Quote:
Originally Posted by slowmover
The 440-3 was produced by Chrysler Marine & Industrial. Far better than the competition as it is built to a far higher standard. It has a number of unique parts which do not interchange with standard 440s (mainly to do with engine front drive accessories). Best to do a compression test. Champion plugs
The drivetrain is set up to run the engine at just below peak torque at highway cruise. 27-2800-rpm as I recall. It'll do this for a few hundred thousand miles
I'd love to have one again
Be sure to keep the Thermoquad. Rebuild isn't difficult (leave choke strings alone), and it'll help. Except a hard to adapt GM QJet no other carb will give better performance or FE. As above, a TBI unit will help FE, but not deliver the same power at WOT. We used to add A on electric fuel pump near tank, upstream of mech pump to avoid heat soak.
I'd use Rotella T6 5W-40 oil and Baldwin oil filter. Look into the issue of adding zinc to preserve cam lobes.
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I haven't had a chance to run a compression check, but it runs great. It currently has nearly new Autolite plugs, I checked one and they look like they had just been changed. The original owner was very fastidious about maintenance. One of the last notes I read from about 1995 said it was burning about a quart of oil every 600 miles, which is good info to know.
Thanks for the info on the 440-3, it's been fun learning about it. I need to get a tach installed so I can see where it's running on the freeway, especially as we just installed new tires which were a slightly larger size (had to ditch the 16.5" wheels and finally found a set of 16" wheels with 225/75/16 tires).
I plan to keep the TQ for the foreseeable future. It sounds like the right carb for the job. I have considered adding an electric pump to make it start faster, as it is it takes a lot of pumping and cranking to start it since it sits so long between starts. A TBI swap would be fun someday, but is a much lower priority.
As for oil I was planning on changing it once with a 20W/50 then changing again with a synthetic, Mobil 1, Castrol or the Rotella. I know Mobil 1 has lots of Zinc already but a can of additive isn't a bad idea.