doin' it right the second time (Americanmusc1e's 383)

[americanmusc1e]

about 3 weeks ago my new motor lost oil pressure and started making noise. turns out one of the lobes on the cam went flat. causing my bearings to go out. I had been thinking about what I would do differently if I had to build the motor again. now I have a chance.

the current motor is a 350 bored .060 over, dished hyperecutec pistons, stock rods, stock cast crankshaft ground .020/.020 under, flat Comp cams HE260 hydraulic flat tappet cam, guideplates, hardened pushrods, roller tipped stamped rockers, Comp cams double roller timing chain, melling M55 standard volume oil pump, stock oil pan, weiand stealth intake, holley 600 VS, flowtech headers, and vortec heads (home ported).

my planned upgrades are: 383 stroker crank, good rods, and more compression, bigger cam

other possible upgrades are: roller cam, better oil pan, and forged pistons.

anything I missed????

suggestions???

[americanmusc1e]

today I started taking it apart. maybe by tomorrow I'll have the motor out. the only things left to take loose are: left header, belhousing, motor mounts, and hood. last time I pulled the grille and the bumper, but I think I'll try to do it without pulling 'em this time

here are some pictures

when I started

when I finished

[68C15]

if you can swing the extra bones I would DEFINITELY go for a roller cam. not from a performance stand point but a longer life. other than that it sounds like a good package.

[americanmusc1e]

Pulled the motor today.


tomorrow it's off to the machine shop

[6t9ls1]

I would go with the roller cam for sure. It is the more expensive way to go cuz you would have to get matching lifters but deff. worth the cash. Another plus is you can get a roller a bit more aggressive than a flat tappet and still be streetable.Good luck with the build

[68C15]

another thing to consider is the oil. Rotella 15w40 has plenty of zinc if you stay flat tappet.

[mikajo39]

Bummer to see your engine is KIA. you get it to the machine shop and torn down? decide if your going stroker roller motor or what? keep posting! interested to see

[Hoffman65burb]

Should be pretty fast with the new motor. Suscribed... While the motors out, you should clean up those headers hehehe

[americanmusc1e]

Originally Posted by Hoffman65burb

Should be pretty fast with the new motor. Suscribed... While the motors out, you should clean up those headers hehehe

Yeah, I'm gonna try to clean 'em and paint 'em. but they're welded to the collector so I have to clean them in the truck. Welding the headers to the exhaust system is nice because you don't have to worry about collector gaskets, But sometimes you need to remove the headers to work on stuff. They're not bad, but I wouldn't do it again.

[barthmonster]

Rotella sounds good if you go flat tappet and dead-dinosaur oil. If you cater to synthetic, Royal Purple makes a synthetic break-in oil with all the additives for flat-tappet cams, then after break-in you can go with Royal Purple, Valvoline, Amsoil or whatever you want.
I love the extra protection of synthetic... And I run it a lot longer than conventional so it offsets the cost...

[americanmusc1e]

Thanks for the replies!

The motor is currently at the machine shop and I'm waiting impatiently for them to call me! Once they call me and we talk it over I will decide exactly what I'm going to do. The last time I took my motor over there it took almost a month to get it back, the reason I took it back to the same guy is because he said he'd help me out after my unfortunate experience. He does a good job but he is slow and kind of expensive.

Josh

[mikajo39]

Originally Posted by americanmusc1e

Thanks for the replies!

The motor is currently at the machine shop and I'm waiting impatiently for them to call me! Once they call me and we talk it over I will decide exactly what I'm going to do. The last time I took my motor over there it took almost a month to get it back, the reason I took it back to the same guy is because he said he'd help me out after my unfortunate experience. He does a good job but he is slow and kind of expensive.

Josh

Man oh man i'd be goin' out pf my mind waiting to rebuild my engine, especially if it was at the machine shop haha. You figure out what the plans for it are now? I see its gonna be a 388? Its gonna be bored over 60? I'd be worried it run a bit hot or having it spring a leak. might want to go with a boneyard block or something. whichever way you pick good look to you!

[LuckyHenriksen]

While the motor is out it would be a good time to scrub up the bay and lay a coat of paint

[americanmusc1e]

UPDATE: talked to my machinist and he said he's gonna look at it sometime next week.

If it takes him too long I'm gonna pick it up and go somewhere else

[americanmusc1e]

OK, somebody kick me.

I've had an itch to swap in a 6.0 for a long time. Its gonna cost me at least $2000 for the 383 short block the way I want to do it. I think if I sell the vortec's I can do the swap for about what I was going to spend on a 383 short block. I will loose some displacement compared to the 383, but the roller cam and better heads should make up for it in the long run.

I'm just thinking out loud, opinions welcome.

Josh

[mikajo39]

Originally Posted by americanmusc1e

OK, somebody kick me.

I've had an itch to swap in a 6.0 for a long time. Its gonna cost me at least $2000 for the 383 short block the way I want to do it. I think if I sell the vortec's I can do the swap for about what I was going to spend on a 383 short block. I will loose some displacement compared to the 383, but the roller cam and better heads should make up for it in the long run.

I'm just thinking out loud, opinions welcome.

Josh

A roller cam and a good flowing pair of headsis what i'd probably do. The roller cam is much much much much better than the flat tappet, no worries about oil with out ZDDP and you have more options on camshaft profiles, flat tappets with aggressive lobe designs are known to grind down quick if not properly maintained. match the right cam with the right compression and a good flowing pair of heads and you should have a very happy 6.0l only thing i could see as a prob is FI on the 6.0 versus the carb on a simple 383

[americanmusc1e]

UPDATE, talked to my machinist, he's supposed to look at the motor sometime this week,

6.0 is too expensive, 5.3 is doable and I'm still considering it, not as much power as the 388, but as much as I drive the truck the FI would be nice. plus I'd like to tackle the swap. now is the perfect time since school is out. I could always put a 6.0 in later after the truck is already set up for a genIII

just rambling again. waiting for an answer to pop into my head

Josh

[highperf4x4]

Awesome! I'm anxious to see it in your truck! Remember to give it 1500 miles before you put your foot in it and keep in mind that rear tires cost money!

[americanmusc1e]

Alright, my 388 is back!!!!!

sorry, didn't have time for pictures tonite

I ordered a Summit brand (made by TCI) 2000rpm stall converter, and a mini-starter from Summit

Then, I got a call right before the motor was done, the 3.75 stroke and the H-beam rods were hitting on the stock pan, I overnited a stroker clearenced Moroso 6-Quart pan.

got the motor back just in time, my Dad took my other ride away from me, because his F0&D (6.0 Powerstroke) started blowing white smoke out the tailpipe and coolant started dissapearing. (either a blown headgasket or cracked EGR valve.....each costs about $5000 to repair, it seems that you have to take the cab off to take the heads off the motor)

[highperf4x4]

Ford sucks

I'll be waiting for the pics!

[Hoffman65burb]

is it a 388 or a 383? you keep saying 388 and the build sheet says 383 either way, sounds like its gonna fly, pics!!!!!!!!

[highperf4x4]

His cylinders are bored .060 over.

[americanmusc1e]

It is technically a 388.4 CI motor, but its called a 388

Since everyone thinks of a 350 block with a 400 crankshaft in it as a 383, I use the terms interchangeibly,

sorry for being so confusing, I hope this helped

[americanmusc1e]

pictures:

my old rod bearings


the new engine






the thing I've been driving, painted with a spray can, does 0-60 in an astounding 14.5 seconds, and it has dual 4" speakers


one of the few non-chevrolet vehicles I'd like to own, my Dads 1980 Jeep CJ5 that he bought new in high school, not the factory body though, a full fiberglass piece with a one piece front end

[americanmusc1e]

got the motor in and broken in yesterday, today we adjusted the timing and upped the Idle speed and took it for a drive, to a really cool car show (I should have brought a camera).

I fell in love with my truck again!!!!! the lopey idle sounds beautiful!!!! the sound system rocks!!! and although I haven't floored it yet, but the 388 has plenty of power!!!!!!!!

YouTube - 383 startup