 1967 440 hp heads only availiable on the gtx and rt. ports remained unchanged. The crossram will produce power. You could produce 500 with that stroker kit below 6000 rpm..

I thought the intake mounts were a little different and the ports didn't quite match up.

What about width? Will a Cross Ram fit under a CC doghouse lid? I can custom fab a doghouse if I need to (I will need to if I go Hilborn.).

Would you go Mopar Performance Cross Ram or Edelbrock STR14?

Tony,
Listen to Zach's suggestions. He has been around the Mopar's for a long time. He is the #1 member on site with the Mopar knowledge.

Thanks Pete!! Tony I also think you are a little to scared of the cross ram power producing rpm. They aren't quite as high strung as you might think. Keep in mind the super stock cars in stock configuration were being shifted around 5800-6000. And going through the traps. At 6500 depending on factory gears. The earlier engines had as much as 13.5 to 1 comp. the factory camshaft was very conservative. The factory max wedge exhaust manifolds were like headers in that they had longer tubes and were designed to scavenge cylinders. With an aggressive camshaft swap they took full advantage of the header like manifolds and power output would go up drastically.

With your big inch stroker and good head flow I think it will be easily possible to more than eclipse your 500 number well before the 6000 rpm mark. I also think that the proven 6 bbl application would be your best choice. But a big block with a cross ram would be soooo cool. Can you get flow bench data from 440 source on those heads to aid in camshaft selection??

440 cross ram

Pete, that's another thing I was going mention is I'm not sure there is a marine rated 6 bbl carburetion that would work. The cross ram would probably be easier to tune. 6 pack cars are quirky so most people just but bran new carbs instead of rebuilding.

How many vintage engines actually have marine carbs?