I picked up a block today

That's the cylinder core/block casting # I used for 4.040...now keep it quiet before everyone catches on...

A long time ago, there was an article on some shop what was boring out early 318's - like .150" over - and welding up cranks to make big inch motors. This was long before you could buy a stroker crank. I'm not sure if it was a magazine or an old book on Mopar engines.