Thoughts on Small block strokers

Well, it appears that I'm SOL on replacing one piston and two rods in the aftermath of my little rod slinging event. Gotta throw a sleeve in it, but that's pretty much it for block work. But, along with a complete set of rods and pistons, I've got to put a different crank in it. I picked up a pretty decent stock unit from a friend, but it will need a grind and a balance. Given all that, I am seriously leaning to putting a stroker in it. So, cast or forged crank? I spin to 7K now. Probably max it at 65-6600 with the big arm. Thoughts and advice?

I drove over a cast stroker crank( 4 inch arm Eagle) 20 odd years ago at the track.
No cast cranks for me after that.
For the small difference in cost, when looking at the whole build, it isn’t worth it.

You will be happy. My current small block stroker is very mild, but still lots of fun, they are a great upgrade over stock stroke, less rpm and more torque.
Need any help, plenty of us on here are very familiar with them

What block and what application? Street, race or both?
How big are you wanting to make the motor now? Which heads, intake and cam type?
I've built some SB stoker motors for both race only and street and strip using from 3.750 stroke up to 4.00 in both 340 and 360 motors. Mopar use to sell a good forged 3.79 stroke race crank with the 8 bolt Hemi rear flange that should take a lot of abuse I would look at using a crank with SB Chevy rod pin sizes and a good after market race rod with either 6.125 or 6.250 long rods

I love strokers, small blocks that think they are big blocks. Do you have good heads? My 408 had a pretty decent set of ported Edelbrocks and was fastest being shifted at 6400-6600. Yes, it would turn more rpms but there was no reason to do it. As far as cranks go, I'd be looking at forged.

You are at a place where a stroker makes sense, you need pistons, rods and the crank you have needs work. I'd go for it, even if later on I had to upgrade the heads.

less rpm and more torque

Always

plus the average hp goes up at the bottom of each gear, a significant advantage. Build it as big as is reasonable! You will never regret it.

Definitely go 4340 crank and rods, either Molnar or Scat..4" stroke. Icon pistons and good rings. Easy Peezy!!

Stroker!!! my 408 was mild at 9.8 to 1 compression for pump gas... R3 block , 600 lift mech.cam , and Indy 360-1 heads made 539 hp and 502 torque .. the amount of torque is what impressed me ! it ran 10.60s in my Dart until the Eagle crank cracked .. imo stay away from cast cranks , as said my combo was mild but had potential to run way faster with a little head porting and a roller cam. With the amount of torque it made I was able to use a 4.10 gear ... it 60ft'ed the same as my non stroker 367 with 4.88s

I love them both
My sons stock crank 360 has gone 6.54 several times with a .620 lift rolller at 3200 pounds

My 408 has gone best of 5.98 but usually 6.03 at app 2830 pounds with a .650 lift roller cam.
Both engines had the same Edelbrock heads, and both were shifted at 6700rpm. I can’t speak for his but my 408 was begging to be shifted higher. Now I’m giving up some ET with my 14-32 slicks compared to his 10 inch radials.

Just finished mine, very happy.
Engine is a .30 over 360 with a Rod Bloomer 4.125 crank/kit to equal 420 cubic inches.
Compression is near 10.5:1 eddy heads gasket matched and some bowl blending/Hughes roller rockers.
Hydraulic roller cam .573 lift around 250 @50 duration. Eddy Super Victor intake with a Holley 750HP that flows 820.
904 with 2.76 low gear set, T/A manual valve body and a PTC converter that flash stalls right about 4000 rpm.
4:30 gear is a little too much, Going with a 4:10, maybe 3:91 as some street us will be in order.

Best of luck!!

I have built several 360 block strokers really good bang for the buck. If you need a crankshaft, then by all means do a stroker. under 500HP a cast crank works fine over, I would go with a forged unit.

There's really no reason to avoid a stroker, unless you don't want to re-gear or you really like high RPM.
But for best results at the track, you're gonna need better heads: W2s, W5s, Indybrocks, or TFS.
Did a 4.030 x 4.00 iron-head 360 Duster some years ago, great street car.

There's quite a difference between the Scat and Eagle castings. The Eagles will literally break in a stock rebuild application. LOOK at the cross section of those cranks leading up to the rod crankpin. Ridiculously thin. Absolute garbage. The Scat's castings are thicker and more money. At that point might as well put a steel one in it. Why throw mallory in a stupid casting anyway.

My mate just ordered a 4.150 Eagle kit to build his 493BB, I told him no, lets hope it holds up, its a 650>700hp brkt build.

On the SB stoker we got a guy here who runs a very mild 340/416 in a sorted Demon in our NSS class>
Stock J heads 2.02
10:1CR
Hyd. cam, .475"/.494", @.050?
small hdrs
air gap 750DP, now a TR with 2 650DP's
makes around 415fwhp and goes 11.50's, has been in the 11.3's@117, around 3200lbs
shifts@5600, traps near 6000, Hughes 3500stall
3.91's/28" slicks, SS springs..

I would go forged, I have run, and am still running a Scat 4” cast crank. With thousands of passes and many thousands of street miles on the crank. It has been turned once and was still straight at that point. It has also been balanced to within 1/2 gram by someone with decades and decades of experience. Shift 6400-6500 and cross the stripe at 6900 rpm. Getting a forged crank gives you room to grow. I’m stuck trying to decide to go roller with the current short block or wait until I can build another forged short block. I’m a little over 400 hp. Runs 117.22 at 3353 lbs. If you do go cast, Scat.

SCAT cast is lightyears better than eagle, I wouldn't put an eagle cast crank in a stock head stock cam motor, I have seen it done and it broke. On the other hand I have seen a lot of people put a SCAT cast to the test and never seen one break. Now for my ultimate disclaimer... if it was my money I would go straight to a forged crank if I could find one I would go 4.125 or even 4.250, the TQ is crazy fun with these and even the longer strokes fit in there just fine.

I've run stock 360 cast cranks over 500HP and 7400 RPM. I've known Super Stock guys to push them harder. Never had a problem, famous last words. I was more concerned with the block at that point. The fret marks on the mating surfaces of the main caps to block told me they were dancing around.

I've always thought the 4.06 - 4.100 with a 3.79 or 3.80 crank was a nice combination. Good rod ratio, could rev it up.

^^^ Good point about the block.
When I kicked a couple rods out of my drag-race 340 many years ago, and took a good analytical look at the pan rails & webs, the 1st thing I bought was an R block.
Yeah, I know there's a lot of guys making big power with the spindly stock blocks, but this little 368" engine's still running low 10s with no issues @ 620-640 HP.
Eagle forged crank & H-beams, JE pistons.

I think our 4” stroke 6” rod combo is pretty cool!

Well, I only race 1/8, so I won't re-gear. But, it does seem to make sense to spend the modest extra bit for a forged crank. I'll have just over .600 lift (roller), and the heads are modestly ported J's. If I shoot for 11.0 compression, I should see a bit more hp than before, and a substantial jump in torque.

I have been real happy with the 418" my Dad and I built in 2015. It has somewhere around 7-10,000 miles on it and a few hundred passes, and 4 drag weeks now. The ring seal is still excellent and it usually sets a new best every year as other parts of the combo are refined.

It's an eagle forged crank with Molnar rods and Autotec pistons. Its a 10:1 pump gas deal. Its been 10.42@126.8 in my 3550lbs 68 Barracuda. I think 6.57@102.5 is its best 1/8th mile off the top of my head.

I gave been thinking of building a 408 out of My other 360 magnum engine I have. So thanks to the op fie making this post. To every one that has built one. What do you think about this kit. I think with my 60 cc trick flows I will have around 12.5.1 compression.



Scat 4340 Forged crank, 360 mains, 4.000 stroke
Scat H beam rods, 6.123 Length, ARP8740 rod bolts
Icon IC969-STD pistons ( standard 4.000 bore) this is a special order
Performance file to fit ring set
Clevite H series bearings
$2380.75 plus shipping

Better have a real nice block with almost no miles if you want to run standard bore pistons. The stock piston ring does not go as high up the bore as most aftermarket pistons so any tiny imperfection will un-seat the ring at the top of the stroke and lose it's seal potentially costing power and MPG and reducing engine life.

I've got most of the parts I need to build a 383 C.I. 360 stoker motor, new premium cast iron Mopar crankshaft from years ago offset ground down to SB Chevy 2.00 rod size, SB Chevy 6.125 long rods, the pistons need to be order along with the cam and so on.
I'll use a set of the Speed Master CNC ported aluminum heads with a single plane, maybe a dual plane intake, and make it for pump gas to sell to someone wanting a good motor (near 400 HP) at a reasonable price
Probably be the last SB Mopar I'll build, Gen 3 hemi time