Forgive me if this is a stupid question. But, I've always been somewhat confused about aftermarket blocks. I realize this is very general, and the answer is almost garanteed to be "it depends", but: how many parts do "Mopar-based" aftermarket blocks actually share with production motors? Some of the giant blocks I assume have to change the cylinder spacing to accomodate such large displacements. And if they do, I'd imagine that means pretty much no factory Mopar part will bolt up anymore (heads, intake cam, headers) except maybe the dizzy, starter/accessories, motor mounts, and trabsmission bolt pattern. So does it really mean anything to be a "440-based" aftermarket block?
I thought about this while daydreaming of a (apparently non-existent) 600ci+ 440 stroker. 440source says the 543 kit is the largest possible because "any bigger and the rods will actually hit the camshaft." So my first thought was to find an aftermarket block with pretty much the same everything except taller, with more distance between the cam and crank centerlines. That way you have the ocean of 440 aftermarket support to choose parts from, but can obtain whatever ridiculous displacement you want. I wasn't succesful finding anything though, primarily because I don't know how to search for it. I suppose it would be self-sabotage in the busniess sense to post tables of all their motor's dimensions and what factory parts bolt up and what doesn't.
Obviously I have a lot to learn.
