mpd12150 said

There seems to be several posts asking questions about building a 408 but wanting to maintain a budget while obtain the most performance one can get.

I am by no means an expert and I welcome anyone and everyone to correct me at any point, but I have been asked by a few members to post my build specs for the 408 I just finished building that will be going into my son's 69 Dart GT that is a memorial build for my 19 year old son who was killer July 4, 2015.

I will start off by giving the numbers that I was able to obtain when it hit the dyno for break in and tune. I was able to obtain 413HP and 463 Torque. The following is the build specifics that I used and I am confident there are many others on here that can add to this post with great information and I welcome it. This entire ground up car build is being done on a very restrictive budget as I am a disabled and forcibly retired police officer so...to say the funds are tight is a significant understatement. I hope this helps others understand that you can build a very powerful stroked 408 without the need for very expensive aluminum heads and other high dollar parts. The key was quality on a budget. Here ya go and I do hope this helps. I will gladly answer any and all questions or private messages.

I started with a 1978 360 that was a mess. I disassembled the engine and sent the block off to be taken care of. The block was obviously cooked and cleaned. It had brass expansion plugs installed as well as new oiling plugs. I installed new cam bearings and had the cylinders torque plate honed after boring .30 over. I had it decked but just for straightness....not zero decked.

The rotating assembly is internally balanced Skat set up with a cast crank, forged I beam rods and forged Icon Flat top pistons. I used a Meiling standard volume oil pump, you DO NOT need a high volume oil pump. I used a Cloyes Double Roller timing chain...the one I used was about $65. Now...here is here is the very most important....CAM SHAFT!!

DO NOT use an off the shelf cam. Go to the Bullet cams website, www.bulletcams.com, move the cursor over the contact tab, and it will drop down cam selection. Click that link and it will be a fill in the blank page and you will need to fill it out to your specifications. Once you send it off to Bullet, they will contact you via email. I dealt with Tim Langly and he is a great guy who knows what he is talking about. It will cost you about $350 for the cam and lifters and yes, you can get one cheaper, but you will hate yourself. CONTACT BULLET and have them build you a custom grind. (there are several companies that will do a custom cam built for you, I used Bullet and I can speak to their product, I am sure there are many other guys on here that can recommend another company but this was my build and that is the power it made)

As for the heads, I am using a set of 1973 small valve 360 heads from a Challenger. These heads are nothing great. They have a set of springs good for .500 lift and that is it...besides a valve job. I have ZERO port work at all.

I am running 1.5 Mopar Performance Full Billit Roller Rockers and Comp Cams pushrods, they are nothing special for push rods, but spend good money on roller rockers...don't mess around with that.

I am running an Edelbrock Performer intake...nothing special with that....again...no porting at all.

I am running a Quick Fuel Slayer Series 750 CFM carb, when I had the engine dyno tuned they did some jet changing.

That is the build....I have about $4500 and that includes the dyno tune and I HIGHLY recommend that dyno work. When you have it on the dyno, they break it in properly, make sure it is oiling well and cooling as well. It is a controlled environment and it is being broke in and tuned by people who know what they are doing. Spend the money...it is money well spent. I spent about $670 but I had to had my distributor rebuilt as well. The dyno was a former Rosch Racing Dyno...for whatever that is worth.

As for the distributor and ignition, I am using a electronic distributor...nothing special. You do not need to spend insane money for MSD distributors, however I am using a MSD 6AL and a good set of Accel wires and thats that.

My engine makes 413hp and 463 torque. I know I left ALLOT of power on the table by not having a set of worked heads but this is a nasty little small block. It is reliable and makes bitchin power. I do intend on sending the set of 1978 heads from this engine off and have them worked for bigger valves and have a mild port and polish job done. It will cost me right around $900 to have this done but I will also have a well over 500hp iron head small block and that is my goal. I want to build 500hp iron head engines and prove you do not need Aluminum heads or any high dollar heads. People will argue that spending $900 to have iron heads worked is a waste...and that is entirely their opinion. I am an old school kind of guy even though I am only 44. I like iron heads versus aluminum.

If you build what I just told you...you will have a nasty small block making over 400hp and that will make your car one kick *** ride.

Here is my original 408 build. It has since been modified.

Click to expand...