Well i've got no engine experience, and i dont know what to do at ANY step along the way, sure i've got a basic idea of how the engine works but thats about where it ends. If i do the research find out how much it makes in desktop dyno figure it to be good... Am i getting myself in over my head? I mean, will there be a hp loss because i build it? Now, anyone know where i can find some literature on building a 377?

 

If you are not familiar with how to build an engine and you don't have the special tools to do it correctly I'd suggest a compromise I have suggested to many new hot rodders......

Have a machine shop build the bottom end on your first motor- pistons, rods, crank, bearings, etc. You can supply the parts but have them do the machine work, check tolerances and screw it together for you. Then you take it from there.

You still get the fun of installing the cam, lifters, heads, valvetrain, intake, etc. All of which is fun but requires no special tools other than a torque wrench.

Bottom end work is precision stuff and you can get in over your head pretty quick. If you get the block machined to the wrong spec you just wasted your money becuase it won't fit with your pistons/crank, etc. Machine shops don't make those kind of mistakes.

I would suggest building a standard displacement engine your first time out of the gate. Strokers motors are not for the first time engine builder. A plain old 350 Chevy makes a great first engine. A 400 is also easy to do if you are familiar with it's unique requirements for heads, balancer and flexplate/flywheel.

 

Damon thanks for the great advice, the thing i was worried about was the fact that i'd want MORE power, i know with a 350 i'd feel that it was anemic rather quickly (i've got some 11 sec friends, in calgary) I wanted to go with a stroker because of the fact that i feel it's a good base to build up from. Just a quick and maybe dumb question a 406 with a 350 crank is also a 383 right? But is it unsafe because the walls have been bored out a little bit..?? Is it structurally sound on an aftermarket block bored and destroked? Say a dart.
If the machine shop is building the bottom end of the engine for me, what's the problem with it being a stroker? They've installed pretty much anything anyways, or were you refering to the combo possibilities? Thanks for your time


Thanos
Gta-Paladin

 

No, that's a 377.

 

I thought a 400 with a 350 crank was a 377