to stroke or not to stroke?
I disagree with this statement. Nobody says " I will build a stock 360 just to be different"! In fact, there are way more stockers out there than strokers.
I don't think that's so true in 2015. The reason is cost. You can buy a 4" cast crank for $370, re-use your factory 6.123" rods (if you want) with lighter pistons that also cost roughly the same as a stock-stroke piston and install it all without any modifications to the main saddles or block. Why wouldn't you do that?
The only reason to
not make that choice is because you are trying to prove that a non-stroker will make the same power because logic does not support it. Read all the old threads where guys are trying to justify building a 318 rather than a 360. You can build the 318 to the moon but do the same things to a 360 and it will always make more power. It's physics, not opinion. More air/fuel for a given volume = more power.
But, I say prove it. Build two engines EXACTLY the same and see which one makes more power.
And I think a lot more goes into it than what else you mentioned in your post.
Like what?
I would much rather have a stock block 360 than a stroker! Why? Because a couple of hundred bucks replaces the entire engine if something should let loose.
So blowing up junkyard 360s is less cost effective than building a stroked bottom end? What sense does that make? Would you run a 40 year old junkyard 8:1:1 short block with factory balancing and bearing tolerances and heavy rotating parts without any prep? If so that's fine but that's not really fair here.
Again, think about it from a cost standpoint. If you are building something from a bare block why choose less cubes for the same price?
Maybe if you are running a gnarly stick car and are launching at 7 grand, well maybe you don't need a stroker. Most other applications can only benefit from more volume though. Unless I have it all backwards, I dunno.
And if I'm slower than your stroker, it means I get to go first. If I'm more consistant, I'll put your stroker on the trailer in the first round.
Please explain how you equate engine displacement with consistency at the drags.
