Bang for the Buck Thread

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wes beem

wes beem

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Lets say you have a bone stock Junkyard 360 Magnum in good shape.

You already have a good intake, Headers, mild cam, and carburetor Budgeted for.

You have 3000$ To spend to make as much additional streetable power you can.


Annnnnd go...... Im leaning towards 408 stroker kit myself. Curious what others would reccomend bang for the buck wise.
 
I'm currently running an all new rebuilt 8.25 with 3.73 gears and a spicer traclok suregrip unit
 
Stroker. Balanced, cast crank, forged piston rotating kit from Scat. $1845. Good to 500-525 hp.

Great HP and TQ vs $$$ spent for street car. Also makes peak HP/TQ at lower rpm so less strain and requirements on valvetrain (less $$)

Make sure your current stock head cc is the same as a future aluminum head cc to grow into the future with. If not get speedmaster magnum heads or just speedmaster LA aluminum ones $1165.
 
66fyssh said:
Stroker kit sounds good. Any money left over for a torque converter and gears?
Click to expand...
Cylinder heads, #1 stop. Outfitted with roller rockers.
All the money is now gone.

A stroker kit and stock cylinder heads? Ehhhhh, the stock cylinder head will only support so much power. The torque will be over the top! The HP increase, not so much.

There’s a video of that exact build on the net. IIRC, it was engine power nation tv show.

Edit; Found it;

 
Build the stock stroke Magnum and spend all the rest on goodies to make the CAR itself faster and better.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Cylinder heads, #1 stop. Outfitted with roller rockers.
All the money is now gone.

A stroker kit and stock cylinder heads? Ehhhhh, the stock cylinder head will only support so much power. The torque will be over the top! The HP increase, not so much.

There’s a video of that exact build on the net. IIRC, it was engine power nation tv show.

Edit; Found it;

Click to expand...

If you knew eventually the end goal was to have a stroked 408 with better heads roller rockers ext, do you still think the heads would make the most difference in the short time? My budget will probably allow me to spend about 3000$ a year on car upgrades. So whatever I do to it, it will have to go a full driving season with just that.

Love hearing everyones different takes on things.
 
wes beem said:
If you knew eventually the end goal was to have a stroked 408 with better heads roller rockers ext, do you still think the heads would make the most difference in the short time? My budget will probably allow me to spend about 3000$ a year on car upgrades. So whatever I do to it, it will have to go a full driving season with just that.

Love hearing everyones different takes on things.
Click to expand...
I'd get the top end with the initial $ 3000.
 
wes beem said:
If you knew eventually the end goal was to have a stroked 408 with better heads roller rockers ext, do you still think the heads would make the most difference in the short time? My budget will probably allow me to spend about 3000$ a year on car upgrades. So whatever I do to it, it will have to go a full driving season with just that.

Love hearing everyones different takes on things.
Click to expand...
So, we’ve got a mild magnum, a built rear end and $3k.

I’d start with a good tq converter, shift kit, drag radials and frame connectors. Whatever is left I’d save for next year and then do heads, rockers and big cam.
 
Do what you want, but 3K is the tip of the iceberg talking about engine work. I can take a well prepped A body with a near stock engine and whip the **** out of one that's not prepped good but has a stroker. If you can't get it to the ground, it doesn't matter what's under the hood.
 
MidnightSwinger said:
So, we’ve got a mild magnum, a built rear end and $3k.

I’d start with a good tq converter, shift kit, drag radials and frame connectors. Whatever is left I’d save for next year and then do heads, rockers and big cam.
Click to expand...
This is what I'm talkin about ^^^^^ makes MUCH more sense.
 
Loving the info so far, Ive got the shift kit, currently running 275 60's BF Goodrich radials out back and 155 80s up front. I was also considering the frame connectors as well.

What would you reccomend in the way of Converters?
 
MidnightSwinger said:
So, we’ve got a mild magnum, a built rear end and $3k.

I’d start with a good tq converter, shift kit, drag radials and frame connectors. Whatever is left I’d save for next year and then do heads, rockers and big cam.
Click to expand...
Why would you get a torque convertor ? wasted money when the future is a stroker.
 
wes beem said:
Loving the info so far, Ive got the shift kit, currently running 275 60's BF Goodrich radials out back and 155 80s up front. I was also considering the frame connectors as well.

What would you reccomend in the way of Converters?
Click to expand...
How mild is your cam? Since you already have the tires and shift kit, put that $$ into good adjustable shocks.
 
wes beem said:
If you knew eventually the end goal was to have a stroked 408 with better heads roller rockers ext, do you still think the heads would make the most difference in the short time? My budget will probably allow me to spend about 3000$ a year on car upgrades. So whatever I do to it, it will have to go a full driving season with just that.

Love hearing everyones different takes on things.
Click to expand...

Was your plan to just reuse the junkyard heads untouched? The cost to rebuilt would go into a new aluminum ones. If getting new head make sure the cc fits available piston for your future stroker plans. Also need to choose whether you are staying Mangnum valvetrain, intake, heads or going to LA setup.

What's the end goal for HP here? How much street vs dragstrip sessions. Then work backwards.
 
Trick Flow heads and Harland Sharp rockers. The best $ 3000 you can spend.
Don't let anyone steer you in the Chinese head direction.
Spend your money once, wisely.
 
MidnightSwinger said:
How mild is your cam? Since you already have the tires and shift kit, put that $$ into good adjustable shocks.
Click to expand...

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autoxcuda said:
one step up from stock 340 cam?

At that point I guess you are banking parts on the motor. Maybe just heads and rockers. But that choice is what HP/TQ you want to end up with. I don't see reason for TF heads and HS rockers for 450 HP stroker motor.
Click to expand...
If your building a stroker and not using the best OOTB cylinder head, you are starting backwards. lol
One mans junk...... lol
 
any HP number thats starts with a 4 will make me pretty happy. It will be a street driven car 95% of the time. It MIGHT go down a drag strip once or twice just to get a time slip or for fun/***** and giggles, but id like it to be able to show some *** when it needs to...
 
fishmens67 said:
If your building a stroker and not using the best OOTB cylinder head, you are starting backwards. lol
One mans junk...... lol
Click to expand...

Where does he want to end up?

If it's 700 hp, the TF heads would be one mans junk.... and so would the block, intake, and a lot more doing it incrementally.
 
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