In the great big book of automotive clichés, the phrase, “There’s no replacement for displacement,” can be found at the top of page one. But as much as the phrase is overused, it’s also pretty much dead on. Outside of bumping up compression, adding displacement to your engine is one of the fastest ways to add horsepower. Hence, the stroker phenomenon.

Ford engines offer one of—if not, the most—effective platforms for building a stroker engine. To prove the point, we’ve built not one, not two, but three test and development motors, all with parts available from Summit Racing and Trick Flow Specialties. We started with the 5.0L-based 347 stroker—probably the most popular stroker Ford—then built stroker versions of the Ford 351W and big block 460.

Our version of the 347 is a 10:1 compression engine based on a stock 5.0L block, a new Summit Racing cast stroker crankshaft, and H-beam style connecting rods. Although the Summit Racing crankshaft and rods are no longer available, you can duplicate our build by using a SCAT Series 9000 crankshaft and SCAT rods. The engine will also have a set of mildly ported Trick Flow Twisted Wedge 170 cylinder heads, Trick Flow forged pistons and Trick Flow roller camshaft, and an R-Series EFI intake manifold. Check out the complete parts list below to see how it all came together, then look for our other Ford stroker builds in the near future.

engine rotating assembly on a table
dropping a crankshaft into a v8 engine
oil pump installed on an engine
improper connecting rod bolt cap clearance
checking engine clearance with connecting rod
checking camshaft location with a degree wheel
degreeing an engine camshaft
a technician balances an engine crankshaft
balancing an engine on a machine
torqueing down engine main caps
hammering pistons into an engine
applying lube to engine lifter
view of combustion chambers inside a cylinder head
checking valve lash in a set of cylinder heads
installing an electric water pump on an engine
putting an oil pan on an engine
putting valve covers on an engine

Let’s see...3.400-inch crank stroke and 4.030-inch bore. Yeah, that’s 347 cubes. The bottom end of Summit’s stroker 5.0L features a brand new Summit Racing cast crank, 5.400-inch Summit Racing 4340 steel H-beam rods, 10:1 Trick Flow forged pistons with Speed Pro rings, and Federal Mogul bearings.

The crank and a rod/piston assembly is dropped into the freshly machined 5.0L block (bored .030-inch over) to check clearances.

The crank counterweights cleared the Melling oil pump and Moroso pickup just fine.

However, the head of the ARP rod bolt ran smack into the cylinder sleeve, so we broke out the die grinder.

The area marked in yellow shows where the cylinder sleeve required clearancing. There should be at least .065-inch clearance between the rod and the cylinder sleeve to prevent the two from meeting. Approximately 3/16 inch was ground from each sleeve, creating more than enough clearance to keep the rod bolts from hitting the sleeves.

The Trick Flow Track Max hydraulic roller cam features 224-degree/232-degree duration at .050-inch valve lift (286-degree/294-degree advertised) and .542-degree/.563-degree of valve lift.

Piston-to-valve clearance was checked using the clay method. A piece of modeling clay is put on a piston, the cylinder head and head gasket are bolted on, and valves, checking springs and rocker arms for that cylinder are installed. The crank is rotated through one cycle, then the head is removed and the clay measured. Minimum piston-to-valve clearance on a 5.0L is .100-inch intake/.080-inch exhaust. The 347 had way more than that—.200-inch on both sides.

The reciprocating assembly made a trip to visit Mr. Balancing Machine. The connecting rods were weight-matched to 625.9 grams each, and the pistons to 395.0 grams each. The total bobweight added to the crank was 1,716.5 grams.

Pre-1981 small block Ford cranks require a 28-ounce external balance weight. 5.0L cranks from 1981 on up require 50 ounces. The Summit Racing crank ended up wanting some of both—it liked the ATI harmonic damper with the 50- ounce weight, and also liked the flexplate with the 28 ounce weight. That meant drilling the crank counterweights to balance it front to rear. The crank eventually balanced out to within one gram front to rear.

With the freshly balanced crank nestled in the block, the main caps were reinstalled and torqued to 70 foot-pounds.

The piston and connecting rod assemblies were next. Once they were tapped into their respective cylinder bores, the rod caps were installed and torqued to 70 foot-pounds. The rod bolts are 7/16 ARPs; stock 5.0L bolts are 5/16 inches.

The rollers on the Crane roller lifters were given a shot of lube before they were dropped into the block. The stock 5.0L lifter tie bars and hold-down plate were reused.

The Trick Flow Twisted Wedge 170 aluminum heads received some minor port and combustion chamber cleanup to remove any casting porosity. The heads were then flowbench-tested, with the following results: Lift Intake Flow Exhaust Flow .100-inch 69 cfm 57 cfm .200-inch 143 cfm 120 cfm .300-inch 216 cfm 152 cfm .400-inch 255 cfm 172 cfm .450-inch 267 cfm 189 cfm .500-inch 274 cfm 198 cfm .500-inch 283 cfm 205 cfm

To handle the high-lift (.542-inch) Trick Flow hydraulic roller cam, the standard 1.47-inch single valve springs were swapped for 1.46-inch Trick Flow dual valve springs.

The ATI harmonic damper and a Meziere electric water pump were installed on the freshly painted timing cover.

This seven-quart Moroso oil pan has a kicked-out sump that provides extra capacity without sacrificing ground clearance. The pan has a provision for a dipstick, so the dipstick hole in the block was tapped for a 7/16-inch-14 set screw. A 3/8-inch freeze plug would work, too.

One 347 cubic inch 5.0L, ready for a Trick Flow R-Series Intake Manifold, an MSD Billet distributor, fuel system, exhaust, and other external goodies.

Parts List
SCA-93023        SCAT Series 9000 Cast Pro Comp Stroker Lightweight Crankshafts  
SCA-6540092720     SCAT H-Beam Connecting Rods
TFS-51404111     Trick Flow Forged Pistons, 10:1 Compression
SLP-R9771035     Sealed Power Piston Rings
SLP-4125M         Sealed Power Main Bearings
SLP-2600CP     Sealed Power Connecting Rod Bearings
SLP-1204M         Sealed Power Cam Bearings
TFS-51402001     Trick Flow Track Max Hydraulic Roller Camshaft
CRN-36530-16     Crane Hydraulic Roller Lifters
CLO-9-3135         Cloyes True Roller Timing Chain Set
MEL-M68HV     Melling High Volume Oil Pump
FMS-M6605B302     Ford Racing Oil Pump Driveshaft
MOR-24517         Moroso Oil Pump Pickup
MOR-20509         Moroso Oil Pan, 7 Quart
TFS-51400002-M61     Trick Flow Twisted Wedge 170 Aluminum Cylinder Heads
TFS-51400510     Trick Flow Roller Rocker Arms, 1.6 Ratio
TFS-31400414     Trick Flow Valve Springs, 1.46 in. Dual
TFS-21406750     Trick Flow Chromemoly Pushrods
TFS-51500003     Trick Flow R-Series Intake, 75mm Upper
FMS-M-6582-D302 Ford Racing Valve Covers
ATI-918910        ATI Harmonic Damper
BMM-50237         B&M Flexplate
TFS-51400912     Trick Flow Engine Gasket Set
ARP-154-5001     ARP Main Cap Bolts
ARP-154-4001     ARP Cylinder Head Studs
ARP-150-2501     ARP Harmonic Damper Bolt
ARP-100-2901     ARP Flexplate Bolts