Reply to "Looking for the best stroker option"

Jack,

Since you asked for thoughts here are my opinions on the three most popular strokers. The 377 would be my choice for high RPM durability, while it does fine in street tune, it's real niche is in ORR competition where RPM = top speed. The 393 would be my motor of choice for a street car. Plenty of low end torque for stop light-to-stop light fun with plenty left in the power curve to down shift into 3rd at 50 MPH and earn the respect of any gear head in sight. While it won't rev like a 377, the 393 has the displacement to take advantage of your 4V heads. The 408, while popular, I would tend to stay away from. The 408 requires that the oil ring intersects with the wrist pin on the piston which has been known to result in blow by, excess exhaust smoke and durability issues. The rod ratio is also such that excessive thrust loads are generated. The 408 makes great power, but at the cost of reliability.

Kits: Use extreme caution! Most of the less expensive kits use cranks and rods made in China and have a much higher failure rate than their U.S. counter parts. More than once have I heard someone buy one of those cranks only to spend more money on machine work to "get it right" than the cost of a quality crank. Be picky, select ALL of the proper parts, why scrimp here? Do you want to do a 4K stroker twice or a 7K stroker once? I am sure some where Dan Jones has posted the very recipe you are looking for, that guys has forgot more about Clevelands than I will ever know.

Some of the higher end kits here may work well and here is a decent thread on the subject here