512 stroker for the street??

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Budgetmoparman

Budgetmoparman

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I'm building my first stroker and want to hear your thoughts and need advice on the build. The car is a 68 GTX 4spd with 3.54 gears. I'm looking to build a street friendly pump gas motor for cruising the back roads and burning tires. The block is a 440 that will have to be .040 to clean up. My plan is to use a 440 source kit 440.512.5075 which has -27 dish pistons sitting -.010" below the deck, Marsh performance sidewinder heads which are 84cc which should give me around 9.5cr, hydraulic flat tappet cam since this motor will probably never see 6000rpm, Edelbrock rpm dual plane intake, 4bbl carb, headders. 1st question- am I on the right track with this combination or should I use something different? 2nd question- what would be a good cam choice to keep it street friendly and have good torque? 3rd question- are the sidewinder heads a good choice or should I use a different head? I know this isn't an A body but there is a wealth of knowledge here and I appreciate any help I can get.
 
I assume you've read my book a couple of times? https://www.amazon.com/dp/1613250924/?tag=fabo03-20
If not you might start there. I don't see anything wrong with your plan as long as the heads are okay. I don't have any experience with those heads and I'd never use them myself but to each his own. For a street car I'd use Trick Flow 240 heads on an engine that size. The cam doesn't have to be very big to be effective if the heads are any good. With the TF240 heads I'd use a hyd roller cam with duration around 240@050. If you don't already own a carb or distributor then I'd recommend a Holley Sniper and Hyperspark setup. The Sniper will work better than a carb on the street once you get it dialed in.
 
AndyF said:
I assume you've read my book a couple of times? https://www.amazon.com/dp/1613250924/?tag=fabo03-20
If not you might start there. I don't see anything wrong with your plan as long as the heads are okay. I don't have any experience with those heads and I'd never use them myself but to each his own. For a street car I'd use Trick Flow 240 heads on an engine that size. The cam doesn't have to be very big to be effective if the heads are any good. With the TF240 heads I'd use a hyd roller cam with duration around 240@050. If you don't already own a carb or distributor then I'd recommend a Holley Sniper and Hyperspark setup. The Sniper will work better than a carb on the street once you get it dialed in.
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I have not read your book yet, I will have to check it out. I do own, and have read, Big-Block Mopar Performance by Chuck Senatore. I would love to go with efi and a roller setup but I'm trying to stay as budget friendly as possible because it isn't my checkbook, the motor is for a friend. Is a roller cam absolutely necessary for a mild street build? If it is then I guess he will have to buy one. Thanks for your advice andyf. I will look into your book.
 
I get a charge of all the guys building these hot rod powerplants for the street. Oh they are fun to drive if you can keep the tires underneath of them. What fun is it to blaze the tires every time you push on the gas. We both leave the stop light at the same time and I will beat you to the next light. I can see you in my mirror behind me with your tires up in smoke! I'll see you at the car show and I'll drive mine 4 hours to get there. You will need a $50,000 truck and trailer to get yours there. :poke::lol::lol:
 
Budgetmoparman said:
I have not read your book yet, I will have to check it out. I do own, and have read, Big-Block Mopar Performance by Chuck Senatore. I would love to go with efi and a roller setup but I'm trying to stay as budget friendly as possible because it isn't my checkbook, the motor is for a friend. Is a roller cam absolutely necessary for a mild street build? If it is then I guess he will have to buy one. Thanks for your advice andyf. I will look into your book.
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EFI doesn't cost any more if your are buying all new parts for a new build. If you already have a carb, distributor, fuel tank, etc. then yes it costs more to replace those parts. A hyd roller cam isn't required for a street engine but it is a good investment if you intend to drive the car a lot. The reliability of flat tappet cams seems to have gone down significantly over the last 10 years.
 
toolmanmike said:
I get a charge of all the guys building these hot rod powerplants for the street. Oh they are fun to drive if you can keep the tires underneath of them. What fun is it to blaze the tires every time you push on the gas. We both leave the stop light at the same time and I will beat you to the next light. I can see you in my mirror behind me with your tires up in smoke! I'll see you at the car show and I'll drive mine 4 hours to get there. You will need a $50,000 truck and trailer to get yours there. :poke::lol::lol:
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agreed, with the intended use being ''to build a street friendly pump gas motor for cruising the back roads and burning tires'' then a decent 440 will do just that. i guess the friend wants to be able to say he's got a 512 stroker though, in which case surely he would also want a roller cam too? as i say imo a good 440 will do everything on the brief.
neil.
ps without the stroker kit he could afford to get the roller cam, efi etc for the 440, just saying :thumbsup:
 
mygasser said:
agreed, with the intended use being ''to build a street friendly pump gas motor for cruising the back roads and burning tires'' then a decent 440 will do just that. i guess the friend wants to be able to say he's got a 512 stroker though, in which case surely he would also want a roller cam too? as i say imo a good 440 will do everything on the brief.
neil.
ps without the stroker kit he could afford to get the roller cam, efi etc for the 440, just saying :thumbsup:
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Not necessary but if you're going that far why not. It would be nice to be able to run any oil you want and rollers are efficient.
 
I figured I would go with a stoker because every time someone posts looking for help to build a 500hp big block the usual response is "no replacement for displacement" and everyone always says "go with a stroker", and then when someone looks for advise on a 500" stroker everyone says "go with the 512" for the same price". I have searched a lot of forums looking at different builds but this is my first stroker so I wanted to make sure I was on the right track with the parts. I will have to order andy"s book and do some research to see what works and what doesn't.
 
A stroker makes a lot of sense if you're going to do a full rebuild. The cost is only slightly more to buy new parts than rebuild all the old parts. The bigger engine provides more torque and/or more power depending on how the build is put together. How far you go with the build just depends on the budget and the goals for the build. I have a recipe that I follow for performance stroker engines but the end result might be more expensive than what some people want to spend.
 
Love my 512.
2E4E858F-13FB-48D5-B5A1-CB450E07D74C.jpeg


Here’s the build details at the sister site.
roadrunner 8.4
 
AndyF said:
A stroker makes a lot of sense if you're going to do a full rebuild. The cost is only slightly more to buy new parts than rebuild all the old parts. The bigger engine provides more torque and/or more power depending on how the build is put together. How far you go with the build just depends on the budget and the goals for the build. I have a recipe that I follow for performance stroker engines but the end result might be more expensive than what some people want to spend.
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The motor was originally rebuilt in the mid 80's. The block was bored to .030, the cylinders have some taper so it will be honed to .040 to clean it up. The crank needs to be ground and polished and the rods need to be reconditioned so stroker seemed like the way to go. The iron heads need a complete rebuild so aluminum is the smarter way to go. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of having a big block stroker?
 
toolmanmike said:
I get a charge of all the guys building these hot rod powerplants for the street. Oh they are fun to drive if you can keep the tires underneath of them. What fun is it to blaze the tires every time you push on the gas. We both leave the stop light at the same time and I will beat you to the next light. I can see you in my mirror behind me with your tires up in smoke! I'll see you at the car show and I'll drive mine 4 hours to get there. You will need a $50,000 truck and trailer to get yours there. :poke::lol::lol:
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I can promise you that it wouldn’t end that way against my roadrunner. :thumbsup:
 
budget mopar,like your idea,i getting a 69 dart for the street,it has a 440 with iron heads and 509 cam which is very streetable,sooner or later ill put a stroker in it im sure,it depends what you do with the car and how far and much you drive it,i love strokers,never had one on the street before,been into mopars 45 years,had drag cars mostly,street cars as a kid
 
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