We used to seek out earlier 440s with the stronger forged crank but that doesn't matter anymore now that all the major crank manufacturers have finally acknowledged the existence of Mopar. We can even get any stroke we want for really big inch motors. This year World Products came out with a new 440 block, available in Iron or Aluminum. It even comes with a Mopar part number on it. I haven't really heard anything about it yet but it's safe to assume it's the same high quality as all their other stuff. There are so many "seasoned" blocks out there that it's still cheaper for most applications to find a good one and have it machined.
The Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads are god sent. They really did their homework on these, they are good untouched and outstanding when someone who knows what they are doing does some porting and flow bench work on them. They bolt right on where the old iron heads did. Furthermore, they are a bargain compared to what was available from the aftermarket just ten years ago.
I'm also very optimistic about the new offerings from 440source, they are even cheaper than the Edelbrocks and they look good in the pretty pictures on the website. We'll see in'08.
At this point I have to mention that while aluminum is a good material for heads, mostly because of its light weight, it has a drawback compared to iron that must be acknowledged: iron has superior thermal qualities for the production of power. Basically, the reason you can run pump gas in an 11:1 motor with aluminum heads is that you are functionally giving up over a point of compression. It's all a corollary to that infernal "no free lunch" rule. I've seen several racers replace race ported iron heads with similar aluminum units and actually slow down. This can be overcome by using higher compression pistons and doing some quality porting work.
Wheels and tires have undergone as much improvement over the years as any other system on the car. Yeah, slicks are better and race wheels are lighter, but what I'm talking about are street tires and wheels. I might not be a fan of Blingmaster 27" billet bullet bad boyz wheels and matching 455/30/27 Curbsmasher X rated performance tires that cost more than the rolling stock on an F1 car, but I'm not really into the original 14" steelies with skinny bias ply road crayons either (no offense to you restoration guys).
I personally dig the 15" paradigm for classic old Mopars. Smaller is weeny and bigger is just not right. Some magazines have called the American Racing Torquethrust D wheel cliche but they are wrong. They are the best looking wheel to ever be put on a muscle car from the Sixties or Seventies and they are cheap enough that just about anyone can afford them. End of story. I like the reproduction Cragar SS wheels as well but they are comparatively heavy. Modern tires are light-years ahead of the old stuff in every measurable way. They last longer, they look better, and they are cheaper than ever before!
Speaking of things you'll never see under the Christmas tree, what's the first Mopar "Crate Car" going to be? There is already '69 Chevrolet Camaro and '69 Ford Mustang sheet metal to build new cars. It's just a matter of time before we get one. I think it will probably be a '72 Chrysler Town & Country or a '61 Dodge Seneca...NOT! Seriously, is it going to be a '71 Cuda or maybe a '69 Charger?
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