help me build my 408 stroker

[SixGun]

That sounds pretty good.  Where are you located? They go to Hidden Falls maybe 3x a year. Lotta fun!!

[Dracen]

I live 2.5 hours west of witchita falls... 2.5 hours south east of Amarillo.. 2.5hours northeast of lubbock... Look up zip 79248....  I live out in the middle of no where... It's an hour drive to Wal-Mart. Lol... I have wheeled several of my arms with a few of you guys and even toke a 2000 intrepid to a ram jam... And got it stick on a sand bank in camp... Lol... I have got to get this truck finished... It will put my old 97 to shame...

[rjtx667]

I grew up in amarillo 

[Dracen]

Well do you know where Childress is? Its south on 287... Well I live south of Childress about 45 minutes.

[rjtx667]

Yup been through Childress many of times.

My dad bought his challenger from there.

[Dracen]

Just a note for anyone else out there thinking about doing headers on a stock magnum 360 get the head studs ahead of time... Mine are 5/16 18.... And normal bolts will not work. At least not on the headers I for the head hits the exhaust pipe... 

[Dracen]

well headers are on and have been for a few days now. still have not had much time to do much else.... really need to get a bleed down gauge setup and al and try to figure out where #6 is loosing pressure.

Never had a motor have a miss before so this is all new grounds to me. never had a dodge with motor issues...LOL

[Dracen]

well leak down test showed exactly what I expected the exhaust valve is toast on cylinder 6. so I called the machine shop and he no longer does oversized valves so can't do the 2.02 valves in this head so time to look at getting the better heads... suggestion?

[ProjectPW]

The magnum EQ heads are the best bang for your buck...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-DODGE-CHRYSLER-EQ-MONSTER-MAGNUM-318-360-5-2-5-9-OHV-V8-CYLINDER-HEADS-/171797459534?hash=item27ffed324e:g:dcQAAOxygPtSyvdV&vxp=mtr

They can be had for around 350/head with stock sized valves

[rjtx667]

those are the heads I run on my truck. I just had it machined to take the larger valves.

There is a lot of work to go into heads, you need the larger valves, machine work, and then verify the seat pressure of the spring is what the cam calls for, verify lift etc etc.

[Dracen]

I did send Ryan a email and for a reply from him and at this point he is saying the same thing that you guys said... Stick with the 360 not stroke it... Lol I was looking forward to a 408...lol. Well guess we will see what happens. Going to start buying parts as soon as is get the exact items listed... Lol I'm thinking right now I will simply take the head off the other motor out of the 99 and put it on mine to keep it simple and so I can collect all the parts at once....
I might do the motor swap for now but I'm pretty sure the motor in the 99 is a 318 instead of the 360 I was told it was... So if I would not be able to build it in place of my motor.

So what do you guys think motor swap while I collect parts and built the 360 or swap the head and keep it simple for now until the parts are all here?

Seams kind of hard to figure out what I should do. I am kind of leaning towards keeping my factory motor in and collecting parts.... I.e. heads, cam and lifters to install all at once. I think I should be able to do the full motor build in a week. With all the parts on hand.

Knowing me if I get the intake I'll install it and run it until the rest of the motor is ready...lol

Ok below is pretty much a few quistion I ask Ryan so let's see what you guys say as well.

What intake would you guys run?
Head? In know the EQ heads but I have no place to do any changes like larger valves.
Cam?
Trottle body?
Roller rockers?
Would you rebuild the rotating assembly as it has 223k miles?
Bore or just clean up/hone, new bearings?

What about Trans upgrades?  I believe mine's never been touched other than guild changes.
Shift kit? I have been looking at a trans go shift kit I think they called it a stage 2 With valve body and all.
Torque converter?

The exact heads I'm looking at right now will be built to my cam specs and everything ported and polished larger valves and roller rockers fully setup ready for dropping on my block and max is something like $1600. So I guess you can say my budget is flexible. Heck if I could get the EQ heads and have them worked over near one of you guys and then shipped to me for less I would do it.... Might even see if my step dad's mechanic shop has access to a shop that can do it for cheaper.

[rjtx667]

My heads ran right about $1600 with everything new (heads, valves, seats, etc) except the springs which I had.

Depending on what springs you need, the springs should not add that much to the cost. This was with the 2.02/1.92 valves.

Once again... call and talk to Mike. He is a great guy with a lot of knowledge.

As for the 99... look on the block... I believe the driver side... it should have 318 or 360 on the side showing which engine it is. On top of that you can always decode the vin or look at the emissions sticker under the hood as long as the engine has not been replaced.

The cam I have in my 408 is a Comp cam 20-604-9 which works great.

Your factory rollers should be more than adiquiet unless your trying to turn more than 5500 RPM. That cam won't do much more than that anyways.

The Throttle body, I would stick with the stock 50MM, and then if needed you can upgrade to a 53MM.

at 223k miles, I would rebuild the lower end. If your going to do it... do it right.

The transmission probably needs a refresh as well. I used Martin Saine for my transmission, he rebuilt one and sent it to me. He was about the same price as local shops, except he had a lot more upgrades and better parts... and I had to remove and install it.

[Dracen]

Ok cool so the 1600 on the heads isn't bad... It is a full brand new setup.

The motor in the 99 was changes or so I was told. I was told,it was swapped to a 360 never even looked at the vin other than to see it was there.. Lol the truck is already pieced out pretty much. Stripped the front clip off including all eletrical only thing left to pull the motor is the trans bolts and torque converter bolts. The rest is done. The interior is also fully stripped out.  Toke me about 8 hours to get it this far..

I'll look into redoing the block... Would you bore it or leave it stock?

[Dracen]

None of my trucks have had or have roller rockers from the factory. They have all been stamped steel. I was thinking a factory ratio just for less friction.

I was thinking about redoing the trans as I'll already have the motor out...

[Dracen]

Looks like I have the trans rebuilds figured out... Lol everything I read about Martians trans I can't get better... And I have a spare core I can send him... Lol to keep mine driving down the road.