408 Stroker Build Suggestions

AJ/FormS said
OP;This is spot on, so IMO your stroker with stock 308s, might best a 367 with Eddies in the HP war, but it sure won't be by much.
Here's a poser for those in the know (not me);
Op is looking for bottom end, so Compare;
a 408 with a 228/232/110 cam,unported 308 iron heads, and the Scr adjusted to yield 160psi;
to a 367 at 10.6Scr and ~175psi with OOTB Eddies.
I set the ICA to 65*, and the elevation to 450ft.
But wait, where does "bottom-end" start?
Let's say the stroker might be good for a 2500 and 3.23s, and
the 367 might like a 2800 and 3.55s.
Lets say the stroker makes 220ftlbs at 2500, and with 3.23s, and a 2.45 low, is laying down 1741 ftlbs, on the start line.
Lets say the 367 makes only 200 at 2800, and with 3.55s is laying down 1739.5 ftlbs.
See what I mean?
I'm just guessing at the numbers. It doesn't matter what the actual numbers are so long as the 10% split remains the same. eg if the stroker made 300 and the 367 made 272, it would still net the same result. So the only penalty is that the 367 cruises at 10% more hiway rpm.
In any case,1740ftlbs is way more torque than you need to break loose a pair of say 275/60-15 street tires. and Neither one of these combos is gonna be able to use WOT in first gear, below 35/40mph, without breaking the tires loose.
Now that was just two targets, namely off the line and cruising.
What about 3.23s versus 3.55s at lower speeds?
Well 3.23s will get you 60mph ~ 6000rpm at the top of first, for the stroker,so she is long past prime with the 308s and the 2832, so you'll wanna shift at say 5400, and that drops the Rs to 3200@54mph
3.55s will be 60~6600 for the 367, also in first, so some people might want to shift earlier but with the Eddies on there now and 1.6 arms, I say ride it out,lol; I always did. But say you wanna be fair. Well, the new shift rpm with the Eddies might be 5800, so that would be into second at 53mph@3420 Rs. Ok but if there is less than a 10% torque difference at those rpms,between these two engines, at the road; than the 367 could pull ahead.... see what I'm saying?
It's not always about cubes........ It's the whole combo

Plus the stroker will come in at around 10.5 Scr with 17cc cups,and 63cc chambers;and so about 170psi with that 2832 cam so you are gonna have to get rid of some of that pressure in order to be able to run pump gas...... and that is gonna be extra cost. Either the pistons will have to be scooped out, or a thicker head gasket used, which will mess up your Q; and so then you need a reverse dome piston, or an open-chamber head,and forget Quench .
Whereas the thrown together 367 with the same 63cc but aluminums now, is likely to run 175 psi with the same cam..... no extra machining, and has almost ideal Q of .040..
But yeah the stroker will make more dyno torque than the 367, I can't argue that. The thing is what can you do with it? The 367 already has more torque than the chassis, and the biggest tires you can fit in any stock A-body tubs,can handle, without a traction aider. So unless you wanna tow a 5th wheel trailer.......... that extra torque is all gonna go up in tiresmoke.

Now before you think I'm pushing 367 on you, I'm not. I'm simply offering an alternative to fit into your budget.

The thing that concerns me is how much is it gonna cost to get your compression LOW ENOUGH to run a 2832 and 308s. You add that onto the cost of the stroker kit; then compare that total to the installed and ready to go aluminum heads of your choice.
Don't forget to factor in the cost of gears and the TC, and the Trans will need some upgrades to live behind the stroker.
If you already own 3.23s and a 2500TC, and a beefed up trans;well then stroker is a no-brainer. But if you already own 3.55s and 2800 to 3000, then maybe the 367 is.
And then there is the long-term fuel costs. The aluminum headed-367 will burn 87E10 no problem. Even up to 185psi. What will you have to burn in the iron headed stroker at 160psi? This could add up to thousands of dollars over the life of the engine. My aluminum heads paid for themselves years and years ago.

BTW, you will need different pushrod ends with adjustable arms.

I appreciate all the info. I should've probably made a few things clearer in my initial post here. My car is actually a b-body, but I know a lot of people here have a ton of experience with engines, so I posted it on both forums. Also, it will be a manual car. Right now it's got a 3 speed on the floor. That will be changing to an OD 4 speed A833 eventually. Should'e definitely included all of that in my original post.
One of the reasons I had decided to go with the 408 instead of a 367 is due to the cost of dropping in new pistons after boring in the cylinders and getting the crankshaft refinished. When taking all of that cost into account, I felt like the extra money to go up to a 408 was worth it for the extra inches, because it will give me room to grow should I decide to up the HP in the future. The 308s are also basically out at this point. There was a chance I'd throw the stock irons back on the bottom end to get it running until I could afford the edelbrock heads, but that's almost definitely not happening now after the advice I've received. I'd rather do it right than do it quickly at this point. The posts from you and everyone else here have made it very clear to me that the iron heads, even 308s, are a bad idea. I have a running 318 in my car right now, so I am fine having to spend some more time saving up to get the right parts rather than the cheap parts. Although, I'd still like it to be as budget friendly as possible besides, so thanks for keeping that in mind so much with your suggestions. Kind of hypocritical on my end, I know. Part of what I'm trying to get a feel for here is where it is worth it to spend the money and where it is okay to go a little cheaper. You've all convinced me that the heads are definitely worth the money, regardless of displacement I choose.
What are your thoughts on the 408 with the aluminum heads then? A lot of what I've been considering with this build since reading everyone's suggestions is upgrading over time. I'm planning on building the bottom end first, then saving up for some aluminum heads and throwing them on there with what stock components I can use and upgrading as money comes in. If that's not possible, I won't do it. I don't want to risk something blowing up the whole engine on me because I got too impatient to wait until I had enough money for better rockers. Just trying to feel out my options so I can have a running engine sooner(relatively). If I haven't shown my lack of knowledge on pushrod engines yet, I hope it's pretty apparent now, haha. Thanks for all your input and suggestions, it's all super helpful no matter what direction I decide to go in with this engine.