To stroke or not to stroke

[megaladon6]

i think we were speaking from opposite sides there. lol i was talking about a regular 400 and didn't realize you were talking about a 60 over 400. i've seen and worked on a number of 400's without any overheat issues, even with being beat on. they'd had very basic coolant upgrades and/or regular maintenance. but i can see 60 over being too much and causing wall issues.

 

[SafariWagon]

Agreed! I love the 400sbc and you CAN cool a .030 or .040 over decently enough. The .060 is another story. I avoid the .060 400sbc. But if I was going to build a 383 (as the case here) I would just go all the way to the 400. You have to look for a new block anyway.

 

[megaladon6]

i would have done a 400, but they are pretty damn rare these days! the 383 is a real nice compromise, and if you want rev's the 4 bolt is better than the 2 bolt 400.

 

[SafariWagon]

A few years ago the 400's were hard to come by around here too. It seems as though they are actually more common around here than they used to be. I am sure I could find a decent core within 2 weeks around here for about $300 complete or $100-150 for the block. I am thinking they are becoming more common again because of people going to the new LS series motors instead. Give it a few more years. Us "old" guys running 350's and 400's will be like the guys that used to run flatheads once the pushrod V8's became common.

 

[bubba1228]

so ive been keeping up and thanks for all the input, im happy with my motor as it is and will probably run it like i am for the next few seasons. i do agree about going with a 400 block but like most of you guys say they are hard to come by for a decent price, i figured i had done everything ekse in the motor why not upgrade the crank/stroke. i think my next project motor for my monte will either be a 406 or a 434 gotta come up with a block then go from there

 

[SafariWagon]

I think I would stick with the 350 you have now too, due to cost. Both 400 blocks are good for street duty. True because of the bore size the "webbing" by the crank gets thinner on the 4 bolt blocks and therefore the 2 bolt blocks are stronger. Alot of people believed the "509"casting to be the good one, but where I worked the "817" casting blocks actually proved to be thicker than the "509". All the 4 bolt castings I remember being of the "511" variety. The caps on the 4 bolts usually kept the crank bore more true and those blocks were less likely to need align honed. The best would be a "817" with aftermarket splayed caps. They are all good IMO though.

 

[86Cutlass383SR]

There's always an exception but, most 400's max overbore recommendation is .040". *Some* will safely go .060" but not all. Also, most guys that's really pushing some horsepower want the 2 bolt blocks so they can convert to splayed 4 bolts. Splayed is stronger than regular 4 bolts as the outer bolts go into a thicker area of the block.

The receipt the machinist gave me showe $60 for the sleeve job. But with a $1700 total, he may have gave me a discount. It's not even in my car yet and I wish now he would've told me about needing a sleeve. I'd have looked into getting a 400 block and built a 420" instead! 420 with a Lingenfelter fuel injected SuperRam with AFR heads and T56... and tell everyone it's *just a lil 305* ...

 

[todski]

I dunno why y'all keep going on n on bout this 5.0 5.7 6.6 stuff?http://gbodyforum.com/posting.php?mode=reply&f=23&t=15742&sid=90d40fad451bb503d0490faa017f6672# seems to me, what I've always done is go find a BIG BLOCK 7.4 w/ 4 bolt main's and a 6.6 (BB) crank spend your $$$$ on the heads/valvetrain and the TWO carb's it takes to feed it. Boing! ur done 427 ci 400 +++ hp an we won't EVEN go into the torque / neck chiropractor issue. sh*t now I gotta spend $$$ on the trans $ axle or transaxle assy. Not to mention the tickets and fines! posting.php?mode=reply&f=23&t=15742&sid=90d40fad451bb503d0490faa017f6672#

 

[megaladon6]

and if you were to look around you'd find that the small block/big block/BOP motors argument has been hashed out and if one wants handling---big blocks suck! (with the exception of ones like the ZL-1 motor, the caddy 500, etc)
yes, if you want to go in a straight line big blocks are great, but the parts prices mean that you can build an SBC for the same power and about the same price.
BOP guys--please enter your info here____________________________________ as i know they're good, powerful motors but IDK enough to post it here.
BTW you may want to edit your post so the links work and raise the 400HP number. my 383 makes 400 or so. that's better than 1HP/ci a 4oohp/427ci is about .94 and i'm what? 100lbs lighter with iron heads?

 

[mickey-d]

I don't see the point in building a stroker motor to run on the street. The idea is to gain cubic inches and horsepower, but not have to turn the motor as high, correct? If you want more cubes put a big block in it with a decent cam and drive on down the road. It makes no sense to me to piss money away on a street stroker. Just my opinion, no malice intended. :lol: