Thanks for the comment!
I agree with you there. I like the idea of a 9ish compression 470 stroker. Good on the street with tons of power.
You think the costs of a stroker build is that similar in price to a stock build?
There are a bunch of considerations, and some depends on the current condition of the parts you have.
I added up the cost difference some time ago, and I think it was less than $1,000.
Example: Had a cast crank 440, where the main and rods journals were shot. You spend $$$ turning, polishing, and balance the crank, then find the undersized bearings are more expensive or difficult to fine. When your done, you still just have a cast external balance crank that makes it difficult to find performance dampers and torque converters.
On a Stock stroke, Stock rod 400, you also limit yourself to a smaller selection of off the shelf pistons. There are more choices for the stroker engines than the stock stroke stuff.
On the stock rods, First 3/8" rod bolts and press piston pins. Shop charges to R&R the piston pins, install ARP Rod bolts and then re-size the rods.
Stroker kit rods come with larger 7/16" ARP bolts, and the small ends are bushed for floating piston pins so you can R&R the pistons yourself.
The rods are made of stronger steel and are designed (chamfered) to clear the fillets of the stroker crank.
The aftermarket rods use the smaller and lighter GM 0.990" piston pin too. This seems to increase the selection of off the shelf pistons as all the stroker pistons use the smaller piston pin size. Depending the the stroke/rod combination, the large end of the rod may use the smaller GM 2.20" rod bearings. The main advantage is the smaller rod end makes it easier to fit the stroker kit into the lock, but again, also makes a wider selection of rod bearings, and usually less expensive too.
As mentioned, there is a good selection of stroker pistons, and being designed for performance, not stock replacement are much lighter in weight.
In addition, the stroker pistons use a thinner 1/16" ring pack compared to the thicker 5/64" stock thickness rings.
Again, using the more common 1/16" rings gives you more choices to choose from. The stroker kit comes with good Sealed Power file-fit moly ring set.
Taking a look on Summit, Total Seal Classic street and racing 5/64" Ring kit is $203.52 for 4.350" bore, the Total seal Clasic Race 1/16" kit is $123.89 (trying to compare same company/quality)