i have a 76 440 with 452 heads, and have it mostly taken apart. I plan on getting the deck height shaved down to a zero deck to have reasonable compression, but i noticed that the piston seems to be damn near close to the top of the deck when i turn the crank, whats up with that. and this motor has never been taken apart before.

other plans include
-edelbrock hi rise dual plane, performer rpm intake
-lunati voodoo cam .513" lift(or .480" hydraulic)
-edelbrock or holley 750-800 cfm carb


i have not bought any parts yet due to lack of funds (16 and no job yet)and i want some advice, im giong for 450+ hp and want an aggressive lopey idle, but want to have enough vaccum to run power brakes. I also want to run power steering (will the small block unit swith over? same for a/c)and possibly a/c. i know that seems stupid to want that much power but i got to have it if ill be driving a mopar!
if i run a canister will that allow for enough vaccum? also, what mods to the k-frame/ motor mounts need to be done to accept the big block(had a small block) on the 72 satellite...

also how do i get the cam out of the block, this is my first rebuild and i have had no problems except that the oil pump/ignition gear will not move from the cam and i dont want to break anything, what else needs to be done to get the cam out? any pointers for the crank and rods and pistons coming out next...  

cmon ,someone answer bucs question, jeez, wake up room,if no replies by tomorrow, tuesday buc ill type the info you need but dang I reply to over 90% of active and nonactive posts and typed a response to you that took 20 minutes to type and got the permission denied so I said f it,.someone step up you bunch of lazy arses.  

check the main webbing shell thickness first off buc, if its .575 you have a good starting point for a good block ,only a few early 440s had ,575 main saddle thickness and only the 76 had the .575 thickness. also,less nickel content than an earlier block but less core shift on a newer block as tech advances made a better block and the later block is heavier than an early block,most other 440s had only .375 saddle webbing,  

what?  

hello?  i know poeple know, just some anwsers would be nice  

buc, scrape the carbon off the pistons if any is present, measure distance in the hole ,there were so many different combos its possible you got lucky as with the 452 heads between 86 and 88 ccs and you saying zero deck height your running over 10.1 to 1 compression. if you were to say .018 in the hole compression would be 9.5 to 1. you should actually be around .060 to .080 in the hole on a factory 76 block. weird *** happens  with mopar engines or ya just got lucky.hahaha take it to a machine shop so they can clarify what I said to you. does 10.1 or more at zero deck sound like a standard 76 engine block that hasnt been milled? possible but highly unlikely,machine shop can explain this and the main saddle thickness to you as on a few of the 76 blocks they used thicker main shell webbing of .575 which is a good thing or the weaker .375 shell which is weaker.If what you say is true you got lucky for true haha and it is possible  

now, scrape the carbon off the pistons and check deck height again and scrape some bucks up and take it to the machine shop. you just may have a factory 1976 10.1 plus compression engine ,an aftermarket piston ,a milled block or as I said ya got lucky ,lemme know what ya find out.....  

could be someone switched to an earlier factory piston also, all these are legitimate possibilities,take care  

1 step at a time, machine shop  

now stfu heh, just kiddin, your combo sounds good bro the .484 outta get you there and nice choppy idle, the lunati .513 may require flycutting the flattops for proper piston to valve clearance. I would choose the .484 this will get ya 450 at the crank and into the mid 12s with proper converter and gearing considering the weight of your boat, heh oops, car  

thanks guys, this is very helpful, i will measure the deck height, or may take it to a machine shop and let them tell me for shure. but i am still wondering about the cam removal and the other questions, ill post some pics soon  

have them check for that .575 main bearing saddle shell too buc, if its the ,575 you got good bones but the .375 still has more webbing than your combination will require by far, measure the block height too buc, thats the measurement from the centerline of the crank to the top of the deck, this will tell you if the blocks been milled. on the cam removal you have to remove the distributor first, then reach in and pullout the distributor drive rod and gear,if its stuck, wait.remove the crank pulley,take off the crank bolt, torque wrench or breaker bar 1/2 diameter works well, remove the harmonic balancer with a thru bolt type puller. the puller end on crank must not hit the crank threads. ,it should screw into at least 2 of your balacer bolts. the more opposed the better, meaning you want to try to pull it straight off as possible.after that remove the timing chain cover.I pull the chain off by just removing the cam gear bolt or bolts now ya can easily remove the distributor drive  rod and gear by reaching in and pulling it out.keep the washer type oil slinger.reinstall the camgear and gently roll and slide cam out.while you have the jaw puller out ya might as well remove the crank gear. I think you can take off the waterpump housing and the fan on your own,I got faith in ya bro, keep me posted buc, take care  

here is a picture showing the piston deck height

just copy and paste the url

http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/4/web/2464000-2464999/2464510_31_full.jpg  

on the pistons and rods if there is a decent size ridge at the top of bore you need a ridge reamer to remove the ridge or if the ridge is slight apply a good dose of oil or penetrating oil to bores.take off the main caps making sure they are marked for their original saddle, if not tag them from the front to the back.remove the rear main seal cap,the bolts are indented into holes drilled in the caps.I believe you will need a 12 point 3/8,possibly 10mm heh. deep socket. turn the crank to gain access to a few of the rod nuts and  remove them.install a hose or vacuum line over each rod bolt so ya dont scuff the cylinders and with a broom handle on the pin boss gently hit it with a hammer til the piston comes out.keep turning until you can take a few more nuts off a couple rods,same procedure as above do this until all the pistons are out.remove the crank,keep the bearings together on the rods and crank mains so the machine shop can see if you have any burnt or scuffed bearings .remove fuel pump and steel rod drive ,on the fuel pump drive rod you either turn the block over and it should fall out or remove the galley plug just under the pump,either way will work.the .513 is a good cam and kb pistons are cheap and have big reliefs for piston to head and piston to valve clearances then just mill the heads.9.8 compression max for a good streeter 10.5 for a dual purpose using a lil 110 along with the 93 pump and your car will be well respected, the original power box you have should work well but ya need the bigblock pump and brackets of course, checkout the hose fittings on both to see if they fit. If not just get 2 new ones made. ,well get it right as you proceed,I got a few bigblock powersteering pumps and brackets ,with hoses free if you need them. you can remove the freeze plugs yourself but after that just take it to the machine shop ,lemme know how its going buc, right rear gearing and converter your rides gonna scream, 1 step at a time and take your time.  

I aint typing all that crap in buc, send a link  if ya want but I think everythings gonna be fine