Ok. I'm just starting another project (should finish the other 3) and have been reading heaps but need a few gaps filled in. I have a vh sle 308 and bought a vr 304 top end and was going to inject the old 308. Then a good amte who is an apprentice engine reco said he would build me a tuff bottom end for piss all. After reading the latest street amchine mag where they biuld a 450hp 308 i have a few questions. I'm aiming at 400hp injected street 355 stroker - without spending 15k like in SM. should i go 304 or 308 block , have been told 304's are stronger bottom end. will i need to port the vr heads? i don't want to spend 3k on a new intake manifold but the stock banana will prob restrict to 300hp, has anyone made their own manifold? i am a boilermaker and am thinking about making my own but am woried about warping and such. Sm used a 750 deamon carb up top but efi would have to be better. whats do you guys reckon? All i n all, what stock gear can i use and what parts would definately need to be upgraded.

factory the 304 heads are flowed to 400 hp but for what you need i would still flow em a bit more.. i would make your own intake manifold... many people do it, ill try find pics, and they look good..i doubt they will warp unless you put a turbo pumping large amounts of heat.. and converting to efi will be piece of piss.. many people have done it, and many people have converted the efi to carby..there will always be parts available..so shouldnt be much of a drama.. i rekon the standard crank will be alright.. theres a guy that has the worlds fastest 308.. he averages to snap a stock 308 crank every 2 weeks... lol.. and the 304 crank will be strong enough..but if your stroking, it will be most likely changed..you would wanna run high compression so good rods will be needed..a good 288 cam and double row timing chains to be safe.. gll with it..

pretty sure the injected heads are more closer to 460hp flow from factory... basically you dont need to touch them if you're chasing something mild.. i reckon a lot of head work is overrated. Here's the deal, u could spend all this on a stroker bottom end and top end, or just bolt a charger to your 5litre and make more power and torque? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by richo19 Ok. I'm just starting another project (should finish the other 3) and have been reading heaps but need a few gaps filled in. I have a vh sle 308 and bought a vr 304 top end and was going to inject the old 308. Then a good amte who is an apprentice engine reco said he would build me a tuff bottom end for piss all. After reading the latest street amchine mag where they biuld a 450hp 308 i have a few questions. I'm aiming at 400hp injected street 355 stroker - without spending 15k like in SM. should i go 304 or 308 block , have been told 304's are stronger bottom end. will i need to port the vr heads? i don't want to spend 3k on a new intake manifold but the stock banana will prob restrict to 300hp, has anyone made their own manifold? i am a boilermaker and am thinking about making my own but am woried about warping and such. Sm used a 750 deamon carb up top but efi would have to be better. whats do you guys reckon? All i n all, what stock gear can i use and what parts would definately need to be upgraded. The 304 bottom end will be stronger as it has A9L rods, better crank etc. I wouldnt bother upgrading these unless you're stroking it as theyll love 400+hp. Why dont you run a big manifold and carby? Itll be cheaper and itll still perform well. Theres 7 second cars running carb's still - cant be that bad! With the money you save on wiring, injectors etc get a decent carby. No doubt the 355 bottom end is going to produce alot more torque than the 304 so thats where youre really going to notice it in the streetability side of things - itll take off and have a bucket load. You can do a 400hp 304 fairly cheap but the '55 is going to cost alot more but in the end its going to be alot stronger.

Eagle crank, scat I beam rods and Speed pro pistons. For just under $1000 you will have a good 355 for the street. Also, don't even go by the rubbish that SSS is saying about their engine in SM. Man, for $15K you can make over 500hp and do so with quality gear.

thanks heaps for the info, well the deal is i bought the vr heads, intake, loom, computer ect for $550, my mate said if i gave him a block he would build it tuff and only cost about $1000 and the cheapest palce i found for a block is $650 for 304 short motor, Its gonna be a budget operation, i was thinking stroker only for cheap easy horespower but still haven't made up my mind. Would roller rockers be a good addition or are they more for high revving high output race applications? if anyone has any parts that may be of use to me send me an e-mail. i'm in brisbane. Sinister - what charger set up do you recommend and what dollars we looking at? i have considered this but thought 355 would be cheaper.

You can build a 400hp 308 pretty easily. Have a read of this. It's long but worth a read: http://www.torque-power.com.au/ms_dualplane.htm Might give you some ideas. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

i wouldnt under estimate the potential the carb has, any carb tuned right will act exactly like any injected top end would if used on a motor with the same specs. any way i would stick to a stroker since after the build you will have a fresh motor with all the good bits that are suited to each other (plus comp ratio etc etc) whereas if you were to supercharge and nothing else cams and springs etc etc might not suit as well as compression and the motor would not be fresh so it might give up under a hard time sooner rather than later. The VN style heads flow roughly 460hp stock so that should be enough for the mods your thinking about, only mod you might have to do is face them for increased comp. As for the SSS motor build in SM, remember the final price included everything including block, machining, new parts dyno testing etc etc at normal prices so if you allready have the parts or can get them cheap aswell as the labour the build should cost alot less. The real killer in terms of $$$ is the fact that the trans will need to be strengthened (high stall converter should be dropped in), possibly the diff rebuilt (a ratio change should be done) aswell as brake and suspension upgraded for obvious safety reasons. Now these dont HAVE to be done but expect lots of broken things or unsafe driving if everything bar the motor gets left standard.

Why not just go 333? That is the cheap stroker. But having had a 355 I wouldn't do a 308 or 304. Spend the little bit extra on the 355 or 333 and enjoy the torque. Good luck with what ever way you go...

After having built both a 330 & a 355, and as much as I love them,I don't think you could build a 330 for any cheaper than a 355 these days. Especially now the Eagle cranks have become available. . . . . and now you can buy a COME "396" crank for cheaper than a Harrop 355 crank! I know they may not be of the exact same quality though(let's not start the COME vs. Harrop thing again!).

Quote: Originally Posted by UNS10 After having built both a 330 & a 355, and as much as I love them,I don't think you could build a 330 for any cheaper than a 355 these days. Especially now the Eagle cranks have become available. . . . . and now you can buy a COME "396" crank for cheaper than a Harrop 355 crank! I know they may not be of the exact same quality though(let's not start the COME vs. Harrop thing again!). didnt know wtf u were on about then i check the come site and its true, they got a 396 crank! i dont get it though.. i always thought 383 was the absolute max and clearancing for that was a nightmare enough.. u sure it works with the holden block or just their custom blocks? it would require one very short piston and the 383 was thin enough as it was

It wouldn't be too hard to find rods & pistons that would fit. I'm sure there's some SBC stuff that would suit There's probably only a marginal amount more clearancing than a 383 but I'm sure COME would tell you what's needed. A 396 cast iron block Holden would be pretty cool hey?! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.