383 / 432 Mopar stroker short block cost & build
That is a pretty mild grind-what heads do you plan to use?
The mild cam is a Crower 267/271, 220/223 @ .05. I'm hoping it will work well in a 4000 lb Challenger with 3.23 axle gears, and 5200 ft altitude. So everything points toward the need for low rpm torque, so I was going that direction. If the cam proves too mild I can always change it out. I would not mind going a solid lifter flat tappet.
Firefighter Ron had suggested the Crower cam one step up from the one I picked, but I was concerned of loss of low rpm torque, and they say to pick the smaller cam if your on the fence.
I thought of going with a 400 block, but this 383 was sitting there, and still turned over smoothly, so that made the deal right there.
The 383 engine had only 80k miles on it. I will reuse the OEM stamped rocker arms, rocker shafts and pushrods. I checked all 16 rocker arms for correct ratio; each of them was off ratio by less than ONE percent. So much for the talk of real low rocker ratios on OEM stamped rocker arms. Maybe I was lucky. If I end up needing a little more mid-top HP I have a set of 1.6 Crane iron rocker arms that I may try, which with the mild cam will up the .05 duration to 223/226, and push the valve lift to over .500.
For cylinder heads, I need to keep the cost down. I've dumped too much money in this car:). Plan to use the OEM 906 heads with home porting job based on several internet articles including one about the stage 5 heads. The Diamond flat top pistons will allow for aluminum heads in the future without having to redo the short block. My Ford work truck has a 428 FE engine, and runs real well at my cold climate with iron heads and iron intake manifold, so I was going to go that route for now.
I'm not sure if I should post my compression ratio study for iron vs alum heads. It's not too long but not sure if it is of interest.
