For Those of You Who Built Strokers

[CherBear]

I am really about to jump on the stroking band wagon, but i am not sure exactly where to start. Ive spent the last week pooring through the internet trying to nail down specifics.
Where did you guys figure out how to build your stroker?
Any good stroking books?
I just need a concrete place to start.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

I started on here and poked around with jeepstrokers.com abit.

Honestly, for a standard 258ci crank/rods based stroker there is nothing to it. Any rebuild book can tell you what you need to do, then just use the 258 crank and rods. It is not much more involved than a strait rebuild. I had my head and block decked flat again. I used .060 over pistons, and I reused the stock crank out of my 1991 since the duration and lift values were good enough for the time being. If you want to build a 4.0 rod based stroker you can look at Tayln's thread a few links down. Which way you decide to go will be based on your goals and budget.



and the kind of bookstores that sell good stroking books can usually be found right off the interstate, usually near the less "family oriented" truck stops. But I fail to see how they are connected to this discussion...

 

[imboostedru]

I reused the stock crank out of my 1991 since the duration and lift values were good enough for the time being.

I believe what he meant was that he used his stock camshaft, since the crank would be a 258. I have been researching the same thing to replace my current 5 cyl 4.0. A quick google search will reveal a bunch of different site from everything from parts to write ups. Like stated above, it all depends on your budget and what you want out of it.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

yea, the wife got me a new comfy pillow and I have been groggy all day. Slept like a baby though. Typos galore...

good catch SW, could have cause a bit of confusion there.

 

[seanyb505]

www.jeepstrokers.com Is a good place to start. Decide what you want your engine to do, and you can check the projects section and see if anyone is doing something similar. Talk to a machine shop about what they would do for a regular rebuild, and where you can do performance stuff. You may want to take notes, and find someone who will sit down with you and talk it out not try to rush you out of the place. As said above, its basically a rebuild with different crank and rods.

 

[Talyn]

I learned mostly by working on a screwed up one, from hesco's forum, the yahoo stroker's list and jeepstrokers.com

 

[CherBear]

After more research, i am planning on doing a 4.5l stroker with no overbore. I think this is called the "poor mans" stroker and its name fits well...

 

[seanyb505]

Just remember, your engine may think an overbore is necessary. Usually its not the case, but there could be some scoring or the cylinders could be a little out of round if the engine wasnt properly taken care of its entire life. Neither makes for a great running engine

 

[CherBear]

its got 77k on the clock, with 45lbs of oil pressure. I think it is in pretty good shape, but it was a donor engine out of a wrecked XJ with rear end damage. No idea how the original owner treated it.

How much are the machining costs for overboring?

 

[seanyb505]

That sounds good. Its not much, I wanna say aroun 20-30 per hole.

 

[Kittrell]

I've never built a stroker, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

[Talyn]

My bore and hone was $114. Total machine cost was $850, which included. decking the block ($75), install cam bearings ($20), balance (150), clean (48), push pistons onto rods (24), install freeze plugs, install arp rod bolts & resize rods ($78), assemble and blue print short block ($200), and groove lifter bores (80). That 850 also included the crank core charge and two freeze plugs. I would have assembled the short block but I wanted someone to make sure everything is 100% correct.

-Chris

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

I paid $12 a hole for a bore and hone. My machine work came out cheaper, but I did not have the bottom end blueprinted or assembled. Also did not have them redo the rod bolts as mine came with new bolts already

 

[CherBear]

So lets say i was wanting to do the minimum amount of work needed to build a stroker.
Tayln what kind of stroker do you have and how much total did u spend from day 1 till you had it running?

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

Tayln - a lot, he has like the super badass stroker.

minimum work = you buy a ready made one, call it 2k on the lowside
minimum money = find running 258 and steal crank and rods for as cheap as possible, you can reuse your pistons and get a nice set of rings, I would bottle hone the block at least, or you can pay to bore it over, you will want new cam bearings, and new rod and main bearings.

I replaced everything except my cam. Ported and polished my head, and did a 3 angle on the valves. I paid the machine shop to clean, pressure test, magnaflux, bore, hone, and deck the block. And a buddy and I did all the assembly ourselves. Cost me $1700 from the rented towdolly I used to get it in the shed, to the break in oil change.

for reference, a reman longblock from Advance ran $1650 at the time. So I would say I did ok.

 

[dakineJ]

How much was the three angle valve job?

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

I've never built a stroker, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

You have a way with sarcasm DJ........... :roflmao:

 

[Talyn]

The total for my short block is $3135. That included tools, paint, ceramic coating on the header, all parts, rods and block, pushrods, and machine work. I had the lifter bores grooved and I polished the rods and had them cryo tempered.

The head is $1113. That includes a 3 angle valve job with valves back cut 32* ($384), Harland Sharp roller rockers, P&P supplies, and the used head.

I also have about 60 hours into polishing and porting the head and intake manifold.

I did a lot of stuff that you don't have to, so you could get away quite a bit cheaper.

Take a look at my build in my sig.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

my 3 angle was free, my boss did it and he also planed the head, and shimmed all the springs back to factory specs.

Race season was coming up and he needed to get back into the groove, so he did mine for free, said that way he would not feel bad if he screwed it up while practicing. (e did not, He did a really great job actually.)

 

[seanyb505]

I get angry when I hear that everyone and their mom works at a machine shopp and got x for free. They dont have that kind of equipment in my accounting classes, so I had to pay out the bootie to know it was done right.