The 383 Project

[Tony]

What's up everyone. I thought that since I have so many questions regarding this build, that I would just start a new thread. The 383 in question is the motor that I will be building to go into the '83 S-10 of my wifes. You can see the full writeup HERE as well as the story behind the truck. So, after you read that, here are a crap load of questions.

Now, as for building a 350, 355 or whatever, i got this lol. But, I have never in my life built a 383. I have owned both 350's and 400's, but never put them together. I'm going to start of with letting you guys know what I have planned for the motor, then you tell me EXACT specs on what you think I should do. If you can not be EXACT, then I don't need you to post.

The Block:
The block that I will be using is out of a 76 Malibu. It's a bone stock 350. i will have the block bored .030" over and I will do all the grinding on the block for the crank and rods myself. It will have all new freeze plugs installed as well as all new bearings.

The Crank:
The crank that we are going to be going with is the Eagle cast 383 crank. If you are just reading this to read, the 383 crank is a 400 crank, with the mains turned down to fit the 350 main bearings. This crank is good up to 500hp. I plan on building the motor to 400hp, so this crank should be fine. I forgot to mention, this is somewhat a budget build. This crank is $170 so you can't go wrong there.

The Rods:
Now, this is where I need help. The 400ci SBC uses 5.56" rods, the 350ci SBC uses 5.7" rods, but I have had people tell me that I should use 6" rods in this build. Now, the only reason why I'm asking is because this is a "somewhat" budget build. Those rods are going to add to the money required to put this thing together. I have the 5.7" rods here, and to me they will be fine. The motor will be spun up to 6000rpm, and I would think that longer rods will not allow that rpm near as much. Also, keep in mind that I'm not building a full race motor. This truck will be driven on the street most of it's life. So, H beams are out. I think the 5.7", 350 rods will be plenty for this build. I will have to clearance them so that they clear the cam, but that as well will be done by me, then taken to my shop to be balanced again.

The Pistons:
Now the pistons I have pretty much decided that I do not need forged. I'm not going to put a blower on this motor, nor am I going to run more than a 150 shot of spray. So, hyper pistons will be just fine. I'm thinking that with a 64cc head (more on this later) that a -5mm dish will get me up to about 10:1 compression. This is just about all I can run on pump gas in a genI SBC. So, that is where it has to stand. If you have any input on this, let me know. But, it's pretty straight forward.

The Heads:
Okay, now the fun begins. This is a budget build, so ported stockers is where it's at. I know that I can drop a grand on a decent set of aluminum heads, port them, and not only save weight, but also add flow numbers to my build. This one I have not made my mind up on yet. But, I'm going to be putting the stock heads from the block back on there after porting them out a little. That should be enough to allow the cam that I'm looking at. Springs are a no brainer as well as the RR's. So, just give me your input on what heads you would run on your own build.

The Cam:
Now, we are to the stick. This part I have read on all my life and there is always something to learn lol. The cam that I am looking at is a summit brand, 234*,234* duration, .488", .488" lift. I will have to call on the LSA, but if I have the choice, it will be 107-110. The cam is good within the 3000-6200 RPM range, hence why I'm spinning up to 6000, maybe a little higher. My wifes family wants sound (or lope) but I want power. That is about a mid range cam that will give both. It should be good for the 400hp that I'm looking for as well. I don't want to go too big, cause after all, this is a street truck, and my wife will be driving it, so keep that in mind. This is also a flat tappet cam, no money for a roller cam right now.

The Intake:
The intake will be a Victor Jr. Great mid, and top end power. Single plane design and I love the looks of it. I have thought about the Performer RPM, and it will look fine, but it just doesn't have that "Race" look to it lol. So, the Jr. it is.

The Carb:
The carb to start out with will be a 600 Edelbrock. But, that is only for the motor that is already built and will be put into the truck just to get it on the road. But, after I get the 383 built, I have a 650DP holley sittin in my garage just beggin for a 750 race center section. No choke on that part, and will add 30-50 hp over the 750 with a choke. So, it will be able to breathe.

The Timing:
I have thought about this for a long time lol. I have always loved Pete Jackson gear drives, and that is what I'm going to put in it. There is no stretching, so timing will stay more accurate. But, I have not decided on quiet or noisy.

The Transmission:
Will be a 700r4 overdrive. Right now, that trans is in an 83 Caprice classic behind the 350 that will go into this truck first. That trans did not like my 350 and crapped it's 3/4 clutch pack. So, I get to rebuild another one. The trans will have full Kevlar clutches and bands, B-Shell, and all the little tricks that I have picked up throughout the years. It should handle up to about 600hp if I don't get lazy on it lol.



So, with all of that said, I want to know what you think about it. Mainly the rods. Cause, I just don't see how .3" is going to make much difference other than adding weight that doesn't need to be added. And, with a motor that likes 5200rpm, and I'm taking it to over 6000, I don't need anymore weight in the rotating assy. I want your opinion on the entire build, hell, write me a book about what you would do, and WHY! You have to explain why you would choose one part over another. I want specifics on each decision that you make. So, this is really only for those that have been building these for a very long time, and not for the shade-tree mechanic.

[Tony]

Okay, I just did some reading on the rods and have a better understanding. But, with a 6" rod comes more money in pistons, and this is a problem. I'm just wondering if the reduced friction will overcome the cost of the raised pin pistons...

[Paulster2]

- Pistons set up for the longer rod should be lighter as well.
- You should be able to find some cheap heads out there for your SBC. I know there must be a huge amount of them out there for sale.
- I would think you'd go with a bigger cam. .488" doesn't seem like much for a 383, but that's just me.

I like your ideas Tony. Should make for a heck of an engine.

[Tony]

Not quite the answer that I expected, but okay...

[mychevyisntheavy]

sounds alot like my motor. and yes it has alot of power.

[Tony]

What are the specifics on your motor? PM if you don't want the info out there. And, about what are you pushing hp wise?

[mychevyisntheavy]

pm sent

[mychevyisntheavy]

havent had her dinoed yet but was told arould 350 to 400 hp

[mychevyisntheavy]

tony sorry for the reposting. but if i was you i would go with alittle bigger cam. talk with your mashinest.

[Tony]

Lol, I am my machinist . But, I was thinking the same thing. Baisic rule of thumb is that you can add about 10*'s of duration with a 383 v/s a 350. So, I may bump that up a little and get the lift up to about .525". I just don't want to over cam this motor, and hell, you can get flat tappet cams all day long for $100.

But, I do have some other questions. Is your engine the LT1, or is it a genI block? The reason I'm asking is cause with the Ltx block, you can still run a crapload of timing with 1.5:1 compression, where as I can't. But, judging by you having a tune, that says that you are not carb'd so you still have the LTx motor. I hate answering my own questions lol. But dammit, I wrote all of this and you are going to read it

[mychevyisntheavy]

yea tony its a lt1. the one thing i like about these lt1`s is that the water pump runs off a gear. not a belt. and if you stroke them they can with in reason get up there in the hp.

[Tony]

Yeah, I'm thinking that when I do the cam in my car, I might put a 400 crank in there with some new pistons. But, if I go that far, I might as well redo the heads and just go all out. We will just have to wait and see though.

[richard96]

^ Anyone want a spamwhich.



I would go with the 6" rods and lighter pistons. Seems to me the crank would spin up faster to 6200rpms. I would also get the heads you want and the bigger cam.

Seems the nature is to get these projects done faster. Only to tear them apart a year or two later to put in what you wanted in the first place.

You have the knowledge Tony, why not put it to good use. Unless you want to do it twice. Some guys enjoy that too. And believe me, I know what budget means.

[Tony]

The block is still sitting here lol. So, hurrying is not on the agends just yet. I am thinking about putting a set of aluminum heads on it though. The thing is, this motor will be going into my wifes S10 (the one in the projects section). so I can't put a lot of power in that truck, but it has to sound good. I think I'm going to do something along the lines of the Thumper cam. Tom sent me a PM and I have been thinking about this. If you shorten the duration on the intake, but increase the lift on the exhaust and put it at about a 110lsa, you will get what I like to call a "Sonic Car". It will sound bad ass, but won't make massive power. That truck is light, and I know that she has almost put my Z in the ditch with the little power that it has. So, I think I have decided to build the "Sonic Truck". So, stock crank, maybe 6" rods just to keep the angles down, and Hyper short skirt pistons with a 100 shot when "I" want it lol. I think that will do just fine.

But, I'm still thinking lol.

[95z28onjuice]

Tony you can spin 6.0 rods to where ever you want as long as everything is set up to do so. i had a 383 l98 engine in y 85 z51 corvette that was built to spin to 8 grand. had a scat crank with manley H beam rods and kieth black pistons. never had no problem, it was carb not efi and i had a 1000 dominator on it. It was sick and a viper eating cobra crapping monster nick named space shuttle vette.lol