to B, or not to RB.......or LA?

[Lightning]

well, I've got my initial engine choice down to a 383 or a stroker 318 (384ci).


I'm trying to keep the engine simple, and something I can bolt aluminum heads onto later to drop the nose weight on the car some so it'll turn better.


any ideas to hit 400 rwhp? 

EDIT: (using factory heads, mid '80's heads for the LA motor)
EDIT2: I'm really leaning towards the 383, thought if I can find a 440 I'll take it since my car could originally come with it.

[deputycrawford]

A 400 big block is a short deck block that looks almost identicle to the 383. You can find those cheap, and stroker kits are everywhere. Aluminum heads, water pump and housing bolt right up to them. You can get 500 cubes with a 400 block. 600 horse power at the crank is nothing with the big block. You can still go with the 408 stroker with aluminum heads from a 360. It will be slightly better. 500 plus horse can be gotten on pump gas too. Keep you eye open to different possibilities.

[dodge freak]

Well I like my 318, BUT if I had to do it all over again it would be a 400 in there. Not sure if I stroke it, the short stroke means you can rev it up without it giving out like a high stroke engine can. It depends on your budget. A well built stroker motor can rev high but it cost big bucks.

[greenpigs]

  Build a 12.1 cr stroker 400 aka 452 and home port the heads with the Mopar templates. Sure it isn't the best way to go but it will be better than stock and a crutch till you can afford the new heads. Just when you build the short block don't go cheap so do it right the first time.

[Lightning]

  Build a 12.1 cr stroker 400 aka 452 and home port the heads with the Mopar templates. Sure it isn't the best way to go but it will be better than stock and a crutch till you can afford the new heads. Just when you build the short block don't go cheap so do it right the first time.

that's the plan, I just gotta get it to run on pump gas (fortunately that's 93 octane here), since the nearest race track only seems to want to sell race fuel to race cars...so it'll probably be a 10:1 or a 11:1

since the car's gonna end up with only 15% street time, could I go with a 471 stroker or even a 496?

[MOPARHOUND!]

Just read the sig..........

Then, click here for an affordable stroker kit for an RB:  www.440source.com


....or, choose a lesser engine, and you will be second guessing yourself, and end up spending the money all over again for the bigger CID.

[Lightning]

thanks, I'll check them out.


for the second stage, when I can afford a set of aluminum heads, should I just save an go for a set of Indy's? (maybe the EZ's? or the EZ-325's?

[andyf]

A 400 block with a 440 crank and a set of Edelbrock heads is a pretty easy combo to build.  The 470 is also a great setup.  I had a low deck 470 in my car for a couple of years with Eddy heads, Perf RPM manifold, HP exhaust manifolds and small solid flat tappet cam.  It made 474 hp at the rear tires with 10:1 compression and run fine on premium pump gas.

You can find a couple of articles about that motor on the Comp Cams webpage.  It was a great running combo and didn't cost much to build.

The Indy heads are quite a bit bigger than Eddy heads so they move the torque curve up another 1000 rpm or so.  That may or may not be what you want to do so you'll have to think hard about it.  The Eddy heads on my 470 gave me a torque peak at 4300 rpm with a power peak at 5600 rpm.  Those are decent numbers for a street/strip car.  The Indy EZ heads move the torque peak up to 5500 or so which works great at the dragstrip but can make life a bit of a pain on the street.

[deputycrawford]

A 400 with a 40 crank is cheap and easy to build. I think that is 452 cubes or so. With Eddy heads you could set the engine up with 10:1 and use pump gas all day. The rod ratio wouldn't be that bad either. That means it would run for more than 50,000 miles before having to be pulled for a freshen up job. Trust me, I built my 383 and kinda regret it. Without going into my specs, I should be in the mid 12's with a 4000 lb 69. Thats not slow but I wish I had many more cubes and could run a milder combo sometimes. I do love the nasty crazy engine but sometimes you just want to cruise. Go with the biggest build you can afford and spend all your money in the short block. You can always add a set of heads later.

[Lightning]

I'm glad I put these two threads up, I've learned quite a bit from them.  Thanks guys!