Stroker

[82wagonlimtd]

OK, what is involved in Strokin a 360 (401 Crank) what can i keep and what do I have to change??
Pro's????
Con's????

Andy

[ibnfe]

You can keep most of the externals, ie intake, carb, exhaust manifolds/headers, timing cover, oil pump. All the internals have to be changed/customized. Crank (of course), rods may need to be custom (due to piston pin and crank journal size and length of rod), pistons have to be custom, lots of machining to the block for main journals and rod clearance, main bearing caps, harmonic balancer, flexplate. There may be more. I've never actually done it. Big Con: Lots of $$ for the customization, not to mention finding a machine shop actually capable of such mods. Around here, nobody would touch it! If I wanted a stroker, I would go with a bowtie. I know it's not the same and I'll probably get LOTS of disagreement, but that's my opinion. The Pro is you get the benny's of a 401 crank with the durability of the 360 cylinder walls.

[82wagonlimtd]

That is what I thought, but I read an article, (forgot where) that said a 401 crank will go right in ANY 304 and up block with no machining, so i was just figurin on rods.....hmmmmmmm

anyone else???

Andy

[RJ]

I considered doing this exact thing at one point. It can be done. The major thing you need to consider is deck height. That is the distance b/w the crank centerline and the top of the block. 9.208 " is the ht of a virgin casting. In this space, half the stroke, con rod center to center length, piston ht (the distance from the pin center), and deck clearanca must exist. In changing the stroke from a 360 (3.44") to that of a 401 (3.68"), this increase of stroke must be compensated for somewhere else. A shorter rod (actually, 401 rods are shorter than 360 rods for this reason), a shorter piston pin ht, or a combo of the two must be considered. Once you decide on your rod length (longer is always better), your desired compression ratio, then youll have to find someone to make custom pistons for you, with the appropriate pin ht, and (probably) dish. Then the assy would have to be balanced. After all this work and a couple grand later, you'll have a 26 cube larger (at .030" overbore), engine with 390 cubic inches. I had all the parts to build it, but after pricing everything, I decided to sell my 401, and put those $$ into a super reliable, but healthy, 360. Glad I did too ;) Sorry so lllooonnnnggg!!!

[jeepjake]

Glad someone pointed me to this post.

Am considering the exact same thing.

From what I've heard, the 401 crank AND rods will work for the stroking and chevy 400 ful floated pistons are the ticket (Keith Black Hyper U's for about $400 from PAW.)

Problem with that is:

1. Need to ream out the pin hole in pistons to 1" (from .927), OR....

2. Find bushings for the rods to go from 1" to .927, AND....

3. Bore the 360 out to .045 over for the chev pistons.

Seems like a lot of work to me, but I have all the 401 parts and the 360 crank was WAY bad: (the rod bearing spun for a while and the journal is VERY egg shaped)

http://complaint.virtualave.net/images/journal9.JPG

Anyone have a good 360 crank they're willing to trade for some other motor parts???