So I was watching the show Trucks Powerblock Tv the other day on spike and they were working on a jeep cherokee, the motor was so bad on the dyno it had like 40hp so they decided they were definatley going to need to do something with the motor. Its was between swapping a V8 into it or a Stoker kit with new heads and clean up the block and they went with the stroker kit because they said the drivetrain wouldnt hold up well with the power the v8 would produce and that they could get just a little less power than the v8 with the stoker kit. So I was wondering what your guys thoughts were on that since I have been saving for a V8?

 

v8....

 

i'd venture to say that what you spend in time and $$ on a stroker kit, you could easily have a V8...

 

Everyone does or wants to do a V8. Do what you want. I personally would go with a stroker motor with boost.

 

turbo 22R

 

Stroked V8.

 

You would have to be CRAZY to put a stroker kit on a 3.0. Just like the idiots who spent $3,000.00 on the Whipple superchargers for them, CRAZY.

If you are serious about power the only way to go is a 302.

 

You would be better off with a SOHC over a 302. all that work to put a 302 in and you have like 20hp and 40ftlbs over a SOHC. If your going to use a v8 go with a REAL v8. Something that makes some actual power.

 

Yeah but the 302 bolts right in and with a nice set of heads, nice intake manifold, a cam, and long tubes you've got some decent power. Or if you were more serious you could build it up for more power on spray or boost, or go NA and throw in some high compression pistons and bore or stroke.

 

thats why my next project truck will probably have a 4.6 wedged in it....

 

Yeah I kinda still wanted to do the V8 I just thought I'd check to see what you guys thought would be better...and its obvious, V8 wins....

 

I saw the same show. The reason the engine was only putting out 40 RWHP was it had been totally trashed. When they tore it down they found broken rings in 2 cylinders. A couple of the main bearings where trash, so the crank had a ton of play. The oil pan was full of shavings. The poor engine was probably only a few miles away from self destructing. So the choices were rebuild the engine or replace it. What they decided was a cheap rebuild. They used a stock crank and head from a newer, bigger, engine. No special machine work was needed. Since they used the original block, no special motor-mounts, trans adaptor, headers, etc. was needed as in a V-8 swap. The "stroke" was only done to gain a little. They had to rebuild the engine anyway, and this was a cheap way to *** some power over the stock engine. For not much more money. Not for a major HP gain.

IMO the little 3.0 just isn't a good candidate for hotroding. A few years ago I thought about adding a Whipple supercharger to my 3.0. After doing some research I found that for the price, $3K plus at the time, I would end up with only slightly more power than a stock 4.0. Not worth it in my mind.
If you're building engine for a particular racing class, that's one thing. But if you're building a DD it makes no sense at all to me, to stroke any engine.

So I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, what am I going to use this engine for. Your answer will dictate which route you take.

Two old racing adages come to mind.

Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?
There is NO substitute for cu. in.

 

V8 without a doubt, you can pick up a 5.4 or a 4.6 for less than a thousand dollars, sometimes you can luck up and get the whole drive train for 1200.

or 2.3T, very stout and fun

 

Sounds like my dad talking!

You can be good, fast, or cheap. Pick TWO.

If it's good and fast, it won't be cheap.
If it's cheap and fast, it won't be good.
If it's good and cheap, it won't be fast.

 

I'll throw one more into the mix.

Cheap, fast, reliable. Pick 2.

Basically, it's exactly like MemphisSenior says. The only real reason to stroke a 3.0 would be a particular racing class for 3.0s and you'd spend a lot of money to get a 3.0 to anywhere above 250 HP.

If you are just going for strictly HP & Torque/$$, a V8 is the way to go.

EDIT: Haha... looks like Nate was thinking the exact same thing I was.

 

i personally am into the v6 power and well the 302 maybe a great choice but if you do a turbo setup on the 3.0L you can push 267whp max and 320-330tq or so before the engine fails. the hp ratings were from boss and the tq rating was from tom morana. im trying to get info from tom about the stroker kit to see how much power that it can handle.

 

Not saying I don't agree. Personally, I'd love to build a turbo'ed V6 in a Ranger, but strictly looking at the HP per $ ratio, your always better going with a V8.

I mean a Morana Stroker Kit for a 3.0 starts at $3500 and even on the site claims 30 HP/Torque gain.

I can buy a 302, and have it in the truck for probably under $1000 and be at the same HP/Torque point. Now I have $2500 to spend on upgrades to get even farther above the Stroked 3.0 and $2500 will get you a hell of a 302.

But that's just my $0.02. If it's something you really want to do to be different, more power to you man. I can think a stroked 3.0 with headers, exhaust, etc. would be sweet. Just not very practical.

 

the stroker kit starts at 2,000 and since there are a **** ton of Vulcan blocks in my local junk yard i wouldn't have a problem finding another motor. I haven't seen many 302 where im at. plus if you gonna do a complete engine swap why not go with a newer motor? i mean personally i doubt ill do the stroker kit ill probably just boost. then maybe put a 3.0 duratec or the 3.5 duratec in when they come out in the f-150 and just pull the whole assembly. who knows i just might do the stroker kit depending.