ok guys, I have another question. What length rods do I need? Stock 6.098 or 6.125? All of the stroker kits I have found have the 6.125 length rods. I was trying to piece it together but not sure what length rods I need. Plus the block wasn't the cherry I was told it was, so I may be looking for a 6.0 block.

 

It's the aftermarket standard. The .027" of extra rod length will do very little to nothing for performance. It's just easier for piston makers to to calculate, I think.

 

Rod angularity??? I know I butchered that word even if it is a word. Angle of the rod vs the piston when the crank throw is 90 degrees to the piston travel. A longer rod would decrease this angle. All else being equal, a longer rod would be easier on the bottom end ..... wouldn't it?

 

In theory, yes. Do the math behind the 6.098" rod and the 6.125" rod and you'll notice the difference is marginal, at best. There are more stresses involved with taking the RPM's up from say...5000 to 5200. I pulled those numbers out of thin air but that's roughly how small of a difference there is if you were to compute the math behind the 6.098" vs 6.125".

 

You'll find it's hard to get pistons for any stroker unless you have the 6.125 rod.

 

ok, would it be wise to use my stock rods on a stroker to save a lil $$? Just a dd with a lil grunt. May see a track 2 times a year max.

 

Another thing you get into with trying to use a rod that's too long is piston reliability. I've seen some stroker setups that have the piston pin location so high on the piston that it actually compromises the ring strength. If you have to stack the rings too close together or come up with some kind of split ring setup because of a longer stroke, you haven't accomplished anything other than building a weird motor. It's a good conversation starter around a camp fire, but not too smart to try to live with.

 

In theory, again, yes. Remember, we're talking about a length difference the thickness of roughly two playing cards stacked on top of eachother. As I said earlier, 6.125" is just an easier number to calculate and doesn't change much at all within the motor's geometry, so that is why I think the 6.125" rod is the aftermarket standard.

 

I think he is trying to save money on the kit by keeping the stock rods, I think it may be hard to find a set of pistons, he could use the stroker piston but I think the pin size is different, anybody know for sure? If he could use the stroker pistons what complications would he run into decking the block to get his pistons back up the .030 he would be in the hole? Just tossing out ideas for an economical stroker build. The thought is intriguing to me as I am trying to decide whether to build from a 5.3 bloc(cheap) or buy a 6.0 for my truck.

 

You might run into crack clearance issues with a 4" crank and 6.094, not 100% sure though