Adding 2.02 intake to J heads

No, you got it. A lot is dependent on the build and size of the engine. As well as what you intended to do with it. IMO, not that I'm the sharpest tool in the she's here @ FABO, is in a example of the Edelbrock head as cast. It is not enough head for a well preped small block stroker. The way I see the head as cast is about good for a 360. (Over bores included)

Now a 360 well preped for a street machine could still use the head to be ported and benifit well from it. If the engine is more radical than most average street machine engines. But once you port the head for more power, what happens is (mostly) the RPM band moves up and low end power falls off. The additions of bigger cam higher gears and stall converters are part of the low speed problem.

A stroker of 390+ cubes in a street ride can use it stock and will be a low rpm engine.
Then we port the head out so there's enough head for the stroker.
Ideally you still may need more head for a stroker. Again, this depends on what you want from your engine.

If I was to create a stroker for a cruiser, I would just prep the Edel. Heads and bowl port. Use a 750 carb and 1-3/4 headers. It will make great power and still run hard by virtues of many cubes. Since it is a low rpm engine, big breathing from a large cam duration and lifts are not there so the head doesn't need to support big lifts for big power.

At the advertised flow rates, there plenty for 500HP. But it will take a good bit of cam duration to do it.

Rumblefish, This is a more direct answer to my question. I figured (and I'm not a genius here) that if a 360 head will support a 360 CI engine then, with a little porting and 2.02 valves the same head would go a long way with respect to a 318/390 stroker IF AND ONLY IF the stroker is built as a street torque machine. I have no plans at all for anything above 5800 -6000 RPM EVER!! Even my torque converter is only a 1800 stall because I plan on having lots of torque early in the RPM range and since I have a 4 speed overdrive auto trans I don't need any high RPMs to go fast (if I want to). At least that was train of thought. I could be wrong but I'm only looking for a healthy street car that's fast off the lights and has great low end (1200-5000RPM).

treblig