The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop HOW HARD WOULD IT BE TO PUT A 440 IN MY 55 CHEVY TRUCK

I HAVE A 55 CHEVY TRUCK 2ND SERIES AND AN OLD CHRYSLER WITH A 440 IN IT HOW HARD WOULD IT BE TO PUT IT IN MY TRUCK?

Why on God's green earth would you want to ruin a great Chevy truck with a 440? Sell it and buy a Chevrolet motor. Truthfully the 440 is probably worth more than a Chevrolet small block, but I'm thinkin big block. Sell it and put a 454 in it, you'll be lots happier .

Dave

Wouldn't be hard at all if you have all the tools you need and the experience at this kind of job. Go for it.

A lot of work!

If you consider the negative impact on resale value, its going to be cheaper to give away the 440 and buy a Chevy motor to put in the truck.

A Chevy small block was available in your truck, so putting one in can be done with stock parts, and it looks like it belongs.

The resale market will accept a Chevy V-8 in almost anything, and will pay a premium for a hemi if done right. But an old wedge isn't a real popular motor these days, and will reduce the value of of most any non-Chrysler you'd put it in.

How about a 400 based Chevy small block?
Lots of torque in a small package that would be a lot more compatible for your truck.

You can probably make it work but you may have to fabricate new motor mounts and a transmission cross member. As most others are saying this is not a common substitute but anything is possible with the right determination and ability. If you have all the pieces that go with the 440 such as the transmission, exhaust manifolds then you should be okay. That engine bay is huge but before you start you may want to do some measuring to ensure you have enough front to back clearance. Take pictures.

It's very easy to put it in. Hooking it up is the hard part.

Seriously- go for it. Do something different. I'd buy a Chevy truck with a 440 in it. You might want to look at some of the Mopar musclecar sites and suppliers. There are several kits out there to swap 440's into A-bodies (i.e. Darts)- you might be able to use parts from those to get the frame-side motor mounts, if you're not into fabrication. Use the Mopar Performance electronic ignition conversion for spark control- beats the hell out of points or trying to adapt to the Chevy system.

MOPAR MUSCLE is an oxymoron. Seriously I would drive a Dodge way before I'd ever consider buying some foreign P.O.S.

Dave

As others have said, it would be one heck of a lotta work. Nothing's impossible....some things just take more time, money and effort...not to mention ingenuity.

However, if it was me, I'd stay with the Bowties. A .030 over 400 smallblock gives you 406 CID (.040 over...the safe maximum for a 400) is roughly 409. It'd be kool to say that you have a 409-powered truck. I may do this when I rebuild the 400 in my El Camino.

Then there's the big blocks. 396, 454...a little boring and 468 or 472...A lotta latitude that way. If you wanted to go nuts, you could get a 502 CID crate motor from GM. I know a guy who runs one in a 41 (or so) Diamond T. It's a very kool truck.

I've considered putting a 392 or 426 Hemi into my 63 Nova, (it has a 355 and 4-speed at the moment) just to be different...but I don't think it'll ever get past the "thinkin about it" stage.

Good luck with it,

JFK,
Do what makes you happy and what you can afford, unless you are planning to sell (for profit) or show the truck. Houston54 was right, you will most likely have to fabricate new motor mounts and a tranny cross member. We did, and we only put a 305 in our '54. It just takes time, patience, and good planning. Neither was expensive or even that difficult.

One word of advice: think about potential areas you are going to have interference with your fabricated mounts and accessing parts. For example, our "new" motor mount is making it pretty d*mn hard to replace the fuel pump! Also (this was an issue with both of our Stovebolts) make sure you've got sufficient firewall clearance for your distributor – I'm not familiar with the 440, but you might have some clearance issues there too.

Have fun with it.
K

Theres a guy up towards Cleveland who has an older Ford pickup with a 426 hemi in it.Man does that truck get a lot of attention.So putting a 440 in your Chevy would be unusual,but to me thats what these old vehicles are all about.Go for it.

Tell you what, if I got my hands on a V10 Dodge engine for a killer deal, I'd adapt it to work in my truck!!!

Actually, another good idea which is very feasible (unlike the V10 idea) would be a Buick, Olds, or Pontiac 455. It doesn't take much to get 600 lb-ft on pump gas out of those engines. Great truck engines...too bad they never put them in trucks.

The 455 Olds seems to be a popular replacement in 80's trucks that came with that unsuccessful Olds diesel.

My brother used to own a '62 Chevy pickup with a 455 Buick in it. It was one very strong truck.

Thats it keep listing to the chevy boys,and let me know and I will trade you a small block for that junk mopar 440!

440 distributor is in the front of the engine

seen it done had a steel tilt front end to said it was fast you better have power steering he weacked it to much beer

Speed costs money......how fast do you want to go?
Repeat...

As fast as you can afford to go...

Caddy motor is also a good choice but if you have the 440 why not? Its just a motor it dont know any better. I think i would be thinking about a IFS. That 440 is going too be pretty darn quick.
Think i would pass on a viper motor they just plain sound crappy. Cool looking but something is wrong with the exh note it sounds like a big import.

i think they sound funy because two cylinders fire at once, so it sounds like a 5 cylinder motor

Depending on year and what kind of chrysler you can probably sell the 440 to some Mopar fanatic for enough to build a good small block.if it is in an Imperial these were what chrysler called Premium engines they were hand assemled from hand fitted parts.most die hard mopar fans would trade their fist born kid for one in good shape

You're right there. Mopars are going for crazy money right now. I should have bought that '70 Challenger when I had the chance back in college!!! Now I'd have to sell my left nut to own one.

ya you should put a small block chevy in it and be like every other truck out ther, or you could put the 440 in and when you get alot more money you will already be redy for that hemi you will get that will fit right in

I was given a '61 F-100 panel with a 440/727 once;it was pretty neat,and the builder said it wasn't as hard as he thought it'd be to install.
The old man who owned the speed shop I used to hang around once told me when I asked about putting a caddy 500 in a Jeep wagoneer,"Son,I can make anything fit anything-all it takes is money."

i heard something similar once at a body shop. the owner was talking to a guy who owned a hot rod shop and a salvage yard (nice combo!). he said you can make anything fit with a torch and a welder.

You also need a BFH for those close tolerance issues involving fragile items.

or the mini-bfh for use in tight spaces

At the car show I went to this weekend, there was one Chevy 1/2 ton truck that had an Olds 455 in it. He dynoed it at 600 lb-ft at only 1800 rpm!
That's with just a carb on top. I wouldn't get that much torque with even a roots supercharger on top of my 406.

Something to think about.

The Buick,Olds,Pontiac 455's made over 500 ft/lbs of torque stone stock. The Cadillac 472 and 500 engines made slightly more,but all of 'em are naturals for trucks.(The Caddy would need the end of the crank drilled for a pilot bushing if you want to use a manual transmission in it.)
Speed

Friend stuffed one in an old Land-Rover so it shouldn't be hard to put one in yer truck.

Different is good! Mopar in a Chevy? Blowhard purists will see it as a mortal sin. They'll foam at the mouth and cover their children's eyes and pray for your soul when you pop the hood. Cool. Do it!

Christian

We were having this conversation at the dinner table just last night -- I'm with Christian and Kimberly.

I've heard all the pro's regarding SBC's in AD trucks and they're pretty convincing. But, after you've seen the umteen bazillionth truck with a 350/TH350 combo in it, you fail to "Oooh and Ahhh" appropriately, I guess. A 440 would solve that malaise nicely. A V10 would be cool, too (As HotRodDad said.

"Hard" is a relative and very subjective term, as you can tell from the discussion. But as they say above, it all boils down to how much "B" ya got in your BFH, and how many rounds ya got for your "Dollar Gun."

I say go for it, too. What the heck. Don't forget the Cross Ram Induction!!!!

MOPARS ROCK!!!



ClosetMOPARBoy, er, I mean JOHN. Yeah, John!

good for you john! i happen to be a diehard chevy man, but i'll never put a smallblock in anything i build. an SBC is the cheapest & easiest power any one will ever get. it's understandable why it's so popular. but quite frankly it's boring! when i go to a show or event anymore i seldom look under the hood because i know what i'll see..... an SBC! what's really sad, especially knowing chrysler produced such fine engines is seeing a mopar street rod or classic truck with a SBC. so, JFK stick that 440 in that truck!
robert.

Best motor I ever had was a built Mopar 360. If I still had it, it'd be in my 54 right now.

I still think its a crazy idea, but more important is to note that the guy who asked the question hasn't come back to this thread and hasn't posted at all in three weeks.

One suspects he asked just to stir up trouble...

I am already puttin the 8.75 out of my racecar in my 51,and I am thinking real hard about putting the 360 out of it in there also. Cheaper than a 350 cuz I already have it.