383 vs 440

[Ole H Sanne]

i have bought a 383 10-1 comp completly overhauled and rebuild with sharper cam and edelbrock manifold and a old thermoquad 4 barrell carb.

My 440 have smog regulation (car is 5/75) and it was serviced by a local drag racing hero yesterday. He says its madness to change such a good engine and suggest to fit a new edelbrock 750 cfm and performance manifold for around 800 punds.

I am tempted to do it and wonder if the once of you who have done the same can reveil how good it is. Do u feel real gain in power and tune?

he claims i will not recognize my car at all after he is finished with it.

[cannonball]

get him to step up on the cam while he is doing it
but get a cam specced for your combination the lower compression will hurt it but you can get decent power from the later 440,s

[ffdave]

Fitting a 383 into a 440 car is not that staight forward, you will have to change the exhaust manifolds as the 440 's are taller and the downpipes will almost touch the ground. The 383 has a steel crank and is internaly balanced so you may have to change the torque convertor which has external weights for the 440's cast crank. Yes you can cut the wieghts off the convertor but that doesn't always work..been there, done that!.
You may also have to change the brackets for the vtwin mopar aircon pump as the centre line for the belts is different to the earlier york type.
I agree with cannonball that choosing the right cam is imperitive and this with good carb setup should liven the old girl up but at the end of the day it's compression that makes power!.

It all depends on what you want from the car.

Dave.

[Ole H Sanne]

In order to change the cam do u need to pull the engine out?
Could u do it with the engine in the car ie pulling it out the front?

Appreciate your advice.

[ffdave]

With the rad and fan assembly removed, the cam can be withdrawn from the front of the engine fairly easily.

Dave.

[Ole H Sanne]

Great that was what my drag racing guy thought as well, but nice to recheck with the right guys.

Any suggestion for a cam?

Thanks again for the quick response

[Kerry Moore]

Hi

Check this out for 440 v 383.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jensenmonday ... Tuning.htm

[ffdave]

I knew you were going to ask that question Ole!, but the answers not that simple. As i said before, it depends what you want from the car. In an ideal world we all want good midrange torque, loads of hp all the way to max revs and an engine that idles like a pussycat in traffic. Unfortunatly you will have to compromise at one end or the other.
I've used the crane 643801 on a couple of engines (including johns cv8 conv) and been pleased with the results, good all round torque and power with an exceptable idle. The 643901 does the same but with the power band a little lower down which may help with the lower compression.

There are literaly dozens of cams to choose from out there, perhaps we can use this thread for people to say what cams they have used and what they thought of them.

Dave.

[Jens]

Hi Ole,

getting the cam out with the engine installed looks like this (383 in a C-V8 )






As Dave said you have to remove the radiator and the fans and there you go.

Good luck.

Jens

[Kerry Moore]

Hi

For a detailed cam insitu can install see here.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jensenmonday ... nstall.htm

[2211/1445]

Ole, as we talked about on the phone...

If I was you...- no? I would do like me

Start with the inlettmanifold and the carb. and change the spring in the distrub.(I have an extra set, if you want) and reset the ignition 100%

And have fun rest of the short summer, when the winter come, you change the camshaft, and then drive all of the next year, and the next winter(2008/2009) you put in a strokerkit with 9,8:1, and 518 overdrive and an 357:1 reardiff, and go and find an redlight- NOT in Amsterdam...

Or say 8,2:1 in comp. are cool, and remove the aircon., and put on an "small" compressor

Yes ????

[John Lowney]

The 383 has a completley different character than the 440. The 383 is a better engine.especially for the Interceptor. The 383 winds up a tad faster than the 440. You can tune a 383 to a knats eye and have a very powerful engine. Also the cooling issues are less with the 383 as well. I have had two cars with 383,my old Plymouth Gran Coupe and my MKII Interceptor,whichI built to my specs and will out run almost anything onthe road.It has an estimated 425-450HP at the flywheel!. John Lowney 125/5300

[Kerry Moore]

Of course, whatever heads, cams, pistons, headers, etc, you put on a 383 you can also add to the 440.

Difference is you have almost an extra litre of capacity with the 440, so you have lots more low down torque, and don't have to resort to all that vulgar revving of the engine. Unless you want to of course

[2211/1445]

And this is one of the few times that "Biger are better!"

If you compear a 76 440 with a 71 383, its compearing appels an pears...


Erik

[Kerry Moore]

If you read the articles on the Monday Club site regarding the 1969 spec 383 and 440, the figures are:

383 = 338bhp, 394ft/lbs

440 = 357bhp, 463ft/lbs

These are engines with the same heads, cams, and compression ratio, but the 440 is worth an extra 19bhp, and 69ft/lbs.

The 19bhp would only be felt at high RPM, but the 69ft/lbs would be felt where you need it on the road: at low to mid revs.

People compare the late low compression 440's with the early high compression 383's. In that format the 383 is the better engine. But when the compression ratios are matched, then the 440 stumps up the goods.