383 Stroker?????
 

I just purchased a 1987 GMC shortwide.
The guy i bought it from said it had a 383 stroker in it.
is there a way to tell the difference between a 383 stroker and a stock engine without tearing the engine down?

383 uses a 400 balancer and counter-weighted flexplate. look at the balancer and see if there i a notch cut out of one section of the outer diameter. that will tell you that it has a 400 crank. or you could take the inspection cover off the tranny and rotate the flexplate around and look for the counter weight that will be on it. if its there then you got a 400 crank. some of the aftermarket 383 cranks are light weight and internal balance. if you have one of these then i don't see a way you will be able to tell with out opening up the engine

Ryan is partially right, if the block is a pre-86 block and a reground 400 crank it can be identified that way. but, if the PO used a 87+ block, or an afterkarket crank, you're screwed. the balancers and flywheels on the newer engines, and some of the aftermarkets are identical to a 350, so there is absolutely no way to distingush the two 100% without tearing it down.

Jeremy is partially right :lol: The newer 350's use a externally balanced flexplate/flywheel because of the 1pc rear main, but the front balancer is still the same as old models. So check your balancer and you'll know.

Tom is partially right, er wait, he just repeated what i said. the newer balancers are all zero balancedso it wont be any different than a 305 or 350, and the newer flywheels/flexplates are counterweighted.

any suggestions on headers and exhaust? it has stock exhaust
or anything else to add some more power?

i dont think many people would put money into building a 383 stroker and still keep the stock exhaust. that is one of the easier ways to add power, and if he took the time to build a 383, y would he not do an exhaust? thats jsut what i think though.

Get the casting numbers that way to at least have something for sure to go by. Then all you will have to find out what size crankshaft it has.