Strokers from famous name manufacturer for reference:

Ford Racing Performance Parts [351 Based Engines]

Also, even though peak torque might be at 5000 rpm, but it could be as strong or stronger at the low revs as the stocker, but rev out better. With a 5000 peak, it can't be weak as a kitten a 3000 or 3500, but only a dyno chart will tell the tale.

 

Actually, it can. It all depends on the parts,... all of them. A big breathing motor in a heavy vehicle can be a dog out of the hole. If towing or pulling heavy loads at reasonable speeds are your goals, it's possible to have a motor that's peak torque is at 5000 rpm, that can't get out of it's own way off-idle.

3000 -3500 is a long way from idle, so even if it makes good torque at those RPM's there is still a long way to go from idle to there. That's why there are stall converters. Take a motor that is built for high RPM power, with large heads and induction, cam, ect... with a stock converter, and you can damn near walk away from it with a golf cart for a city block or more in a heavy vehicle with high rear end gears. They can run embarrassingly bad- been there, done that.

Now the same set-up cruising at 30 mph- drop it into low, punch it and you can be over 90mph in under a second.

On the other side, you can build a motor that can pull down large trees, but just levels out at 4500 rpm. Without boost, nitrous, exotic fuels, or stroking and boring, the only way to get large power gains is to trade off one level of performance for another.

 

On the block work I always torque plate my block when honing cylinders. deck motor to make sure head gskt area seals good and anything close to zero deck is good. their are a few other issues like windage trays and anything to clean crank of oil when rotating.

 

It recently came to my attention, that you should use the same fasteners for the machine work that you use on the build.

In other words, don't send your block to the machine shop with the old stock main bolts, then turn around and use ARP main studs and add a windage tray or main girdle. Even using ARP bolts in place of the stock main bolts will affect the roundness of the mains.

While it hasn't been specifically mentioned to me by a machinist, it would follow that the same would hold true with the head bolts while torque plate honing.

 

i wouldnt reuse any important bolts . as the threads can stretch and should be stretch touqed . reuse of theese bolts will only cause major issues as they wont be accurate and are already been weeakend/compromissed if you may !

 

Neither would I, but that's not the point. The point is that ARP bolts apply very different pressure characteristics, and this is even more pronounced when going to studs. Windage trays and especially main girdles also affect the way the studs distort the mains.

As far as stretching bolts goes, ARP recommends that you torque their fasteners through several cycles before final assembly.

 

I put a Probe main stud girdle on my build,and got a windage tray from Ford thats aluminum plate w/louvers that the bolt holes didn`t line up,so I drilled/tapped some holes and used some small barrel sleeves for spacers and had to clearance the tray a little for the crank journals/oil pump.So far so good. Also 9 qt Milodon oil pan/high vol. oil pump

 

Let me try one more time to put this in perspective and clarify exactly what I'm trying to relate here.

Torque plate honing is a fairly new concept, certainly not popular 20 years ago and probably closer to 10. Engines built by some of the most discriminating and famous builders did not do this. This didn't make the engines built without it total pieces of crap, and one built without doing it today would still be serviceable and live a long time.

Now that the advantages of torque plate honing have come to light, it is almost a required part of a rebuild. In actuality the difference between torque plate honing and honing without are very small when measured, but very noticeable in terms of extra horsepower (due to better ring seal) and quicker ring break in, (which leads to longer engine life for several reasons).

This same theory applies to align honing mains as well. Certainly the HP gains are going to be much less, but longevity is the main concern. A perfectly round main is going to last longer than one that is out of round. The difference is only going to be noticeable when the engine is disassembled and the wear patterns on the bearings are inspected.

Neither I, nor the people that brought this to my attention are claiming this is anything more than a small difference. The point is, if you are going to have your mains align honed, for the best results you should use the bolts, (or studs), main girdle or windage tray that will be used in final assembly when you have the block align honed.

The same principle applies to torque plate honing as well. For the absolute best results, the same head gasket and bolts/studs that are going to be used should be torqued with the exact same length spacers as required to equal the height of the head.

These aren't required steps, but steps that improve the quality of the machine work for just a little more effort. Some serious builders will go so far as to install casting plugs, oil pump, ect., and bring the block up to operating temperature when machining.

So the point is that while not required, these small details make an actual difference in the end result, although a small one.

 

Google search 408 strokers it will give you a variety of choices, however I'am going to plug fordstokers.com. Jim Wood "woody" can answer all of your questions. If your going to lay out the cash for this project do it once and do it right! As others have mentioned on this thread there is more to it than just having a block bore.030 over and dropping in a rotating assembly, your engine may need more than a .030 over bore,is it going to be done by a competant machine shop? I beleive that woodys 408 short block starts at $2400.00 not bad considering whats entailed to build one of these beast. All machine work, clearancing and hand assembly is done in house! If you want to build it yourself he has machined blocks and balanced rotating assemblys for the asking its up to you! All I do know is, I researched both options till I was Ford Blue in the face, and wound up with one of his assembled 347 short blocks I waited 8 weeks for it but in the long run it was worth it. More good reading sbftech.com. "This is my opinion there are many like it but this one is mine"! Good luck!

 

This is good advice.

 

I agree as well. The Aftermarket rotating assemblies like eagle, scat etc are all made in China. Crankshafts,rods etc. It is very important that you check clearances, Connecting rod big end dimensions, rod,main journals diameters for out of roundness etc. Just because it's new does not mean it's correct. I just built a big block 454 and i had to use +1 rod bearings to get the correct specs! This was with a new crankshaft and new H beam rods. Just my opinion... Good luck!

 

Owe, when i called back about the dimensions i was told they would send me another crank but they are all usually somewhere close in tolerances. I opted to just buy +1 bearings and call it a day.