Rothman

iTrader: (4)

I have been wanting a high displacement ls engine for quite some time now and have done lots of research on various blocks and rotating assemblies. But the other day I was talking to a guy who owns a speed shop and he told me to stay away from strokers. Due to the fact that once the rod is so far out to the side the piston starts to push it laterally rather than horizontally and has a tendency to throw rods through the block. I understand what he is saying but are they really that bad? Good rod bolts and a well balanced assembly should pretty much eliminate that right? Not only that but the other cylinders are going to be pulling the crank around also. I was just wondering what you other guys think.

hydrotroop

bump.............

3rdgenguy

iTrader: (1)

i think he is full of **** but thats just my .02 cents

cyphur

iTrader: (10)

if he told you to stay away from strokers just b/c he doesn't know how to build them properly.....i'd run from that shop and never turn back.

strokers, if the stroke is too long and the piston travel is too far, can be an issue with side-loading. but well-built 383's shouldn't have any problems.

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

well when you stroke an engine, there is more of the type of side loading he speaks of. However, if you don't go crazy with the stroke - i.e. with our motors about a max of 4.00" then you will be fine. some people with the 4.125" cranks in our cars have oil consumption issues. Whether or not it is due to side loading is up to debate.

marcus769

Yeah, if it is done right, there would be no unusual issues of "side loading" A guy around here builds race engines, and swears by strokers.

Beast96Z

iTrader: (21)

He is talking about being "over sqaure". This happens when the stroke of your crank is more than the bore of your motor. For most LS-1 applications, it is very common and not a problem. It does put somewhat of a side load on the pistons, but it won't push a piston through the block. If you get way over sqaure, you'll probablly have a little bit of oil consumption and your rings may wear out faster, but that's all. This is assuming you are very "over sqaure". Most of your strokers in a stock block, like the 383 and 396, are good every day stroker motors that shouldn't have any problems. The 383 is a 4" stroke x 3.905 bore, and the 396 is a 4.125" stroke x 3.905 bore. Subtract the stroke from the bore and this will tell you how much over sqaure you are. If anything you are trying to build falls between that spec, you should be fine. I wouldn't recommend you go over or the motor will probablly be down for rebuilds to often.

marcus769

good info beast! ty

66deuce

iTrader: (1)

someone correct me if i'm wrong,but back in the old days when you stroked a motor,the rods were fairly short,which will increase side loading.now you have an almost 6" rod on a stock ls1,which helps to decrease side loading(one of the reasons why these motors last as long as they do).having a good rod to stroke ratio will help the longevity of the motor.

Beast96Z

iTrader: (21)

The 6.125 rod is the average rod for stroker motors. Some kits use 6.100"s or 6.200's, but 6.125 is average for almost all the stroker kits avalible. Diffrent applications may require a longer or shorter rod, but not to many. Most of the old SBC stuff used 5.7" to 5.9" rods which were considerablly shorter.

firefighter

Well the original 383's (gen I) for the longest were using a ground down 400 crank (the mains) and then the stock 350 5.7" rods old school hot rodding make a jewl out of junk. With the advent of less exspensive cranks and rods make it so you can get a custom crank and 6" rods (I happen to be building one right now) which has a better rod to stroke ratio. I think the guy was talking outta his *** about old stuff without considering the way things are now like said above I would run like a **** from that shop.

firefighter

Oh and BTW I plan on building a 383ci LS1 in the very near future.