[Alex (Alex)]

Hahahaha if you shorten assembly to a.s.s. it gets stroppy ! ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

[Dave_R (Roppa440)]

I seem to have a very 'Frank Bruno' view of the world from the security of the canvas at the moment!

[Jack T (Jackt)]

Guys, one way to tell which rods are in the block is to check the harmonic balancer. The 440 Magnum engine gets a symetrical balancer and the 440 six-pack gets one that is asymetrical due to the heavier rods. As I understand things, both cranks are the same but the balancers, rods and pistons are different on the two engines.

[Donald Luke (Oerm2133)]

1) 440 crankshaft info quoted from Chrysler Direct Connection Racing Manual "The 440 ('67-73) uses a forged crank of which there are several versions. The standard early model ('67-70) 440-4bbl crank was PN 2536983.(side note here, the 4bbl and 6 bbl versions in years '67-69 used this crank). The 440-6bbl ('70-71) used a heavy duty crank PN 3512036 with special external balancing. The special external balancing was required because of the 440-6 bbl's heavy connecting rods(hemi forgings with 3/8' rod bolts). The '72 and '73 440-4bbl high performance engine uses a different crank, PN 3671283. The standard 440 ('73) uses PN 3671242 crank. Both of these cranks are forged and differ from the '71 crank primarily in the balance weights that are required because of the lighter pistons used in the '72-'72 engines. The cast crank was introduced in the 440 in 1974. This crank also requires external balancing.
2) quoted from Hollander wrecking yard manual, section on engine ID. Sample shown is "PT 225 T 2168 5000" PT stands for plant code, 225 is engine code or size, T engine model, 2168 is date code(which in this case is 1968 (D), and the 5000 is daily production number. 3) per the Dodge Service manual, if a crankshaft was undersize, a maltese cross would be on the engine top pad accompanied by either Mxxx or Rxxx with the x's representing either the main or rod bearing journal(s) that are undersize. It would also be on the crankshaft counterweight 4) The story I got from both Chrysler and the machine shop that did my work was that HP2 on the 440 identified the 440 6bbl short block - notice I said short block. However the local Dodge dealer (a renowned high performance guru in Southern California at the time) told me that Chrysler overestimated interest in the six pack option and built too many six pack short blocks and at times would run out of the standard HP short blocks at the factory so used the HP2 blocks instead to keep the line moving. But only the 1970 & 1971 blocks had the special crank, rods, and dampner - the earlier blocks (4bbl and 6 bbl) had identical components. Oh yeah, the true 1970-71 six pack blocks also had a three bolt cam versus the one bolt cam for other big blocks. 5) The numbers and other stuff cast on the side of the block identify the day, shift, time, etc when the block was cast. Nothing on the top pad identifies shift. FYI - I have a numbers matching 1970 Dodge Challenger JS29U0Exxxxxx. It has the original engine in it and the top pad is stamped HP2. The engine contains the rare six pack crank and rods as well as the externally balanced dampner. This is the way I bought the car almost 30 years ago. As would be expected, since the car was built in Los Angeles, the pad is also stamped LA. 6) Although the Hollander manual states the R is for regular gas is also states that this also applies only to the 318. Until the later years, I believe the lowest compression used in a 440 was 9.5, generally not an engine that would run well on regular gas.

[Dave-R (Roppa440)]

Thanks for that Donald. That kind of backs up what I originally thought about HP/HP2.

[Ted S (Teds)]

2ND SHIFT WAS THE DAY SHIFT

[Dave-R (Roppa440)]

I found this while I was looking for something else. It is from a data sheet detailing every Chrysler engine made to date.

"75 and earlier are thick wall castings, (up to .060 overbore)
76 and later are thin wall castings (up to .020 overbore)
Late 68 and later 440 could also be had as HP or HP2, internal differences for durability (con rods, crank etc)
70 & later 440 HP2 blocks have a 1" wide strip that runs most of the length of the block across the freeze plug hole for extra strength
around about 72 all 440s (likely all B/RB's) got this HP2 strip."