Building a 408/416 stroker

[Dartontario]

Looking to have a stroker built for my 70 dart. Lots of threads ideas and support. There seems to be some key builders out there and looking for experiences and results from these engine builders.

 

[p/schallenger]

what are you looking at doing with the thing ? it's a pretty straight forward build. what kind of hp are you looking to get, street strip just street just strip ? the biggest thing i'll tell you right now is cylinder head selection regardless of aplication you intend to use it , do not skimp on a good set of heads. even a fully ported x-j-o head will be marginal on a street strip motor. i make an honest 550 hp out of a 416 with w2 heads(2.08 valves) 10.5 comp,comp cams have alot of cams for this application. mine is a custom ultradyne solid lifter .585 lift 259@50. i have the cam card if if you want all the specs. also get the proper windage tray and pan. at the time nobody was making all this bolt on stuff for stroker small blocks but i think milodon makes all this stuff now. also i didn't do anything fancy to the mains. no studs and haven't had a lick of trouble in 6 years of racing and limited street driving.i don't think i'll ever build another one though, the reason is you can build basically a stock 440 with a set of cleaned up 452 heads six pack replacement flat tops a racer brown custom solid lifter cam and make like 560 hp with a stock steel crank and stock rods .i can get you the combo that would do this and it would be cheaper to build than a small block.now i know that everyone will say that you will be able to reuse a whole bunch of stuff from you existing small block but in reality what are you going to use ? most guys run an 1-5/8's header on there smallblock but that is way to small for a stroker, you'll need a 750 plus carb , single plane manifold, heads and like i said earlier you'll need something that will flow. in the end you will be buying all this stuff anyways so why not just build a big block 440, cores are relatively cheap and you won't be disapointed with the performance street and track. the stroker is an awesome engine and a blast to drive but way easier just to do a 440 in my opinion

 

[MRL Performance]

It may cost less to build a budget BBM over a Stroker SBM, but if the car is setup for SBM, you have all the expense of converting it over. Sometimes its a pain and may be a total wash in the end.

SBM strokers can perform well with stock heads, if your not looking for all out HP. We have built many of them, and there are a LOT of guys here that have stock heads on their strokers that will tell you they perform very well.

Depending on the level of performance your looking for, how complete an engine you want(short block, long block, complete turn key), dictates the price.

If you have a hard budget to work with, thats something you need to put out there right up front. No sense having a shop quote you a $8000 engine if you only have $4000 to spend.

 

[Dartontario]

Mike , Thanks I am only interested in SB stroker. I will have to contact you thru e-mail/phone to discuss some of your previous projects and see if you can come up with something that will suit my application.
Would you rather me call or email ?

Thanks

 

[1wild&crazyguy]

SBM strokers can perform well with stock heads, if your not looking for all out HP. We have built many of them, and there are a LOT of guys here that have stock heads on their strokers that will tell you they perform very well.

Yes.

And even if the goal is big hp, the stock castings have a decent amount of room to get into 500's hp range.

Stock port volumes are in the 155-160 range...and when ported to the 260-285cfm, approach 175-190 cc.
I currently have some 915 J heads at 186cc's and 273-282 cfm @.500-.530 lift which is without a doubt enough to allow a 410cid sb to dip into the 500's HP range. And it will also rev high 6's just fine.

 

[moper]

Yes.

And even if the goal is big hp, the stock castings have a decent amount of room to get into 500's hp range.

Stock port volumes are in the 155-160 range...and when ported to the 260-285cfm, approach 175-190 cc.
I currently have some 915 J heads at 186cc's and 273-282 cfm @.500-.530 lift which is without a doubt enough to allow a 410cid sb to dip into the 500's HP range. And it will also rev high 6's just fine.

For anyone not porting themselves or paying for an engine the cost vs return needs to be taken into account. Aftermarket heads are good enough and cheap enough now that beyond mild strokers - whose owners will say run very well - replacing the heads makes sense. The customer spends less to get more. Like MRL also said - It's not worth spec'ing an $8000 engine when he only has $4000. Paying to properly set up factory iron is becoming cost prohibitive. Nevermind the technical benefits of a newer design head.

 

[Brian Hafliger]

Looking to have a stroker built for my 70 dart. Lots of threads ideas and support. There seems to be some key builders out there and looking for experiences and results from these engine builders.

Can you post more info about application, budget, and HP goal?

 

[Dartontario]

70 Dart 4spd.. Street & Strip use.
500-550 hp range.
Looking for a none modified hood application, ie Air gap intake
RHS or Edelbrock heads with porting
TTI headers
Full exhaust
Looking for Forged stroker crank and rods.
comp ratio for pump gas
Hydraulic or Hydrualic roller cam

 

[moper]

I'm not professional, but a package that has worked well - 4" crank (I've used K1, Eagle or Callies forged - A good bet now might be BPE's crank), I beam rods, SRP dished forged pistons set to .005" proud of deck, RPM heads w/stage II or CNC port job, corrected valve job, milled to set compresion at 11:1 static using .039 gaskets. Solid flat tappet or solid roller in the 250-255°@.050 range. With an Air Gap and 950HP and Comp's XR286R made 540hp on pump 91 and is driven almost daily. If you're looking for an honest pump gas 550hp I don't think a hydraulic is going to get it done. 450-480s pretty easy, but 550 you kind of need to run a real camshaft.

 

[MRL Performance]

Eddy heads get my nod. They are less than 1/2 the weight of the X heads and flow well with little work. CNC port job is not needed for the 500-550hp range. A good port job will work. You can get close to 550hp with the right cam, and I would go hydraulic roller if you want the power and want to stay with a hydraulic. RPM AG is the right intake.

Forged crank, SCAT I beams, SRP pistons, 1.6 rockers, Voodoo 60413 cam, good rings, good bearings, GOOD carb(I love the Holley HP Ultra), Good machine work, and your there.

 

[Newf]

Expect to spend upwards of $12,000+ to build a 550hp smallblock. At least in Canada. As mentioned earlier for the iron heads to flow and perform as well as the alloys, unless you want all stock look, you are better off going with some Eddys. I'm at $10,000 with my 416 so far and that is just for the tall block with eddy heads(no port work), scat forged bottom end, machine work, conical springs titanium retainers, comp roller cam, hughes 1.6 roller rockers, and custom push rods. I did consider a 440 for my Demon at first but found a date correct 340 block and wanted to have room to work on it in the engine bay as well as have a much lighter front end. Good luck with the build.

 

[340sFastback]

I think I have around $8,500 - $9,000 into my engine and that includes TTI headers, new Holley 750 DP, new FlowKooler water pump, new Unilite distributor, new Carter high volume fuel pump, Stage 2 ports eddy heads with upgraded springs and 10 degree locks/retainers, retrofit hydraulic roller cam, Scat cast crank and Scat I-beams, line hone, hone with plates, deck block to zero etc etc. I assembled it myself although I am not sure I recommend that to everyone. My combo is suppose to put out 500+ hp and 500 tq but I have not dyno'ed it yet. So if you take off all the accessories the engine itself was around $7,500 - $8,000. I believe the heads/cam were around $4,000. So the cost of building a stroker is mostly in the heads/springs/locks/cam cause that is where the power is made.

 

[Brian Hafliger]

70 Dart 4spd.. Street & Strip use.
500-550 hp range.
Looking for a none modified hood application, ie Air gap intake
RHS or Edelbrock heads with porting
TTI headers
Full exhaust
Looking for Forged stroker crank and rods.
comp ratio for pump gas
Hydraulic or Hydrualic roller cam

Ported RHS heads, 248 hyd. roller, 10:1, will make 520's HP. Cannucky on here has one of our strokers that makes that power. We now offer MSD's ready to run dist., and recommend a 950HP at the min...
This is a super easy build, just needs good components/machine work/tune and your there.
Brian

 

[cudaspaz]

Local guy here can build one hell of a 360 cubed J head motor pushing 450 horse for $3750.00.
His strokers are a bit more but well worth it. Usually around $5500.00 and up.

I' ve been driving my 360 for 4 years now and hasn't missed a lick.