360ci to 408ci stroker build

[SBDave]

I bought a mid 70's dodge 360 engine.  I tore it apart and dropped the block off at the machine shop today.  He's gonna clean it up and next week we will decide where to go from there.  So far I am leaning towards a 408ci stroker.  I still have all the 360's parts.  If anyone out there has built a similar engine and has suggestions please let me know (good and bad experiences).  I will post any progress or questions I have here. The plan is for the speed shop to do the machining and balancing and for me to assemble it.  This is my first engine build.

Car is a 73 barracuda, XV level 1 suspension, 3.55 true trac 8 3/4 rear end, deciding on a tranny (5 speed manual OD) and brakes (13" dr diff?) right now.  Car is just a cruiser with a road race feel to it.

thanks
Dave

I posted here because this seems to be the most active engine sub forum...and no this thread is not worthless without pics.  I'm all about info!

[Aussie Challenger]

If it is not going to see any competition you might get away with a cast crank and save a few dollars, I haven't done a stroker but many have and are happy with the results.   

[jimynick]

Eagle sells a 408 kit with a cast steel crank, forged rods AND pistons, rings and bearings that I was priced at $1100CAD for. I think they'll balance it for another couple of hundred and I'm not sure if that includes a new balancer and flex plate or not. Apparently it requires very little to no work to put it in and from all accounts, goes like Jack the bear while looking like a 273 if you so desire. 

[SBDave]

I have seen many different stroker kits available.  The local speedshop who is machining the block said he would do some research into these kits and will probably come up with his own combination of parts.  I am supposed to meet with him this week to talk about options.

Thanks guys!
David

[SBDave]

Thanks for your responses guys.  I stopped by the speed shop yesterday and he had cleaned the block and said it looked good.  So now I just need to make a decision on which stroker kit to go with and drop off some $ to get this started.  We looked at the two levels of the Eagle kits but that was it.  Can anyone comment on these or the Hughes kits?  I'm leaning toward the cheaper of the Eagle kits with a cast crank and I beam rods since this car is just a cruiser.  I thought a 408ci stroker kit would get more feedback ....?

Dave

[wally426ci]

Im running an Eagle kit and have had no problems. I am no engine expert, so i can't way which kit it was....

[Road_Runner]

I over engineer everything I've ever done.  That includes projects around the home and definitey hot rodding the cars.  So keep that in mind when I say if the dollar difference between the forged kit & the cast isn't too great I'd spend the extra bucks now so if you ever decide to go for more performance later you won't have to go back into your engine as much.  Plus, I like the idea that parts are capable of way more  than what I'm putting them through.  Just my 

Later, Jim

[SBDave]

Wow can't believe I posted this back in March 2011!  Well all kinds of things have happened since then... my cuda got hit while parked on the street so was off the road for a year and half getting fixed while I made decisions about upgrades.  I've added Dr Diff's 12" disc brake kit, mini lite replica wheels and Toyo R888 tires.  I bought a Passon Hemi OD 4 speed kit and have REM polished all the parts for that.  Hoping to put that together this week.  Also bought some aluminum Edelbrock heads from one of the guys here.  I got a fun new daily driver car, so I'm thinking about making the Cuda a little more wild now.

Still not exactly sure what I'm going to do for an engine but I'm going to do a little more research and bring the block into a different machine shop soon (the old shop that was going to do the work closed).  If anyone has any new comments on this topic I'd love to hear your opinions.  Here's some rough ideas:

-Edelbrock Performer RPM heads
-MRL's solid roller rocker setup
-forged rotating assembly (not sure which stroker kit yet)
-Milodon road race pan
-high volume oil pump (is there any consensus on these? I seem to read conflicting arguments)
-tti headers

Aside from the block, what stock parts should I consider using?  (engine was originally in a 1977 Dodge Ram)

Also, is anyone interested in the stock crank, pistons/rods, 2 barrel intake, heads or truck pan?  I've also got Doug Thorley tri-y headers for a Dodge Ram with a 360

thanks!
Dave

[Chryco Psycho]

Personally I would not use the high volume pump without & 8 qt minimum pan
& I would pass on the Eddy heads but you already bought them .

[crash340]

CP, MRL use ProComp heads, CNC them etc, thoughts on those?

[HP2]

If this is just a cruiser, build a nice stout 360 and save the stroker money for replacement tires.

Seriously, 360 are plenty powerful without the extra cost of stroking. Decent compression, a fair cam, and good head flow will produce plenty of power.

[cudabob496]

But we always need more power.

[Aussie Challenger]

But we always need more power.

This is the problem we will never be satisfied no matter how much tire shredding power we have under our right foot.      

[Chryco Psycho]

I have never used a Procomp head

[dfrazz]

Procomp heads are on my 408 stroker from Carolina Machine Engines and run very strong.