so ive been trying to figure out what to do this summer to my engine....crate, rebuild or stroker. ive decided that the stroker will be the way to go

I can bore and hone it myself with my brother in law so the machine work will basically be free of labor.

but the two things I need advice on are the CAM choice and the HEADS. I've been looking at getting a pair of gt40 heads on ebay and I have comp cam high energy 268H now. the cam specs are 268/218 and .456 in/ex im thinking that cam might be a bit to small for the 331 but im no expert. ive seen alot of people use the xe 268H

the main purpose of this car is going to be basically daily driver in the summer and every now and then a track car, looking for around 300-350 horsepower. its an automatic and i do not think ill be going the roller cam route because this is a bit of a budget build

any advice would be much appreciated and like i said its a budget build so no I cant afford brand new edelbrock heads or AFRs

 

That cam would be decent with those heads, but with that head/cam combo you won't be too much better off than a comparable 302. I would suggest some Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, or Trick flow Twisted wedge heads, and a comp xe284h if you go with a flat tappet, but I would highly suggest switching over to a roller cam.

 

GT40 heads are ok...but not fantastic. For a stroker, you want a lot of airflow. Start looking on the corral forums classifieds for a set of used aftermarket heads. They pop up there occasionally because the fox body guys are always modding one thing or another. If you want to run Twisted Wedge heads though, make sure you get matching pistons, as standard valve reliefs won't match the heads.

I have to disagree about the cam. That's not nearly enough lift to power a stroker. It might come close with some 1.7 rockers, but you'd be better off with a different cam altogether. I run a Magnum 280H with Rhoads lifters in my daily driver 331. It's mean. Probably more aggressive than you'd want in a daily driver, unless you want to give Rhoads lifters a shot (they're noisy). The XE268H is a good choice, and I ran that for a while initially. It's a little more streetable than the 280H. Keep in mind that the same cam in a stroker is going to feel more tame than it does in your current motor.

What I'd do first is start looking for a good stroker kit, or parts for a kit. I had a local performance shop put my long-rod kit together. Scat high nodular crank (no need for forged), Scat forged 5.4" I-beam rods, KB hypereutectic pistons w/full floating wrist pins. Affordable and durable, and the long-rod setup gives you a little more grunt down low. A lot of people will bash hypereutectic pistons, but they're lighter than forged (quicker windup) and plenty strong enough for a 300-400hp naturally aspirated motor. Just don't plan on running boost or nitrous with them.

 

im not running any boost or nitrous, straight naturally aspirated carb

the kit im looking at is a skat nodular iron crankshaft, forged I beam rods 5.400", kb hypereuteric full floating dish pistons $800

for the heads my budget is around $600 so if i can find some heads around that then im good.

 

what type pistons will fit twisted wedge heads? i mean i doubt ill be able to afford those but just for future reference

 

a new set is between 1200-1400 so you should be able to pick up a very good set of used ones for 600

last time I checked there was an ad (eBay) by some father of a boyo caught racing, so he sold his heads to replace them for stock. they went for 650 :-)

Kalli

 

wow thats to bad, what are some kinds of head i should be keeping my eye out for? and what size combustion chamber and intake runners?

 

Do you know which specific pistons you're looking at? These are what I'm running. They give a great CR for a street car. A dished pistons is going to cut down your compression, unless you're running really small chambers (which isn't common on aftermarket heads). Most aftermarket heads that you should be looking at are going to be ~64cc. Some are 58cc, but usually those are on the small side.

Other than that, that's basically the kit I'm running. I'm very happy with it. Add $175 to your budget for a balance, though.

Twisted Wedge heads require special pistons made specifically to match the valve angles in the heads. I'd stay away from that setup, as you probably can't even find pistons like that to work with your setup.

I'd look for some Edelbrock RPM heads, or some AFR 185's. Both are pretty common. Just make sure they don't have bright white (burned) exhaust valves. If you want to go cast iron, you can also look for Windsor Jr's or Sr's, or a pair of Dart Iron Eagles, although the latter are pretty new to the market and are going to be harder to find used.

 

the pistons im looking at are kb hyper dish but cant find the part number, i thought it was kb 355 (the ones you posted) with 64cc chambers the compression would be 9.0/1. but the kb website says 9.2. do i want compression higher then that? what would be better, flat, dish, or dome?

 

I thought the TW heads could be run with the stock pistons, bigger valves, and more lift because of the valve location. And I thought inline heads, such as stock, AFR, Edelbrock, etc required notching (fly cutting) the pistons for clearance sooner than the TW heads???