blackz151

ok i am new to this so i got a few ? i got a 96z28 and i wanna build the motor up. My goal is to put a charger after i build it. Is it better to build up a 383 stoker, or build the motor with the stock bore and eveything. And if there is any site that any of u know about buildiing a stoker it would help alot
thankx

rskrause

You've asked some very open ended questions, so it's hard to know where to start. In general, it you are building up a motor for boost, you need to replace the rotating assembly (crank, rods, and pistons) with higher quality parts than the stock components. In that case, a stroker is really the only way to go. The cost is the same as sticking with a stock stroke, and unlike an NA setup, there will be a hp increase essentially proportional to the increased displacement. The downside of being less rev tolerant than a short stroke motor is irrelevent to a typical street or street/strip setup because there is simply no need to rev a forced induction motor sky high to make hp.

The bore question is a bit more interesting. Again in general, unlike an NA buildup, it makes the most sense to limit the overbore for a SC setup. A high end NA buildup benefits from an increased bore not so much because of more displacement but because of the ability to use large valves without shrouding. Intake flow is less critical with forced induction. And by limiting bore size, you leave the cylinder walls thicker and less likely to distort under the high cylinder pressures a high-boost setup can generate. Bore distortion costs power, and thin cylinders may split which can destroy the motor and renders the block unusable.

When building a stroker, the issue of what stroke to select comes up. The most common choices are 3.75" (383 with 0.030" overbore) or 3.875" (396). These are pretty close, when you come right down to it. I wouldn't lose to mcuh sleep over that choice, since you seem to be in the "thinking about it" stage at this point. But though I have a 383, if I were building a new motor I think it would be a 396.

If you want general info, using the "search" function is a good idea. This stuff gets discussed repeatedly, so that's the fastest way to get a variety of opinions.

Rich Krause

Brandy

It depends on how much power you realistically want to make and how much cash you want to spend. You can make 650rwhp with a stock rebuild and good pistons if it's tuned right and you use good gas, you can also shoot rods through the block at 500rwhp with a $10k shortblock if the tuning isn't up to par.

If you have unlimited funds then go ahead and buy a nice Motown block, some bada** Brodix heads and an F-3 Procharger. Then have Ken Duttweiller tune it for you. Shouldn't cost much more than $50k and you'll easily be in the 6 second 1/4 mile range.

If you are on a tight budget then buy a set of pistons for a .030" over block with 5.7" rods. Some SRPs will run you around $500 or so. Reuse the stock crank and rods, they have been proven to over 600rwhp with no detonation before. You can have good head gaskets, head studs, good pistons and a nice rebuild for under $2,000 pretty easily and make enough power to embarass just about anything you'll ever encounter on the road. Just remember that the stock crank and rods do not appreciate detonation and will bend or break with little warning.

Anything in between depends on your budget Personally I am a firm believer in the there is no replacement for displacement theory. The bigger the engine the less you have to rely on boost to make power. I'd rather have a 385cid engine with 20psi making 800rwhp reliably than a 355cid engine needing 25psi to make the same power. With the larger stroker engines, 396+, there are some long term reliabilty issues that made me go with the normal 383.

If you plan on making alot of power (over 500rwhp) you are likely going to be buying a crank and rods anyways so like Rich said there isn't much of a price difference either way. A good crank will be atleast $1200 and rods are over $500 usually. Expect to spend close to $1000 in machine work as well. For a nice short block with all aftermarket parts expect to spend atleast $4500 assembled.