351w stroking options when money is a object

I'll be the turd in the punchbowl LOL

If it were me, I'd save the stroker money and put the dough in heads and an intake. Then just rebuild what you have with a set of forged pistons and a good balance.

A deep breathing 351 would run circles around a stock headed 408

Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for. Wait on the rebuild, drive it, and save up for what you really want. Don't settle for cheap. Sounds like you need to set priorities a bit.
I'll have to quote my Dad again...."If you can't find time to do it right the first time, How are you going to find time to do it again?"

Very good advice right there

I agree with kgordonl ..You don't need a forged steel crank for this application...Most agree the stock block will likely fail before a cast stroker crank..Forged pistons would be better but you can get by with the hypers..As for a 408 with stockish type heads vs a 351 with good heads the 351 would be a better race piece but the torquey 408 motor would move the big galaxie around well like a stock big block type engine...If he gets some extra cash or gets the need for speed the shortblock is already built and all he has to do is throw some decent heads,cam,intake and its ready to rock....Reading some of these head shootout articles the stock heads give up a ton of horsepower to the aftermarket aluminiums but there numbers are still pretty impressive especially compared to a stock big block.

Unltimate Guide to 5.0 Cylnder Heads, Part 6

Hi there- Just joined the forum and thought I'd kick it off by throwing in my 2 cents. Carrol Shelby ran cast iron crankshafts to 7800 rpm's in the modified 289's he ran back in the day before steel cranks and rarely broke one. Most of his engine failures were in the valvetrain. Just because something costs more doesn't mean it's the right part. Even stock cast pistons will take more revs and abuse than most street engines will ever see, provided they don't hit the bottle too hard. Hyperuetic pistons are wonderful, especially when they have coated skirts and going in a tight budget streeter. I'd rather not spend $2-300 extra (or more) so I can listen to some rattling a** pistons that I don't need warming up. It's real easy to spend other people's money and while I'm sure you all mean well, everyone's idea of pie may not be apple. I could use the same arguement and tell some of you to save up their money and buy a complete car, like a Corvette that can hit 200 mph reasonably safely and get decent gas mileage without putting your foot in it, instead of throwing a bunch of high dollar performance parts into a motor for an old car or truck that lacks the brakes or suspension to handle it. "Save the money on forged reciprocating parts and buy some brakes....) As previously stated, some parts are wasted money on street vehicles, and different people have different objectives and end uses for their vehicles. My intent here is not to chastise the opposing contributors, but to validate the original posters intentions to build a budget stroker. I am currently doing just that. Stroker kits were way too much money for me, so I am putting together my own 399 stroker kit using the cheapest parts E-bay has to offer. This is a long drawn out process and I could die before I finish this motor. But for me, the biggest part of enjoyment out of this process is the search for the cheapest parts, and cheapest method to achieve a high performance street engine. After the motor is complete, I can look forward to the same process in upgrading and restoring the truck that this motor is destined for. When that's finished, the truck will sit and look pretty 90% of the time, cruise at posted speeds another 5% of the time and then 5% of the time will be pushed to it's limits. If it blows up, so be it. By then I will be wanting to build something different anyway. I chose my 399 set-up for economics sake as well, a cheap stroker crank, 302 pistons and stock length rods. I have almost a complete engine and less than $1000 in it so far and have some pretty respectable parts and expect to make some decent torque and horsepower on pump gas with a motor that might outlive me.

Better heads are the 1st thing you need when building a High Perf SBF. The stock heads suck so bad they arnt even good for stock cubes. Build the biggest engine you can afford....this gives great low end while being able to achieve decent topend without super high rpms.

Originally Posted by qtrhors

Better heads are the 1st thing you need when building a High Perf SBF. The stock heads suck so bad they arnt even good for stock cubes. Build the biggest engine you can afford....this gives great low end while being able to achieve decent topend without super high rpms.

" the biggest engine you can afford?" What do you mean?

Without knowing your exact goals but seeing that it is a big car I did not get specific. I would build at least a 408 if your spending money for a stroker kit and I would get a set of aftermarket heads.