Has anyone ran one long term and put a bunch of miles on one? I bought an RV and keep going back and forth on whether or not to do a small block stroker or big block.
small block stroker longevity
- Thread starter mgoblue9798
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Built right last forever
dano
Evil Handy Man
What does the RV have in it now?
Yep, same rod/stroke ratio as 454 Chevrolet which has been in thousands of motor homes over the years.
It has a 318, but that doesn't matter much as I will be changing everything anyways. Not going to hit the road with stuff that is 50 years old. Radiator and accesories will all be replaced. Trans will be 518 but I have big block adapter on the shelf.
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How many miles have you put on it though? Trying to find anyone that has a high mile example.
Do you have an example you care to share?
autoxcuda
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Its not my primary vehicle any more so it’s only got like 15k miles on it
The concern people bring up with 4” stoke is the bore to stroke ratio and rod angularity
And what was posted before is that it’s the bore vs stroke ratio is same at the common 454.
autoxcuda
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Just like you would do a good rebuild on any other motor.
poor quality work on a 318 will give you the same poor quality results on a stroker.
K.O. SWINGER
Meeting in the alley since 1976
I think you're asking good questions, and I think rod angles are acceptable I don't believe that 454 are known for their exceptional long lifespan but my biggest concern with the stroker Dynamics is piston speed which can be overcome with quality internal parts. But it seems like for your application that would not come into play at all. I don't see why it wouldn't make an excellent RV power pack. If it was me I would use a light reciprocating unit quality cast crank such as scat some good hyper Pistons and you should be good to go .
SS Lancer
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Don't throw 727 away it most likely has 4 gear front and rear planetary's
if original .
Yes sir I plan to tear it down to see what internals will swap and upgrade my 518.
I meant an example of a 408 with some miles on it. I know most are built for toys or racing so there wouldn't be many examples, but I would like to know of at least one real world deal. The engine will be built right regardless of what it is.
Thank you. The 454 is exactly why I am asking these questions as they are not known for long lifespan in an RV. Motor will not see north of 5000 rpm regardless of which one I build. I only want to do the motorhome engine r/r once. This stuff isn't as much fun as it was when I was a young buck.
My old 410 stroker lasted about 8 years...but I beat on my car HARD (driven on the street every weekend, and raced almost every weekend in the summer). It finally kicked a rod out 10 feet before the finish line in Rd 3 of a race (won the race, lost the motor). Like others have said, it will last a VERY long time in a motor home application (under 5k RPM).
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
moper
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I think if it was me and you had the adaptor I’d build a 440 for it. Strokers last decently but the kits have short pistons and narrow rings and I’d rather have a tall piston with thick rings for a motor home.
My personal 408 has been in my dart, making 600 HP, for probably 8 or 9 years.
in our BluePrint Mopar 408's they are honesty some of the happiest customers i hear from. Last one i saw fail was due to a customer using oil filters that were decomposed. We changed our mopars to forged pistons/rods probably 5+ years ago. Can't say any BPE faulted failures come to mind. especially with the new roller cam setups. they dyno SOOO much cleaner than the LA's did.
I can tell you my 440 went over 500,000 miles in the 13 years i had it , never a problem still ran strong when i sold it , a good build with proper maintenance with good oil and filters will last . can't tell you about strokers as my stroker has only 7000 miles on it , but i don't see why it would not last 100,000miles or more if driven in an RV
JDMopar
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Is your RV a Van nosed Class B or Class C? If so, since you say it has a 318 in it now, you will have a tough time getting a big block to fit. The doghouse between the seats is bigger on factory big block vans....plus, whoever sits in the passenger seat gets their left leg roasted by the headers or exhaust manifold. If you can get the same warranty from Blue Print Engines for a 408 to use in an RV, I don't know how you could beat that deal. Just my 2 cents.
AJ/FormS
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good points
Is your RV a Van nosed Class B or Class C? If so, since you say it has a 318 in it now, you will have a tough time getting a big block to fit. The doghouse between the seats is bigger on factory big block vans....plus, whoever sits in the passenger seat gets their left leg roasted by the headers or exhaust manifold. If you can get the same warranty from Blue Print Engines for a 408 to use in an RV, I don't know how you could beat that deal. Just my 2 cents.
It is a class A. I was surprised to find out it was a 318 when I went to look at it. Most came with either a 413 or 440 from the factory. It is an M400 chassis so plenty of room.
Johnny, when the switch was made to forged pistons and rods was it due to a warranty issue or some other problem, or just due to the increased power from the bigger hydraulic roller cam vs the old flat tappet?
Do you have any feedback from customers with a lot of miles on a stroker?
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