Looking for some direction. Need help building a motor. where do I go from here?

[Plymouth71]

I have a spare 318 that I want to build into a stroker. I am leaning towards a 390. I have a few items that I have purchased or had given to me. I received a Proform Extruded Aluminum Roller Rocker Arm - 1.5 Ratio, a Small block 727 Transmission with high stall torque converter and a Holley 650 Double Pumper 4 BBL Carb. I have also purchased a HEI Distributor from skip white. I plan on installing a set of headers. I already have 2.5" exhaust front to back. I also have a K&N air filter.

I'm trying to understand how to make my choices for things like cam, heads, pistons, intake etc. There are a lot of builds to be on the web for builds, but most are older. I'm trying to keep my costs down but I will not sacrifice durability for horsepower. I see lots of talk about flat decking and hyperteutic pistons and I'm lost. I'd like to see 400 HP or there abouts. Any suggested reading? Anybody have a similar build?

Please don't tell me to go with a 360. I'm wanting something unique. Thank you for your help

 

[jason lewis]

We need to know what the car is used for.drags,road racing,daily driven,etc.weight of the car,gears,tire size,converter.Then it's easier to figure what cam and comp.On compression,zero deck helps to achieve quench.Which alleviates detonation,it squeezes the fuel mixture in a smaller area so as not to create a hot spot elsewhere in the chamber.And it allows you to run higher comp. on the same octane fuel.So chamber size of the heads,compressed thickness of head gasket,and piston design helps you to achieve a certain comp.If your piston is to far below the deck surface you will not be able to achieve a good compression or quench..035 to .050 is good for quench.If you are on the tight side of quench make sure you can run tighter piston to wall clearance so the piston rock won't hit the head.I usually shoot for .040.Hypereutectic pistons,such as K.B. pistons require a lot of ring gap so as the piston expands it won't close the ring gap to 0.Been there done that.So I will run a gapless ring,like childs and albert or total seal,then the extra gap isn't a problem.And ring seal is awesome too.And basically 1 horse power per cube isn't hard to achieve.My two cents.

 

[dvw]

Unique will cost more, deliver less, and look exactly the same. A stock stroke 360 will easily match the power of a stroked 318 w/o the added cost of the crank.
Doug

 

[Plymouth71]

The car is mainly for cruising with the occasional run to the strip. it is a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner Tribute car. I'm planning on 15" Rallyes or Cragars Might consider a modern wheel tire combination, but not sold on it yet. Not sure on the gear ratios I want yet, I have a lead on a Dana 60 which I should know soon (3.73 ratio), but currently has 3.23. I'll have check the converter, but I believe it is 3800 stall.

 

[jason lewis]

The dana isn't needed,unless you just want one.So mostly just for cruising,sound mean,smoke the tires.The converter in the end may be more than needed.Most of us build more than we need.Besides johnny fun spoiler seems to always be watching.

 

[747mopar]

First thing I'd do is ditch the 318 and throw the Proform rockers in the trash, in all honesty the factory Mopar rocker arms are way better than those and you'll spend allot more money getting the ponies out of that 318 than you would a 360. 400 hp is an easy goal out of a 360 and will save you allot of money in the end, don't get me wrong I love 318's but that's going to take allot more parts and work to get to that number. Not trying to rain on your parade just trying to save you money while meeting your goal.............. 360's are everywhere too.