El Camino 383 stroker

[USC_elkie]

I've got an 1984 El Camino with a Monte front clip and a 350 bored .030, an Edelbrock high-rise intake, headers and an Holley 650 carb. This is my project car on the side and I'm looking to take out some time and money and put some real power into it. And from what I've read through many posts (correct me if I'm wrong) is that one of the easiest ways to get some power is to stroke my 350. First question is how do I know if the heads are stock, a/f, or from another engine(I don't know because when I bought it the current engine work was already done) and if they are stock can I still use them without any major problems besides having crappy fuel mileage? Also would I need to replace the pistons when I put in the new 400 crank and rods?

Thats it for now. Thanks for any input

[curtis73]

You'll have to use different crank, rods, and pistons. You could get by with the stock rods, but its not advisable; first because they are of unknown abuse and age, and second its wise to use a longer rod when you stroke an engine. That's why you need different pistons, too. They have a higher piston pin location so the piston sits the same place at top dead center. If you just added stroke and kept everything else the same, the pistons would now go out the top of the bores and hit the heads.

If you pull the valve covers (or just one) you can find the casting number. It will have 6, 7, or 8 digits. If you post it here one of us can tell you its qualities. Many of the low-performance heads are very similar, so even if it doesn't have the original heads, chances are its one of the other 50 or 60 castings original to the 350. Who knows, maybe you'll be lucky and find some nicer heads on it. If they truly are stock low-po heads, they were just on the restrictive side of adequate for a stock engine, so they'll be a limiting factor on a stroker. Better performing factory iron heads are cheap, and you might be able to sell your low-po heads for almost as much as the better heads cost. Vortec iron heads are excellent performers on the street and are very affordable even new.