How to stroke a 400?

[PINK71T/A]

Hey guy's i recently acquired a 75' 400 motor anyway i have always wanted to stroke a 400 and get some mega-horsepower.
I want to take my time and cover every area as far as what i want it too achieve. What components should i use? or should i buy a Muscle Motors Stroker kit? Im really exploring all possibilities because im still not finished with my 440 6pack Challenger yet. My future plan was to get a Dakota 97 newer style and put a 400 Stroker in it and find a way to jam a Viper 6-speed behind it! with a Viper Rear independent Suspension in it also. So right now im just exploring all my options on the motor since i Don't even have a Vehicle for it! the 400 was a Truck motor came out of a Trailduster. What is the minimum i can have the Block decked? thanks for your time any comments are greatly appreciated!

[rb77413]

I would say it depends on if there is a competne machine shop that speaks Mopar in your area. If not I would a "kit" route. If there is a good machine shop in your area. Talk to them, (hopefully it is isnt to biased. ) and compare prices. I would suggest a forged 440 crankshaft although it isnt mandatory. Depends on the inteneded use either 400-440 rods. I have plans for a stroked 400 in an old power wagon and plan on using the 400 rods. Good luck

[mtrv8n]

Verry gently, or it may bite...

[AAR4fun]

Your in Brazil, you should talk to Ken Lazzari at Indy Cylinder Head. They are on the east side of Indy. He builds strokers all the time.

I worked with him on building a 415 smallblock. It turned out to be a real powerhouse and still looks like a 340 6bbl.

I haven't been in your area for a number of years so these guys may not still be building/engineering.

Don Giovaneti(sp) - Don's Service Center in TH (the father used to race Mopar with my brother and did alot of race car engineering)

Gray Prose (TH) - engine building and race car engineering. I've heard good things about his work

Eric Bonnewell - runs a machine shop, I think in the southend of TH and does racing machine work. I used to work with him years ago at another machine shop.

These guys would be some great sources of information and networking locally for you.

Indy Cylinder Head would still be the place to go to buy, build or machine for a blueprinted stroker. They know the engineering, parts, technique and have proven race history with strokers.

[PINK71T/A]

Hey thanks for the info AAR4fun. The machinist (Dennis Stultz)
That Ported Polished and Port matched my 440 Sixpack did a EXCELLENT job! and was much cheaper than INDY he charged me $300.00 for what Indy would have charged $800.00 Granted the INDY heads are probably a bit better but for that price i couldnt pass it by!

[hotrod7043]

i been in mopar parts 30yrs and i wouldnt waste my time talkin to indy, and other people ihave talked to that were there customers say the same thing, Hughes, and MUscle motors and KOFFELS are all doing good work at reasonable prices, without the arrogance on the phone. me buddy has a500 cube high deck with 3000 bucks of porting in there INDY HEADS, and i have A452 low deck w/stage 6 factory ported heads. both cars Wiegh the sameand he runs abouts .10 fasterin good air so it goes to show money dont make ya go fast all the time.

[451Mopar]

There are many, many ways to stroke the 400 block.
The most common (and probbably the cheapest) way is using a slightly modified 440 3.75" stroke crank for about 451 CID (the exact CID depends on the amount of the cylinder overbore.)
Fitting a 440 crank in the 400 block is pretty easy by turning the main bearings down to the 400 size, and either trimming the counter weights or clearancing the block for the crank counter weights. There are several off-the-shelf pistons for this combination also.

You can also go with an even longer stroke crank. I believe the 474 cid "kit" uses a 440 crank that has been welded up and offset ground for 3.9" of stroke and it uses shorter Chevy sizes connecting rods.

I think if you go past 4" of stroke, like the 496 CID engine (I think uses the 4.15" Mopar crank? the block needs to be clearanced and some parts may need to be modified to work with the combination. I think the crank (rod throws) come very close to the oil pickup boss on the block. Some of these longer stroke engines use an external oil pickup to avoid this problem.

All the engines will need good heads, intake and exhaust (plus a really big carb) to get the full benifet of the extra displacement, unless you are building a really low RPM grunt engine.

[Dart]

Well said 451mopar...

[AndyF]

I wrote an article about stroking 400 based engines several years ago. It still lives in cyberspace in the article section at www.arengineering.com if you're interested. Download and pass it around. It has stood the test of time and has helped a lot of guys to build their own.

[rumblefish360]

Nice. Well writin. That should help alot of people out.

[PINK71T/A]

Thanks for all the comments and Thanks for the In-depth Info AndyF very nice site you have there! and once again thanks for all the comments and God bless!