To Stroke, or not to Stroke
 

So, I was talking to a guy today that was thinking of going with a stroker 400, and advised me that the stroker engine was just not worth the extra expense, including all the machining of the block. He was telling me a stout 400 should give me more than enough power to give me 11's with the right gears and tires.

What I am looking for is a solid 11 second car that will run on pump gas. The specs I was thinking of are as follows:

• 400 Block
• 440 Crank
• .040 over pistons ( probably Flat Top )
• MP 284/.484 cam
• 9-9.5:1 Comp Ratio
• 452 Heads, worked over
• HV oil pump
• Edelbrock Performer RPM intake ( or better, suggestions? )
• Holly 750 or 850 carb
• MSD 6AL ignition
• MSD, or MP Electronic Ignition Distributor
• Maybe even an electric Fuel Pump
• Mancini Racing Trans ( RM Valve Body )
• 3.55/3.91 rear gears
• 29X10X15 rear tires...probably BFG Drag Radials

The Duster will have most of the sheet metal, save maybe a glass hood. The Battery has already been relocated to the trunk.

This is gong to be a weekend warrior, with an emphasis on being able to drive to the track, and car shows once it is complete.

Any advise? Am I going overboard wanting the 451? Will a built 400 with my combination give me solid 11's?

j

What type of exh system ?

Ahh, forgot to add that.

I am looking at the TTI Try Y underchassis headers, with an X-Pipe, and Flowmasters.( I have knock offs on there now, and they work pretty good ;) ) I am thinking of either 2.5 or 3" pipes, turned down after the muffler, just before the rear axel...like I have now.

Looks like I also forgot to add the 10"/11" converter too. I was thinking of the Turbo Action or TCI Torque Converter in the 10" or 11" flavor. I was warned away from I think it was TCI on the tranny, and was thinking of the Mancini Racing trans in a couple more bonus cycles ( am taking a bonus cycle approach to fund this little project...more stuff every 6 months :D )

November I wil be getting the 400/727, tortion bars, Schumacher motor mounts, and the dual snorkle hood scoop. Next I plan on getting the body pannels, then the stroker kit, then some interrior parts, then have the body work done while having the engine built. Once the body is ready for paint, I can paint the engine compartment then install the engine. Bring the car home for that, and do the interrior, and finish up the painting last. It's going to take a while, but will be one sweet ride when I am done. I am quite excited.

j

My thoughts ? ... ADD a set of Eddy heads and increase compression ratio with some mild domed pistons. 11 second possible. Add a bigger cam and a touch bigger gear ? .. 11's ferr-sure.

A couple questions, and a couple concerns.

First, is this with or without the Stroker kit? Second, how much more with the compression and gears? The goal is to be able to run pump gas, and going to much over 9/9.5:1 comp is treding into greater than pump gas territory. Also, going with a lower gear kinda kills the streetability, doesn't it? Wouldn't 3.91:1 be the most you would want for a street car? 4.30/4.56:1 would be cool, but how about highway driving? Aren't RPMs going to be kinda high with that? A while back, I had 4.88:1 gears and it sucked trying to drive on the freeway, and in Texas, you don't want to be in the heat at city street speeds for too long ;)

So, just so I understand, are you saying run about 9.8:1 comp, with a 292/.509 cam, and say 430 gears without the stroker kit? Is that still a streetable combination?

j

How about a REAL streeter combo ? .... 2.76 ... I have one. Wanna' talk about that ?

Well, I doubt that will get me to the 11's ;) I have a 3.23 rear now.

j

Anybody else have any opinions on stroking a 400 for a street/strip application? Should I have put this in a different forum?

j

I would definatly go stroker for what you want, i have little to no experience with the mopars but, experience tells me bigger stroke or cubes better toque numbers. So if i'm correct in my thinking, you would be able to run a better gear set in the rear for the street and take up the rest in the converter and trans. Does anyone know about runing a A518 trans? like how strong etc.?

There is really no extra machine work over a stock rebuild But I would go with the stroker. Personal preference would be a steel/forged crank instead of the cast crank. With a performance rebuild the 518 would work and be streetable with 3.91 gears.. I don't know if they make a manual valve body for it ??. By the time you work over a set of 452's $$ would go a long way towards a set of edelbrock heads. With the aluminum heads you can run another 1/2 point of compression

The 518 is it a reliable trans like 727?

Yes it is reliable when Properly rebuilt with a shift kit by a knowledgeable expert.. Requires some modifications to the oiling system, drilling the main shaft oil feeds and some other HD items

to me it is a no brainer , a 451 stroker like the 440 source ones are almost the same cost as rebuilding the original parts & re-balancing them , this removes 7 lbs from the rotating mass so it revs quicker & wastes less HP on accelerating the mass internally , it will be just as reliable @ last as long as a 400 would . Pesonally I would use Stealth heads over Eddys or step up to a real head like the Indy EZ , you will spend more rebuilding a set of iron heads than the Stealth heads are worth to buy , there is also the Super stealth heads available .

That 518 is a reliable trany i recommend doing it.
i have a mild performance rebuild for my 518, with a 3.91 gear set my 318 eats up the rpm's fast way faster than any motor i've had to date.
it's not the trany i'm afraid of breaking it's a universal joint
and as far as cruising it's perfect through town she cruises at 2000-2500 and the motor is so smooth i don't realize shes spinning at 3000 with the lock up that gives me a extra 800 rpm and any thing above 45 i can use the OD.
And the od is so fast and solid on the shift, i find myself shifting in and out of it allot.
And cruising down the highway 55-75 shes only turning 2200 2700 with out the LU, my brother did a calculation say's the car's top end should be around 160-170 depending on tire size..
It's perfect the motor is always running in her power band.