307 Stroker Anyone???

[fourspeedwagon]

A few years ago I built a ‘39 Ford pickup hotrod type rig. My uncle had a 307 under the bench that had been pulled from whatever it came in when it was fairly new. No history but people liked to talk down about 307s so it just sat, orphaned. I pulled the cam and found the lousy factory timing gear was so worn that the cam timing was retarded because of it. I put a mild 262 duration / .480 lift cam in, aluminum intake, HEI, and headers, otherwise stock. Sucker ran good and moved that little p/u nicely. Saginaw 4 speed and an 8” with 3.50 gears.
The main issue with a 307 is only its reputation. It was never used in a performance application, just as the basic, bottom option V8.
Physically it is a 283 block with a 327 crank. In my 39 I called it just that- way more impressive to have a 283 stroker with 327 crank than a “boring” 307..
A mid sized cam, some better heads probably 1.94 valves, no need for 2.02s and the usual tricks and you’ll be having fun.
If you do go with the full / long stroke crank and pistons, be sure to have a machinist confirm piston height and quench.