cast iron heads vs aluminum for stroked 340

550? Easy answer, why not?

Honestly, when I started reading/researching, mid 500's seems very doable wiht a stroked small block and still keeping it reasonably drivable... So that's why. You don't need to run a single plane manifold and turn 7500rpm to get there. Everything has to add up and match up well from the ground up... Which is what prompted the question about heads.

I've gotten enough helpful info from a few different people that lead me to believe well worked X/J heads will work just fine... Which is good since I already have them anyway. Add stroker kit, match up a cam and a carb, go have fun... THat's the plan.

If I wanted to get really sneaky I suppose I could hide the MSD and remove the MPerf valve covers with stock, and anyone looking at the motor in the future would be scratching their head wondering what the hell was going on in there :) ... That's also the plan.