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396 stroker? and camshaft recomendations

bigbadchev84

bigbadchev84

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well i am starting on my 396 bbc for my truck and i am taking it in to the machine shop tomorrow, it is ot of a 66' chevelle supersport, bored .60 over steel crank, domed pistons and closed chamber oval port heads, i have an aluminum torquer intake and headers that i am planning on running. my question is, what camshaft should i run with this? i have 3" flowmasters, manual tranny, 39.5 boggers and a 4.56 gear ratio. i want something with alot of power, lopey idle, and a good low-mid range powerband.

ALSO is there any options as far as turning my block into a stroker? if so what?
 
The problem with stroking that is you will no off the shelf pistons available. If you want more cubes it would be more cost effective to sell your shortblock and buy a 454 block to stroke to 496.
 
Bbc

Hello man 427/454 blocks are 4.250 bore size what is the bore on that 396 .keep your motor simple contact comp cams or lunati tell them what you have gear ratio in axle transmission .tell them what you want more tq with a rough idle. then get the complete kit springs ret.all that stuff. go ahead and get a good timing chain also ok enuff for now
 
Mad-Dog said:
Excuse me...?

I didn't realize 427 pistons were obsolete. :crazy:
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Well, they are not. But a 427 is a 4.25" bore (same as a 454) x a 3.76" stroke (same as 396).

The combination you suggested 4.125 bore x 4.00" stroke also comes out to 427 cubes, but using 427 pistons would be like putting a square peg in a round hole. So I guess the ball is in your court mr goodwrench to find a part # for any off the shelf piston that will work with your suggested combination.

If that comes across too strong, sorry.... there just seems to be a lot of "tech" put out here that is just plain WRONG.
 
i do have access to a 454 block, what all is involved? what would i be looking at as far as using my closed chamber heads? what overbore do i need? my dads buddy has a 72' 454 i can get the block for a little labor, he spun a bearing it it, but he probably wont get rid of the heads.
 
If it spun a rod bearing, cool... If it spun a main your looking at a line hone.

Competition Products has a few rotating assemblies available, If you buy it as a kit and have it balanced it's almost a drop in. You may or may not need to grind a little off the bottom of the cylinder barrels. I put one of their 4340/5.385/JE kits in a 502 block to make a 540 with out a problem, but it depends on the kit and block you use. Bore is up to your personal preference, but make sure and specify which heads you are using to get a livable compression ratio in a flat top or maybe even a dish. I'd shoot for 9:1 static.
 
That's what i get for replying for when i'm really tired....no sweat :bow:

Do you really think i should change my handle to Mr. Goodwrench ? :haha:
 
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you'll have to grind the block to clear the 454 crank..

Here is what they say in the "how to rebuild your BB chevy" book about swapping a 454 crank in another block:

"Fitting a 454 crank into a 366/396/402 or 427 block--the crank WILL bolt in--BUT--the rods will interfere with the block at the bottom of some cylinders..you'll have to do some checking and grinding to make the combo work"..only exception is the late 427 block,which has the same casting as a 454--if you want the 4" stroke 454 crank in your block,dont forget about the cost and time of clearancing the block..there is also the cost of the damper,crank,flexplate-(you need to use the 454 damper and flexplate/flywheel)-With all theese points in mind,leave the 454 crank in a 454 block.."

Then the pistons are the next dilema,as already stated in previous posts..sounds like a lot of work for nothing!..I dont like the idea of grinding any metal out of a block..period.. :crazy: better off to buy a 454 !! :rolleyes:
 
thor said:
Well, they are not. But a 427 is a 4.25" bore (same as a 454) x a 3.76" stroke (same as 396).

The combination you suggested 4.125 bore x 4.00" stroke also comes out to 427 cubes, but using 427 pistons would be like putting a square peg in a round hole. So I guess the ball is in your court mr goodwrench to find a part # for any off the shelf piston that will work with your suggested combination.

If that comes across too strong, sorry.... there just seems to be a lot of "tech" put out here that is just plain WRONG.
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World makes a 350 block and a 400 block with a 4.125" bore. I don't feel like making calls to find out who makes the piston but I doubt world would make a block nobody could buy pistons for.

Diesel4me, when you say the crankshaft is "bolt in" what do you mean? Don't you have to grind the journals on all strokers?

Would it be possible to use a shorter rod for the 427 instead of grinding the block? Only reason i ask is because of the 383's 6.0" or 5.7" rods.
 
Umm..

The "Stroker" crank in question is the 454 one,which has a 4" stroke--1/4" more than a 396 crank..no offset journals,they are describing just putting a stock 454 crank in any other BIG block..I dont think ANY rods will clear without grinding the block,regardless of length....there just ain't enough room for it to "swing" around in there without hitting..thats why you have to :grind: :crazy:
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
World makes a 350 block and a 400 block with a 4.125" bore. I don't feel like making calls to find out who makes the piston but I doubt world would make a block nobody could buy pistons for.

Would it be possible to use a shorter rod for the 427 instead of grinding the block? Only reason i ask is because of the 383's 6.0" or 5.7" rods.
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So do you think a bbc and a sbc can share the same piston? There are some variables here. I do believe I said "off the shelf" and I challenge you to find one 17.... How about little things like the compression hight and Pin diameter? 6.135 is the stock length for all bbc. Aftermarket makes plenty that are longer, shorter you would be looking at a one off custom piece, also would put the pistons into the counter weights, but you knew this... Would you just machine down the crank to use a small block rod? or simply fill the rod hole in the piston with nickel?
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
If they didn't make the right piston i would grind out a FORGED sbc 4.125 bore piston and run bb rods. But that was before i found these....
http://www.flatlanderracing.com/wisecoprotru-bb01.html
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DW17,
The pistons you linked are for a 3.76 stroke which is a stock 396/402/427, the bore is common, The ones with 4.28/4.31 bores are traditional 427 +.030/.060 but still for a 3.76 stroke. What I said is that there is not available "off the shelf" piston with the correct pin height for a 4" or more stroke in that bore size. It's not the bore that makes them hard to find, it is the combination of the bore, pin height/stroke, and compression height.
dirtwarrior17 said:
Pricey but forged... i say go with the 427. Do some more research on grinding the block before you buy a 454. everybody who didn't want a 350 has a 454. A 427 is rare and therefor badass.
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It all boils down to personal preferance. If you want to do it to be different, cool, some people prefer a 283 to a 350, or a 350 to a 383, it's the same difference.... However a 427 is a 4.25 bore/3.76 stroke (same block as a 454). Read up the thread what was suggested was making a 427 with a 4.125 bore/4" stroke... Now that would be really rare...
 
As you can see i don't know much about bb's but I have to ask why you cant swap in a longer rod and be done with it? Eagle has em from 6.135" to 6.800"

A 427 with a 4.125" bore and a 4.00" stroke is a 400 with a 454 crankshaft. I built one on Desktop Dyno a while ago and it made 654 hp and almost 700 ft lbs N/A and costed a little under 9 grand. Thats damn good if you look at worlds sbc 427 and sbc 454 motors power and price.

As for being rare I'm suprised more people aren't stroking the 400's.

Chevy already made a sbc 427 for the new zo6's. I haven't found the bore and stroke yet but i wouldn't be suprised if it was 4.125" bore and a 4" stroke.

500 Hp N/A ALUMINUM block sbc. Anybody have 70 grand they can give me?
 
dirtwarrior17 said:
A 427 with a 4.125" bore and a 4.00" stroke is a 400 with a 454 crankshaft. I built one on Desktop Dyno a while ago and it made 654 hp and almost 700 ft lbs N/A and costed a little under 9 grand. Thats damn good if you look at worlds sbc 427 and sbc 454 motors power and price.
Click to expand...

Now your onto something. Just for discussion sake, if you start with a bigger engine you can make those hp/tq numbers cheaper with a more reliable package.

Also just an observation, but that is a peak torque number, a bbc that makes the same peak # will kill a sbc on the entire curve.
 
I'd like to see a bb kill those numbers for less that 9k but i'd be too busy catching the monkeys that are flying out of my butt.

when i said 9k it was turnkey with a full blown mpfi system.

By the way, nice sig. Looks like i need to take one of your posts out of context and make you look like a dumbass.
 
As far as monkeys flying out of your butt, what ever floats your boat. 9K will build a mean big block because they don't need a lot of exotic stuff to make that number.

Anyhow, I thought the line was funny for a sig, sorry you didn't but it's gone..
Don't take this so seriously.
 
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