I lost my motor a couple weeks ago and am considering my options for replacements. Unfortunately I live in one of those states with pretty strict emissions regulations but I would still like to get the best performance I can while staying clean. I'm considering going to either a 383 or 396 while using the same cam (.533in .544ex, 222-230 on a 112) and heads (stage 2 ported factory castings). What I need to know is what affect a stroker will have on emissions...better or worse, and if the cam I'm using now is too small, is there another cam that anyone can recommend that will improve performance while still passing the sniffer test.

 

This is what I would do. Lean the car out before you have to test it, if your able to do so. I guess it's nice because I have guy's here that will let me through my car on there machine. They put the machine on some sort of test only mod and then I just look at the readings on the screen, and play with the numbers untill it passes. When doing this it's not really doing a test though. as long as you can mess with the computer a little it shouldn't be to hard. My new motor will not pass so I've got it registered at my fathers house, where there are no emissions.

 

Having a stroker is not going to affect your emissions. If you were passing with your current cam, then I would reuse it. It is big enough for a stroker; you should spend the cash on heads that flow well, and a strong bottom end. Hell if I can do it in Massachusetts than anyone can!

 

What kind of gains can be expected when increasing cubic inches even while still reusing the heads and cam package from the 350 motor. Is it even worth the cost to do this conversion or would a 355 be pretty close in performance?

 

You will leave a good 40-50 foot pounds of torque on the table by not doing the stroker. Torque is what makes a street car fast, and displacement is always the cheapest/easiest way to make more power.