hi,,sounds like what happened to me,,.check and mike the cam bearings,,there probably ok,,.any metal particals are in the bottom of the oil pan.,there not going anywhere,,cant get past the filter,,flush pan,,or drop pan and clean..metal bits did get to oil pump,,replace pump with a high volume trw pump,,cheap and god insurance,,new timing chain and gear,,should not have to pull motor but may be easer to pull pan,,..when this happened to us it ws a bad cam only,and that 440 went on for many years,,.with the rockers off you can pressure test the cylenders ..,hope there ok ,that a valve didnt hit a piston top,,your cam dose not have a lot of lift and there is a lot of room up on top of pistons,,there flat top units...,there is about a half inch closed clearance,,.clean the oil pickup tube real good..,good luck ,,keep us posted,,..rick