Stroker question

[My427stang]

Hotrod - A 360 block is a 390 block, there is no difference from a 390 for the same year, no issues at all. More importantly, the 1.57 rod ratio and the decent compression height dont beat up the cylinder walls or require oil rings in the wrist pin.

Basically its not tough on the motor, especially at the RPM level a truck would see, thats why these FE strokers are such a good thing

GT Racer - Rod Ratio isnt the end all. Basically rod ratio and deck height combos will determine how well it will work on the street. I personally would like to stay above 1.5 for a rod ratio, but it really depends on the use of the motor. The ratio is less important than the effect of rod angularity it infers. With a long stroke, short rod, the angularity is high and puts a lot of load on the outside wall. When you add the requirement of a shorter piston to get rod length, you get a basic math problem of less area pushing more pressure and you have wall and skirt problems as well as oil ring problems and piston stability.

That being said, the load increases with RPM, so low rpm its not as much of a problem. However, IMHO, in a Windsor, the 408 is a better street motor, if it were a C I may even say 393. Plus with a good set of heads that 408 will make a ton of power.

IMHO, pick the 408, then go for a piston / rod combo that allows a standard oil ring design (not across the pin) and then whatever rod it takes to do that, good 'nuff

[GT-Racer]

'preciate the info. I was leaning toward 408 myself. Just like the sound of it better. LOL besides I dont want less intelligent people asking if its a hemi when I say 426....

[Dragon]

Tell them a 426 wedge

[Dragon]

All FE blocks are very strong with the side oiler types having the strongest bottom end.

Late model reverse 105s have extra strength in the bottom ends it does not matter what displacement.

My racing 428s did not have any extra webbing in the bottom end like the 105 blocks. And at 7000 rpm one of them blew a hole in the block from stretching a rod bolt but never other than that one have I ever had bottom end problems.

With better rods I bet I could get 600 hp out of a 360 without breaking the bank.

I personally pulled 703 hp out of one.
Side oiler FEs ran 2700 hp in AA/FD in 69 and 70 on a friends rail.

You combo is pretty tame until you get into really radical cams and high rpm then they need many more parts.

What do you want to do with the 360? Street, Race, Torque Monster or Daily driver like mine.

[hotrod ford]

i would like to make it street . somthin to have some good fun in.

[convincor]

i would like to make it street . somthin to have some good fun in.

your wifes not going to like me anymore
Here you go- http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/cc ... index.html

[Dragon]

i would like to make it street . somthin to have some good fun in.

140 top end? So much low end torque that it eats anything in a pulling contest. Oops FE do that anyway but I mean more. That kind of truck?

[BobbyFord]

429 and 460 are basically the same block (same bore), prior to '79 (the '79 460 block has longer cylinder walls) so the components necessary to stroke either are the same. Also, some 429's were 4-bolt main blocks.
It's relatively easy to get 550-700 flywheel horsepower out of a stroked 460, depending on the ancillary components. Obviously, the more HP you want, the more $$ you have to part with.

[hotrod ford]

this engine (429) is out of a 72' galaxie. i've yet to tear it apart to even see what kind of shape it is in. one thing i do know is that the block is not cracked. so thats a start. i would really like to more bang for the buck. stock, i've been told that the 429 came with alot of horespwr and trq. i'm looking to get 350 horses to the wheel with either of the 2 engines that i choose to use.

[My427stang]

A 360 block is the same as a 390 block, and in some later cases has a little extra webbing.

Once the 360 crank, rods and pistons are out, the block doesnt know what it is anymore LOL

No problem at all stroking a 390 or a 360. The design of the block and the resulting rod ratios is very gentle on parts.

[sgs]

So it seems like we have a few stroker veterans here. I am considering building a FE stroker for pulling my horse trailer. I am estimating at this time that total loaded weight will be about 16,000lb. I never exceed 60mph. I don't want a race engine. I don't care about upper RPM horsepower. I will be using a ranger overdrive ahead of the NP 4 spd, 4.11 ratio, so cruising rpm should be about 2,000. It is torque and fuel economy that I am interested in. I will be using a .030 390 block and want to stroke it to ether 445 or 416CID. Any guesses as to how much if any fuel economy I would lose with the 445 vs the 416? It has to run on regular gas so I think 9.1 compression should work. PI manifold with a 600 Edlebrock and a short duration RV cam and MSD ignition is what I'm thinking. Any suggestions?
SGS

[Dragon]

You don't need a stroker to do that. I am not putting stokers down but they have a place they belong, on the track or weekend cruise wars.

My 390 pulled a 40ft High reach Forklift on a trailer at 12,000lb with the only hard problem being the mountain pass. I could have used my future cam and intake but it climbed the hill at 55 mph.

FE is the original big block low rpm torque engine. A 427 would do that with a torque cam and different intake.

How many horses? My dad had a F100 240 six with Offy dual port and 600 Holley that pulled and enclosed 2 horse trailer with 2 horses and in the bed of the truck was 1000 lbs of hay in 3rd at 45. It was the second time we went up the same pass the first was the with the engine stock and 200 lbs of hay less and it went up at 20 in 2nd with my dad cussing to the top.

Torque is Horsepower over time. Where torque comes in early because peak torque is at Volumetric Efficiency. The better your heads and cam work the better VM. Without stroking if you can get your VM up to 95% any engine's torque will go through the ceiling.

Instead of spending money on a Stroker which if used hard will be more costly on the bottom end in wear and tear. The stroker will need bigger ports, larger valves, better manifolds and larger carb in order to feed that engine to produce torque. A 390, 406,427 and 428 will need only to breath better.

[sgs]

Dragon, I agree with you but need and want are two different things. My stock 360 will pull it but it could use a little extra. I don't think it would pull in overdrive.
The truck I am probably going to put it in was repowered with a 4BT Cummins. It has adequate power but I don't like the noise. It has the ranger overdrive in it now. I want to be able to pull at 2000 RPM. With the added leverage of the long stroke I am thinking that I will get what I want on the bottom.
sgs

[Dragon]

I was editing and any FE above the 360 can do that.

[sgs]

Thanks for your thoughts Dragon. If I had a 428 I would put that in. I do have an extra 360 and an extra 390. I will certainly give this more thought before I start ordering parts. You are not the first one to tell me that a strong 390 will do what I need. As far as the extra $$$, If I use the 360 which is the engine I probably want to use first I will have to buy a crank to get it up to at least 390. With ether engine i will probably end up boring it to true cylinders, that means new pistons. So I would probably be buying a crank and pistons, it isn't that much more to buy a stroker kit.
Any other opinions out there?
sgs