Opinions on upcoming 440 rebuild?

[7E-Bodies]

440 Rebuild

I know this is asking the equivalent of what everyone's favorite beer is but here goes... In the next few days I will be dropping off my numbers matching for 440 to a highly recommended local machine shop to be gone through. I am going back original with this car as a stunning amount of it is already original right down to the Carter carburetor. I must say however even though my hot rodding days and thrill seeking are fairly well behind me, I am tempted to make minor modifications that won't affect the value of the car. Tempting are doing something different with the carburetor. A mild cam perhaps, roller rockers, and electronic ignition. Only mildly tempting as I owned another original 440 Challenger that was fully stock and it ran great. My interest is doing all of this without making it grossly obvious.  I am interested only in opinions from guys that have rebuilt their 440 and are completely satisfied with the performance. I don't need a 10 second car and I want to run pump gas and I also want dependability to where I'm not sitting on the side of the road.  The engine has 64,000 fairly well documented miles on it and is extremely clean. I've never heard it run but it turns over great from the harmonic balancer or bolt, Yet who knows what the machine shop will find when they tear it down. Looking forward to hearing the thoughts and formulas from guys who have been through this.

[Chryco Psycho]

I never build stock engines even if they look stock
Cam , porting heads & intake & even exhaust manifolds helps
You can even hide 512 CI by stroking it & have it still look stock !
AN Eddy carb is a step backwards from an AVS IMO , but a Holley Hp can make a big difference
Mopar left a lot on the table to improve without changing the look or reliability

[71-440]

You are in the right place for advise. A lot of people here with a ton of knowledge.

One thing I can say is Neil is right about the Eddy Carbs. Stay away. I have one....

[7E-Bodies]

I'm assuming you mean edelbrock carbs? If I were to not use the original carter, I'd box it up and save it. I'd look into options like the sniper. Just toying here as I don't want to venture so far from original that it couldn't be brought back.

[RUNCHARGER]

I would use the original carb. Pocket port the heads, port the intake manifold and gasket match the exhaust manifolds, use lighter pistons and a modern camshaft. IMO there is no need to waste money on roller rocker arms. I would try to find a set of 915 heads to build a quench engine if you can live with the wrong casting #'s on them. I would play with jetting and ignition curve on a dyno when it is all done, or put in a wideband for awhile and dial it in on the street and at the track.

[1 Wild R/T]

I would use the original carb. Pocket port the heads, port the intake manifold and gasket match the exhaust manifolds, use lighter pistons and a modern camshaft. IMO there is no need to waste money on roller rocker arms. I would try to find a set of 915 heads to build a quench engine if you can live with the wrong casting #'s on them. I would play with jetting and ignition curve on a dyno when it is all done, or put in a wideband for awhile and dial it in on the street and at the track.

100% agree...  I just picked up another set of 915's for a future build.... And it'll be exactly what Sheldon described...

[70 Challenger Lover]

A friend of mine built a mild 440 and we used Isky cam 160171. It had a nice idle, little bit of lope and still had enough vacuum for power brakes. We used a 2500 stall converter and that engine had tons and tons of low end power. Just a little bit of throttle made the tires light up. I liked it so much I actually saved the information so I could build my own 440 someday.

It is called a 270 mega cam. It's hydraulic and we were able to use stock rocker arm set up with slightly stiffer valve springs. It has .465 lift, 221 duration at .050" and has a 108 lobe center.

May not be the right pick for a race car but it works well with 3.23 gears, stock 906 heads, stock intake and stock HP iron manifolds.

[7E-Bodies]

@RUNCHARGER this is the kind of input needed. I'm more of a body/paint and attention to detail guy and not someone that can come up with an engine menu. Liking everything you've said except this car is so original I couldn't swap out the heads. The machine shop owner is very well known for Carter carb rebuild skills, so I like your suggestion with the carb. Porting etc is a good plan as well.

[7E-Bodies]

@70 Challenger Lover, yeah this is a 3.23 car as well. 

[RUNCHARGER]

I built an engine like this for my 71 Road Runner and it wailed. It was a bit more though as I used a stock Six Pack induction and a 528 lift mechanical camshaft.
Using the stock heads maybe someone can chime in on Hypereutectic pistons with a quench dome built in. I have never used them but they could be the hot ticket with 906 heads.

[1 Wild R/T]

@RUNCHARGER this is the kind of input needed. I'm more of a body/paint and attention to detail guy and not someone that can come up with an engine menu. Liking everything you've said except this car is so original I couldn't swap out the heads. The machine shop owner is very well known for Carter carb rebuild skills, so I like your suggestion with the carb. Porting etc is a good plan as well.

Without pulling a valve cover 915's & 906's look alike but inside where it counts they are different... It's not like throwing different heads on a small block where there are visible identification clues....