To Stroke or not.

Hello all. I just bought a 351w block that has already been cleaned up and honed. Everyone I talk to says I should stroke it to either a 393 or 408. I would love to gain the cubes and and torque "BUT" I plan on driving the car quite a bit and gas here in Hawaii is very expensive. Oh yeah the car is a 93 LX hatch. I want to be pushing around 450 to 500 hp but very reliably. I plan on using trick flow heads and Upper and lower intakes keeping it EFI and getting a good piggy back tuner. I want to keep the compression down so I can add boost later. Do I need to stroke it to produce those numbers N/A with out bumping up the compression. I dont plan on running allot of boost probably in the ball park of 7 lbs.
Never built a motor before and i am paying a proffesional to assemble and install i am just trying to get the wright combo of components to do the build. There is just so much to choose from. any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Aloha

Regardless of your plans, there really is no good reason NOT to add cubic inches. Do it now and you won't regret it.

Since you posted on the Stroker Engines forum....
By all means... STROKE!!!!

Also, keep in mind that it cost exactly the same to stroke to a 408 as a 393. Or for the same price, you can always go with a 418. Granted the rod ratio is just a little worse in a 418 than the 408, but lots of people have run them for years without any issues.

With the boost, I'd probably go 408 with 6.2 rods.

If you are doing the bottom end there is no question... 408.
Do it once and do it right.

It sounds like you are trying to keep the engine as "mild" as possible..The more cubes you have the milder you can build it so go with the stroker....

Thanks Guys. You are all pushing to stroke so Im gonna do it. Now the question is how big? Im thinking 408 but will the engine life of a 393 be any better? I was told that a 351 stroked to a 408 would require more machine work for rod clearance? Is this true or BS? Can any one recommend a good stroker kit for the 408. The budget is 2G for the rotating assembley shipped. Shipping costs me allot more here in Hawaii. Thanks allot for all your help.

I am in the same boat as you and I've been looking at rotating assemblies all night. So far this is a pretty good deal, IMHO:
Scat Street/Strip SBF 393 Rotating Assembly [1-94165-1] : AD Performance, Your Source for Longblock Performance Parts

408... proven to be just as durable, parts cost the same, doesn't require any more machine work, may actually cost less to balance, more stroke, longer rods, more cubes, more power... What's not to LOVE????

Alright, I've commited to stroking to a 408. I have been eyeing the trick flow upper end kit (heads,intake,Cam,etc.) but I am wondering if I could save some money by getting some heads off
e-bay, Im thinkin GT-40 heads or something a little cheaper than AFR'S. I would like to buy the heads first so I know if I hafto get notched pistons or not. Also what size combustion chambers do I want for my compression to be 10-1 in the 408. Im so clueless when it comes to CC, or duration or lobe or spring rate I just know I like to go fast. Im learning very quickly though thanks to all of you.

You will need to list what pistons or heads you intend to get before you can figure out the compression ratio.