Hello,

Just talked to my machinist about my 351w rebuild. I am not going to stroke it, just go .030 over w/ hyper. pistons. I was originally thinking about going for a roller cam w/ retro-fit lifters, but he told me that for the money he would recommend going w/ the Roush heads and a good flat tappet hydraulic cam, and roller rockers would be a plus. He said for the $600-700 total that it would cost me to retro-fit the roller cam, good heads would be a much better choice for not much more. Any thoughts? Ant recommendations on the best cam? The truck ('68 EB) is a DD, and hopefully will be converted to mass-air in the future, although it currently has a Performer intake w/ Q-jet.

Thanks.

 

Boy, I'm on a totally different wavelength than your machinist.

The hypereutectic pistons are a good choice. But...

If you buy all new parts and use aftermarket roller lifters, yes, a roller conversion will cost $600-700. But if you scrounge used H-bars and a spider from a 302 HO and good used or new stock-type roller lifters, all you need to buy aftermarket is the reduced-base-circle cam and a compatible distributor gear. The cam is <$300. Total cost should be <$425. I have two complete sets of lifters, H-bars, and spiders that I got pretty cheap on the 'net. One set is going into a 351w, the other into a 351c.

I drive a car with a roller cam every day. It's got torque from 1700 RPM to the red line. It's fun and I'm spoiled.

A 3.85" stroker crank is also less than $300. Shipping will put the cost to about $330. Your machinist will probably charge $120 for grinding your stock crank, so the effective cost of the stroker crank is about $210. Use the stock rods and stock 302 pistons and you get 35 ft/lbs of torque across your power band for about $6 each. That's dirt cheap.

When I get two other engines done, I'm buying myself a 3.85" crank off of ebay for my 351w. Truck motor.

 

I agree with your machinist and I agree with pcmenten, if you go with the machinist your gonna have to increase stall and rear gearing because more rpm to get power will be the objective. Pcmenten is saying you can make brute force from a stroker and keep everything else pretty much stock stall and gearing wise and it doesn't really cost too much more. You do have to keep in mind that the quality of the stroker crank you get really makes a difference, because should it need extensive balancing then it will cost you. Lot of people have good results with the scat, which may be what pcmenten is referring too, as they run $280-350 depending on where you look. I can see both sides. Why not stroke it and have the stock heads ported (usually runs $400 or so with new valves around here)? That should offer low end torque and mid range power, and you should be able to keep your stock stall and gears. Just what you wanted another perspective. good luck with your choice.