engine building advice

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May 25, 2015 | 11:13 AM

PauL3861

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Joined: Mar 2009

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engine building advice

I'm just finishing a ground up restoration of an 89 F250 XLT Lariat. I am interested in having more than factory horsepower for towing purposes so I am looking at my options. Ultimately I plan on towing a fifth wheel camper. I'm wondering how to go about selecting the best motor for my needs. I have a 5.8 EFI and would like to jump up into the higher 300s as far as horsepower but I don't know if I should consider a stroker motor as they are high revving motors and I should only be turning around 2200 - 2500 rpm going down the road. I've been looking on line at crate motors but I am at a loss as far as how to set up a motor if I chose to buy a short block. Long block seems to be my best available option as most crate motors seem to be set up for mustangs and such, thus the stroker consideration however I think the stroker is probably a waste of my time as I need lower rpm power. Any advise out there?

May 25, 2015 | 06:08 PM

Conanski

FTE Legend

Joined: Jun 2006

Posts: 31,930

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From: Ottawa, Ontario

Quote:

Originally Posted by PauL3861

I don't know if I should consider a stroker motor as they are high revving motors

No.. not necessarily. A proper stroker combo will deliver big block torque levels at very low rpms. It's all about the combo, the right cam, heads, and intake on a 393 or 408 stroker bottom end will produce the results you want, but it will need tuning so you need to factor in the cost of adding that capability to your truck.