It is sounding to me like you are leaning on the big block side of things and are interested in drag racing it some. So do yourself a favor and head CP and Evil72's advice and start lookin' for a 400. Lightest Mopar big block of 'em all, economical-ish to build, and you can stroke it to cRaZy displacement. 440source.com buddy, yeah.
Now, if you wanna get serious and plop down some serious mullah, let's talk about the R3 block and some W5's and stroke that sucker to 427 cubes. It'll hurt your brain to price it out so you might wanna stick to the cheaper big blocks.
If I do a 400 block stroker, instead of the 383 or 440 stoker, then about the only thing that would be different would be the block, and probably the overall cid. There's a guy just down the road that has a 400 motor that had a manual behind it, but there's no telling what condition it's in. It's sitting in the bed of an old military truck, with a clutch assembly on the back, and no exhuast anything on it.... So the heads are shot, due to the rust that's in the exhuast ports.... But I think it's a truck block, so.... Here's one kit that looks kind of interesting......
400 >> 512. (4.250" stroke/6.535" rod) Approximate Bobweight: 2125
Turn that unwanted old 400 "smog" motor into one of the most awesome stroker motors you can build! You'll hardly be able to contain the massive torque and horsepower gained by adding an incredible 112 cubic inches to your 400 "B" block! The low deck, 4.250" stroke version of our Platinum Series crank used in this kit has the smaller 2.200" (big block Chevy sized) journals, and the counterweights are finished at the smaller "B" engine size, to ensure they will drop right into the block with no counterweight clearancing issues. Depending on the block used, many of customers find this kit drops right in with no modifications whatsoever! And now, we have pistons available OFF THE SHELF in .035" AND 040" oversizes. If you have a 400 block that has already been bored .035" and needs to go to the next size up, it used to require a custom made piston. This meant hundreds of dollars extra and 4-6 weeks of waiting. We got tired of telling our customers there would be extra charges and a long wait, so now we stock both flat-top and dished pistons in flattop AND dished configurations! And the best part? Any of the pistons listed below are included in this kit for our standard unbelievably low stroker kit price! Sure, we could easily jack up the price for the extra larger bore sizes or options like a dished piston, but that's not what we're about. AND, we normally keep everything listed on our our shelf and ready to ship, usually within 24 hours. Please note that Clevite's only main bearings available for 400 engines are the "P" series bearings. These bearings may require slight modification to clear the larger radius on our cranks. Most shops will be able to do this without a problem. See our Bearings page for details. We keep all the kits listed below normally on our our shelf and ready to ship, usually within 24 hours, and keep an eye out for high compression domed pistons for this kit coming soon!
Kit options:
Rings and Bearings package deal:
Add Clevite 77's top of the line performance chamfered rod bearings and full groove mains. (MS876P and CB743H)
AND Childs & Albert or Total Seal ductile iron Plasma-Moly File Fit rings. All 3 items (rod bearings, main bearings and ring set) are just: $248!!
For some quick math, that makes the whole stroker kit with premium chamfered rod & main bearings and rings, come to $1447!! ($1199+$248=$1447!)
Additional Kit options:
Add Clevite's "TRI ARMOR" moly graphite coating to the above rod bearings: $64
Upgrade to Childs & Albert Zero Gap "ZGS" Ductile Iron or Total Seal Premium gapless Rings (add to above): $175
Upgrade to I beam rods with ARP2000 bolts: $50
Upgrade to Platinum Series Dished Pistons: $NO CHARGE
As far as compression ratios, they range from 14.25 down to 9.60 listings. But anyway, this is the biggest kit listed for the 400 block, they have others that are smaller. This is from 440 Source, so... I still am leaning heavily toward aluminum heads.... Like the Mopar Performance Stage 6 (new style) heads.
