Blazin' Bob, you keep talking about using 440 rods and an offset ground crank. You can have one OR the other. Offset grinding a 440 crank to a 3.91 stroke means you will use a big block chev type rod.

Chuck Senatore said it in his book and it is still to my mind the best advice; build the BIGGEST shortblock you can afford. When you get better heads it will move the torque peak up and the horsepower will go with it. But you CAN run a 220cfm head on a 500" block, that is also called a Cadillac 500. They moved those 5000lb boats around pretty well.

It feels like s a neat trick to grab a forged 440 crank out of your stash and drag it to your machine shop where the guy trims down the mains to 2.625, trims down the counterweights to 7.250 and offset grinds the rods to 2.200. BUT, WHERE IS THE MACHINE SHOP THAT'S GOING TO DO THAT FOR YOU AND WHAT WILL IT COST???

GUARANTEED IT'S NOT FREE. And, if you don't have a 440 crank stash you have to buy one of those too and that sets you back $150 or so.
So now you have a 40+ year old crank made out of 1053 or something like that, not a super alloy by a long shot, and you have $600+ invested and for what? A 3.9" stroke.
Contrast that to a brand new 4340 crank, 4.25" stroke, mains and counterweights where you want them, for maybe $100 more. 4340 is WAY superior to 1053.

One other thing to consider and that is engine driving characteristics. If you're not a class racer then what works to make your car feel stout is torque, and that means cubic inches. I'd much rather have a low rpm torque monster that doesn't need super valvegear, than a high rpm screamer that needs the valvesprings changed every year and the lash set every month.

There is no magic here, none whatsoever. A 511 will run stronger with a stock port window than a 470. Every time, all else being equal. They may both make exactly the same hp, but the 511 gets there first.

Figure out the largest shortblock you can afford, and build it.

R.