To stroke or not to stroke......

My $.02...For a summer months car, side loading, and premature wear would not top my list of things to watch for. The typical car around here (CT) runs for 6 months, and gets between 3-6K a year as a daily driver during that time. If it makes it to 50K, that's 10 years of use. The "high milage" ones I've seen locally are still in the 30-35K mile range, but run just fine. And that's running them all year, from 100° (last week) to 0° in the winters. (ok, the forged pistons get noisey when she's really cold..lol.) It's cheaper and easier to build the 360. In an A body, that's some cruiser, some race car, mid-low 12s and easy repeatability on pump fuel is a cinch with 4.00:1 or lower series gears and an auto. But, for a cruiser, 4.10s can be noisey (engine wise), and will add wear and tear on that engine, just like any other. For about 15% more, a 408 can be built, that will run very low 12s, on pump fuel, but do it on 3.23s, with a tight convertor. In terms of budget, a "typical" 400-450 hp 360 will run $5000-5500. That's carb to pan, all new except head castings, rods, crank, timing cover, and block. A 408 will run around $6K, plus a few hundred more for aluminum heads if you chose them...and I would if it were me. Again, all my opinion...