Yet another 383 thread.

[WorkinLonghorn]

This is my dream engine to replace my low-po 350. I WILL build one and pull a trailer with it, just not right away,since mine is still a work truck for the time being.
In the mean time I am dreaming and planning the best set-up.
I just bought "Small Block Chevy Performance" (HPBooks) and in the dyno tests in the back they list a 383 that puts out over 400 ft/lbs torque from below 2750 to 5500 RPM.Peak torque was 452@ 4000 PM.
I would be very interested in real world results and experiences with this motor especially in a tow vehicle.I just hope this subject hasn't already been talked to death here.I didn't get any search results for "383". Thanks ! Brian

[RACINJASON22]

One thing about dyno results in books is they are real world results too, UNLESS they are the ultra high dollar builds that the normal wrench can't afford. But here is one thing that is good to remember an engine that costs 2000$ to build will run the same as one you pay 4000$ for someone else to build. OK befor I get the riot act for saying that that a general statement. Just stating labor is expensive. READ READ READ anything you can. you can use parts of one build and some from another. But match everything to your overall operating goal street/strip, tow vehicle, hot street/race, ya know rpm range. Build for Torq in your situation HP will follow in your application. GOOD LUCK with your dream and your eventual build.

[WorkinLonghorn]

Thanks RacinJacin. Yeah,they used Brodix-8 heads and a Performer intake,MSD and 1 3/4 headers-nothing too exotic. And I think the book was written before Vortec came out because there is no mention of them.
Any of you guys with a 383 care to offer some stats such as acceleration,passing power etc? I'd sure like to know your views. Thanks,Brian

[Richard H.]

I found this site interesting and very good read.
http://www.strokerengine.com/StrokedEngines.html
HTH

[WorkinLonghorn]

Thanks Richard H. I called him up and he's not far from here.I may have him build me a 383 or a 434,(which I would do myself if I wasn't space challenged right now).

[WorkinLonghorn]

I really would like to hear from those who have 383/388 strokers and how they like them and what configurations you are running.-Brian

[cooters]

for a daily driver i built a 383 with vortec heads, 262 comp cam and hyper pistons. Edelbrock performer intake headers and thats it for goodies. Wow, in a 4x4 with 44" mudders this thing pulls like crazy. I like this one the most because it was the lowest priced 383 i built out of 15 and pulls incredibaly well for low budget. I used a qjet of coarse.

[WorkinLonghorn]

OK,thanks Cooters.This is music to my ears. That is pretty much my plan.Haven't decided on C.R.,but that's it;Vortec,Performer,Q-jet,mild cam and maybe headers if they will help in the 1500-5000 range. Are you talking about the Extreme Energy 262 270 ?
Anybody else?

[manimal]

I built a 383 for a 1976 k20 for a friend. these are the parts I used:
Eagle 3.75 cast steel crank
Eagle SIR 5.7 rods
Speed Pro hyperutectic pistons .110cc dish
Speed Pro moly rings
World Products Sportsman II heads
Comp Cams Extreme 4x4 cam .462i-.480e
Milodon 7qt oil pan
ARP studs in mains,oil pan,v/c,t/c,and oil pump
ARP oil pump drive
ARP head bolts
Cloyes true roller timing set
Edelbrock performer intake and perf 1902 Q-jet
Thorley tri-y headers
This thing would light up the 35 BFG mud TA's NO SWEAT! Go to the engine forum and look up Desktop Dyno,Iput it in there.Did pretty good IMO
-Lance

[69rut]

Check out this: http://www.gmperformanceparts.com/Pa...l.jsp?engine=0

400 lbs/ft torque from 2500 up to 435 max and 340 HP.
This is a GM crate motor, but there are specs give on the cam, compression and etc. With a little homework, you could buy the cam and heads and build the rest. That's what I want to do for my '57. I have the 350, just need to get the right parts combo.

[piecesparts]

I am actually on my third 383 stroker motor in the same truck. The first one was built by a friend of mine and he had some cheap items that he used in the assembly. I am here to tell you that one should use quality brand items in their construction. Don't buy just any old roller rocker arm or timing chain set. The engine that this guy put together had some good things that have carried through all of the motors, but the items I listed above were just pure junk. When I rebuilt the motor, to get rid of the cheapo/Chinese racing stuff, I went to the better quality rocker arms and a roller cam setup, both from Comp Cams. At that time I was using a SCAT crank and it performed well, there was no issue there. What I did wrong then was not to upgrade on my rods, because I broke one and busted a hole in the block and damaged the crank. That led to the next rebuild, which happened two years ago. This time I and my machine shop buddy picked H-beam rods, Flat topped pistons, a Forged Crank, and a better harmonic dampener (prior to this I had been using a Fluid dampener--we gave that up because balancing a crank assembly with a fluid is nearly impossible--to much slop in the readings) to put the motor together. We did ballance and align the whole rotating assembly on this motor, as well as update the oil pump and timing sets. The heads in mine are Dart II Sportsmen, I am running Comp Cams magnum roller rockers, I have a Comp Cams # XR264HR-10 roller cam shaft. This has a great power band that starts at 1500 RPM and goes up, however, I had to upgrade to a 2400 stall converter for my daily use. In your case, with the idea of towing, I would talk to tehm as to what would work best for you. I am running a Performer RPM intake and at this time a Performer Thunder AVS carb (650 CFM). I get 15 MPG with a 700R4 tranny and a 3.73 set of rear end gears.

I have used 4-bolt main blocks all the way through this, but a 2-bolt would stand up to a daily use, also. I do recommend using what is called a "Heavy block", which is denoted by the length of the serial number tab on the front passenger side (just below the head mounting surface). The tab on these motors are longer than the others and it reaches up to the valley where the intake mounts. This style of block has more metal inside and gives more allowances for the machining that you need to do to make a 383 work.

[Sport/Truck]

I was wondering what length of rod you were using? I have a double roller now for my timing chain-nothing fancy just fictional (I hope).
I don’t plan on using a roller cam, but maybe roller tip rockers. Is this a good idea?
LMK,
s/t

[WorkinLonghorn]

Thanks guys.This is the kind of data I need and I'm printing it all up.
I'd also like to know if anybody tows with a 383,or has a heavy truck and can tell me what kind of performance to expect. This is a pretty huge investment for me and I want to get it right the first time. Thanks-Brian

[mnunn454]

If I were in your shoes (getting ready to spend $4,000 or more on an engine build) I'd consider a 454 for the same price. It won't have to work as hard to deliver the same results and therefore represents a better life-cycle cost than the 383 that'll likely not last as many miles before requiring rebuild.

If you're dead set on an SBC, then I think 383's are a terriffic option. I'd consider building one myself if I were engine space limited.

Parts have come a long way in the last 10-15 years and you can get matched balanced rotating assemblies for real reasonable pricing, plus 350 blocks are still easy to come by.

JMO.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by mnunn454

If I were in your shoes (getting ready to spend $4,000 or more on an engine build) I'd consider a 454 for the same price. It won't have to work as hard to deliver the same results and therefore represents a better life-cycle cost than the 383 that'll likely not last as many miles before requiring rebuild.

If you're dead set on an SBC, then I think 383's are a terriffic option. I'd consider building one myself if I were engine space limited.

Parts have come a long way in the last 10-15 years and you can get matched balanced rotating assemblies for real reasonable pricing, plus 350 blocks are still easy to come by.

JMO.

What’s the torque on your 454 at what RPM? I’ll be you don’t get 1/3rd the torque at 2500 rpm.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

Thanks guys.This is the kind of data I need and I'm printing it all up.
I'd also like to know if anybody tows with a 383,or has a heavy truck and can tell me what kind of performance to expect. This is a pretty huge investment for me and I want to get it right the first time. Thanks-Brian

You are going to love towing with a 383 IMO.
I equate HP to top end speed or how fast it will run.
And torque is how efficient it is to get rolling.
I’m building my 383 for a fun daily driver, that will get descent MPG, (due to the high torque, it wont require much gas to get it rolling) and a very fun, quick truck for around town.
s/t

[piecesparts]

Let's see a 383 "low end" torquey motor against a 454 Stump pulling monster muscle. That would be interesting. However for the long pull, I would say the 454 would hold it's own. The 383 would get the RPMs up faster and the response would be quick.

I am not really sure as to what it would cost to build a healthy 454, but parts for them are not cheap. I have a friend that purchased all of his 454 parts on E-bay for his "Pull-Truck" and after a fair amount of purchases and rejects, he finally put together a 750 HP normally aspirated, balanced and blue-printed puller that is phenomenal.

My 383 is what I like in my truck, it is quick and the response is great. With the right gearing, you can get a hole-shot special that will surprise any "Blue Oval" driver. My fuel mleage with 3.73 gears is around 15 MPG and that is with an automatic tranny. IT would be better yet, with a manual 5 or 6 speed unit. I wo;; admit, that I don't tow with mine, but it would be a good chice for that, however, I would have to down grade the stall converter for that.

[Billla]

For what you're looking for a basic cast-crank, stock rod, hyperutectic piston, Vortec head engine is fine - and relatively cheap. 400+ lbs-ft of torque up to about 4500 RPM is easy I'd budget about a $3500 assuming that you're doing all the planning and assembly work yourself. The cam choice is a bit tougher - most of the standard high-performance cams are wrong for low-end torque...you give up the torque added by the stroke with a poor cam choice.

As for a 454...rebuildable cores are approximately 10x a 350 core, and the heads are 4x the price. I don't think you could get a 454 together from scratch for less than 5K without getting lucky...but I think $3500 for a decent budget stroker (full cost, back in the truck) is perfectly reasonable and could be reduced a bit with some smart planning and willingness to reuse parts (sheet metal, etc.)

A 383 built for torque will put out about 40 - 60 more lbs-ft. torque across the curve. This is perfect for both a fun daily driver (the kick in the pants comes from torque, not HP) and for towing. I've built a few of them and everyone's loved them - unless you're broke and need to reuse the stock crank, I can't think of any reason not to build a 383 when rebuilding a 350.

[Sport/Truck]

After rereading my post I didn’t mean to be quite so hard on the 454’s, it’s not that bad of a motor. Every time I seen a truck with a 454 on the side I think to myself “it will pass everything but a gas station”.
Also my father always used to say” there’s no replacement for displacement”. But I have to disagree with him now days, due to the nitrous breathing engines & today’s turbo charged cars.
s/t

[mnunn454]

Originally Posted by Sport/Truck

What’s the torque on your 454 at what RPM? I’ll be you don’t get 1/3rd the torque at 2500 rpm.

Sport truck,

Quite to the contrary.

I get over 400 ft lbs at 2500 RPM and a max of 541 at 4500 RPM. I have $4K invested in my 454.

That's equally on par with a stout 383 and a tad batter than most 383s for about the same cost or less.

Check the tech and dyno articles at CHP mag if you need proof.

[mrein3]

I look at it a different way. For ABOUT the same price as a rebuilt 350, I built a 383. It cost 1/2 to 1/3 of what I would have spent on a big block.

AND I re-used ALL my accessories the General put on in 1970.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by mnunn454

Sport truck,

Quite to the contrary.

I get over 400 ft lbs at 2500 RPM and a max of 541 at 4500 RPM. I have $4K invested in my 454.

That's equally on par with a stout 383 and a tad batter than most 383s for about the same cost or less.

Check the tech and dyno articles at CHP mag if you need proof.

Impressive numbers there, that isn’t stock, is it? For some reason I was thinking stock, probably because of MPG issues as a DD. My bad.
You proved my dad’s theory correct, that there’s no replacement for displacement.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of gas miliage do you get?
I'm sure most people that have bult 454's don't do it for MPG.
s/t

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by mnunn454

If I were in your shoes (getting ready to spend $4,000 or more on an engine build) I'd consider a 454 for the same price. It won't have to work as hard to deliver the same results and therefore represents a better life-cycle cost than the 383 that'll likely not last as many miles before requiring rebuild.

JMO.

You bring up a good question about longevity of the 383, anyone have first hand experience?
My friend used to tell me how much better his ford 5L was a much better engine than my 2L turbo (4g63 Mitsubishi) he sold his car before I did, but had 190k hard miles on it before it needed rebuilding.
His commit was “the candle that burns twice as bright lasts half as long”. But it was twice as fun!
s/t

[Billla]

There are no differences in lifecycle between BBC and SBC of any displacement at the same build level and I challenge anyone to provide specific evidence to the contrary. Primary life-limiter on any engine (assuming quality maintainence) is RPM - any engine that turns past 6000 RPM is good for < 100K miles before overhaul, but typically people don't turn BBCs that tight. The secondary factor is valve guides, and the stock iron guides are lucky to see the far side of 80K without showing significant wear. I have personal experience with builds of both low-budget 383 (400 crank) strokers and 454s that are past 100K with no immediate signs of problems...but they never turn past about 5K and both have bronze thin-wall replacement valve guides.

There's no question a BBC will deliver more torque...but there's just no way you're going to get a performance 454 built for 4K if you have to buy the core. Heck, a low-compression crate longblock is 4K!

[WorkinLonghorn]

The longevity issue is a minor concern so a I'm all ears (eyes) on this subject. I live in the West and will be pulling a medium size travel trailer up some pretty steep grades,at up to 8,000 ft. and that 383/388 will be flat out full throttle a lot of the time I'm sure. So my challenge,if I go that route,will be to build an engine with maximum durability in mind.
At this point though,I'm about 85% 383,15% towards BB conversion. Thanks for the very helpful input. Brian