Miner_Jeepy

Hi everybody!

I'm here to get some advice on an engine build for my jeep j-truck. (http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=187135) I picked up a 400 big block this week and am going to put it in my truck. I've read some info on building 400s and it all tends to focus around high horsepower drag cars not trucks so I'm hoping you all can help. What I have is block casting number 4006530-400-2 with a cast date of xx-11-76 or 78 and 452 heads. From what I understand the 452 heads are theoretically the "best" iron heads so it's a decent platform to start with. It came out of a farmer's barn and I don't have it completely apart yet (stupid rusty exhaust bolts!) but I think the pistons/rods/crank are all reusable.

The plan is to make an all out torque monster. I know Chrysler motors already are but more is better. I'd rather have 600 ft-lbs at 2,500 rpm than 600 hp at 6,500 rpm, because truck. That being said I think it'd be absurd and awesome to stroke it out between 451-512. 489 CI would put it at 8 litres which is just a solid round number. So, I want to do a stock-ish rebuild and then at a later date come back and stoke it out. I've never rebuilt an engine before so I don't want to spend money on a stroker crank and then bork it up. Below are the general plans for the builds:

Stock style rebuild - I'm assuming that the block will need to be bored out slightly which is why I have new pistons listed but if I can get away with a simple hone job I'll reuse the stock ones (assuming they're not junk). I also plan on having the machine shop check the heads over to make sure they're good. It would be fun to port the 452s but I understand that aluminum heads would have higher performance potential. If it comes back that the heads are junk I'll just buy Al heads.
452 Heads - replace worn out components
cast pistons
Stock con rods
Stock forged crank
Dual plane manifold
Stock style camshaft
Hydraulic roller lifters (less cam wear, more reliability)

Stroker Build - overbuilt to not worry about needing to rebuild it once a year. Would work with 440Source to make sure all the components jive.
Aluminum Heads
Bigger cam
440source crank
Hypereutectic pistons
Forged con rods
Same intake

What would be nice is to purchase some components that would work for both builds. I'm really not sure how feasible that is though. Theoretically, things like the intake/rockers/lifters should be able to be used for both versions but would it be possible to run the same camshaft? For the stroker my plan was to get one that's farily small 230-ish @ 0.050 based on some reading about building for torque. Based on my very limited knowledge the 230 cam in the stock engine would push the peak power higher up in the rpm range potentially to a point that the stock heads couldn't get to, is that right or was the stock cam in 400s a choke point? Would a 230 for the stroker be too small? Only thing I saw was start at 220 and add 5-7 for every 50 ci over 350 ci. I figure erring on the small side of that would work for my torque based build.

More general build criteria is below. I want to run this on pump gas so like 87(89?) octane, whatever is cheapest at the station.

Low compression
9:1 max
Al heads will help reduce pinging on stroker
Build for reliability

If you've read all the way through and I'm completely off-base at this point please let me know! I've just read internet articles in hopes of not doing something completely wrong.

Iowan

Welcome to the forum,
I find your Jeep swap interesting because I did it back in the mid 80s with a 440 and a 65 Willie's 2wd with a step box.

Miner_Jeepy

Thanks. It currently has the Tornado inline 6 which is a cool engine but parts are scarce and expensive so it's gotta go. I considered a 4.2 inline 6 but I figure if I have to swap the engine and do a bunch of work I may as well put in something that has more power. I also want to "keep it in the family" so that leaves AMC V8 or mopar V8 and well, 400s are cheaper than 390/401s.