Enlighten me ye gurus…please

[1STMP]

Sell the 383/400 and start YOUR build
the way YOU invision. It's your car,
not someone else's where
circumstances on the previous owners
part drove HIS decisions as to what
you ended up with. You have a clean
slate.
The road to heaven is paved with good
intentions. His intention was to sell
the car.

 

[1KoolBee]

Since the 383 comes with ported heads & Torker intake, best bang for the buck is to get a 440 stroker kit [ 438 actually with a 383 +060 block]. Yes, the 400 block has a slightly bigger bore, but the seat-of-the-pants would not notice the difference between a 383 +060 & a 400 block used as a basis for a stroker.
Going to the wider 440 makes for a tighter fit in the engine bay, plus the Torker 383 intake does not fit the 440.

There is also another important benefit that the 383 block has over the 440: the rod/stroke ratio. Chrys 383-440 have the largest r/s ratio of all the popular BB engines. Great for high rpms, not so good for low end. By using a stroker crank in a 383, you reduce the r/s ratio for better low end, all else being equal. The Chargers are heavy cars & need all the low end they can get.

Or offset grind a 440 crank to 3.91 and BBC journals. 451 from a 383 using 6.700 BBC rods with an .030 overbore. 470 if it’s a 400. I used Diamond 51950 pistons and K-1 6.700 BBC rods designed for a ford stroker. Ford style rods are better centered under piston along the pin axis. Chevy style rods are actually offset to one side.

 

[bearman]

If it's a 400 use it. Buy the stroker kit put the new 5 speed in it some nice gears and run it till the paint peels off the car. Then put new paint on it.