not really a 350?

[oldraven]

I bought a 350 with a brand new propane system on it from Jimmie's boss for $500. I'm having it resealed and put in my Supertruck durring the body resto.

I went to get some brass o-rings from Jimmie (my brother) at the shop last night. (yeah, I practically live there) He said "btw, your motor's not a 350."

WTF?

He showed me the engine, all pulled apart. Brand new pistons, and set up for propane. He's guessing 1-10G Km since it was completely rebuilt, so it's pretty much a new lump. But that's not the cool part. Looking at the harmonic balancer (I believe) he said "This is way too big for a 350. And 350's don't have two piece mains. And see how they machined the block here?"

Turns out it's either a 383 stroker or a 400 small block. He'll pull numbers when they get the oil pan back on, and the lump flipped back over. If it's got 350 numbers, it's a 383, if not, it's a 400!

Boo-****in-YAH!!

500 bones for a rebuilt 400 is NOTHING!

[Captkaos]

The size of the balancer doesn't dictate the engine size. I have a 350 with and 8" balancer and one with a 6" balancer. What indicates a 400 is the counterweight on the balancer. Your balancer looks like a 350 to me, does it have a counter weight?

400 will have siamesed cylinders with steam hole (as will the heads) and will have counter balanced flywheel/flexplate and balancer.

383 will have normal spacing on the cylinders, with water jackets and will have a counter balanced flywheel/flexplate and balancer.

And 350's don't have two piece mains...

As in two piece main seals? Yes they do, all small blocks up to '86 did.

[oldraven]

Ok. What do you mean by siamesed? As in, there are no water jackets between cylinders?

I'm going by what he told me. I'm not sure what he meant by 2 pc main. I can't remember if it was the bracket itself, or the seal. Regardless, he's pulled apart and rebuilt many a 350 in his time, so I must simply be missing something in the translation. The part about the machining on the block made sense, to make room for a bigger crank.

[oldraven]

ok. Jim ran the #'s with GM, and it turns out it's a 383 stroker. 350 with a 400 crank, or something to that effect.



Anyone know what kind of #'s these things put out?

Damn, I think this is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me. With relation to cars, anyway.

Only problem, it's for a winter vehicle. Take my foot off the brake and do a donut on the ice. Oh well. Spring and fall should prove quite interesting.

I'll get to eat some F-150's

[1FaastC10]

what makes you 100% positive that its a 383? are you just going by the bigger balancer? check your flexplate/flywheel and balancer for counterweights.

[oldraven]

I'm going by the machined block and bigger crank.

[Russell]

Hehe, if that 383 is too big for ya, I'll trade you my 350 for it, even drive the 40 minutes into the city for it

lol

Congrats man! I plan to build a mild 383 myself eventually

[oldraven]

Like I said to one of the other mechanics at the shop (who wanted the motor the whole time, but was too slow) who offered me $500 for it yesterday. "Does that come with a blow job, because it's gonna take a lot more than $500." :P

Nah, I think I'll stick with what I've got, thanks.

Hey, next time you're coming into the city, give me a hollar. Do you know any other truck guys in E-town? (or around?) Fords, Mopars, what have you. I don't descriminate. I actually cruise with a bunch of Mustang guys twice a week.


Looks like it's had a mild bore too. .030 ish is about the base bore, right? I'd measure the bore, but It's a fresh rebuild, and there's no way I'm doing head gaskets if I don't have to.

As for the two piece main thing. Yes, it was the seal, and he said, that some 350's did come with two piece. Obviously I mucked that up.

Ok. He also said the Exhaust Valve Rotator was welded for the propane setup, so everything is brand new. (I may have called that the wrong thing too, so forgive the V8 noob. Not to mention Chevy noob. This is my first of both [including first truck and carbed vehicle] I know a fair amount about sizes and the sort, but once you get into the smaller pieces, I'm lost)

[Russell]

I'll probally be in town tonight, but my truck isn't much to look at, pretty rusty, lol

[1FaastC10]

Originally Posted by oldraven

I'm going by the machined block and bigger crank.

as was stated before, the 8" balancer is not an indication of a 400 crank. hate to rain on your parade, but i have had a 305 with an 8" balancer on it.

[oldraven]

As I stated before, the balancer isn't what I'm worried about. It's the 400 'crank', and the 350 block being machined to accomodate the bigger crank shaft. Forget I ever said anything about the balancer. That's simply what got Jim looking closer.

****, you guy's are nit-pickers. Am I going to have to get every part # for you to believe me?

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by oldraven

Am I going to have to get every part # for you to believe me?

yes

[1FaastC10]

i'd still be a little bit sceptical, unless you either get a crank number or measure the stroke. the cranks arent visually bigger, and the blocks sometimes have "machined" spots in them.

[Russell]

Aye, just give the guy the benefit of the doubt :P No reason to rain on his parade, lol

[kevinr1970]

I'm not trying to say anything one way or another but I didn't know Chevy made a 383 as a production piece? I always thought it was a 350 block with a 400 crank. I've also heard that the 400's had notoriuosly weak bottom ends - wouldn't that mean weak cranks?
I'm not trying to bag on your buy, I'm just trying to educamate myself.

PS - when I was younger I went through quite a few Buicks and never actually got an engine to stop running, even by standing on the throttle for a few minutes. It sounded real bad but would not blow!
Now when the 400 went out in my Suburban, it was DONE!

[oldraven]

It's not a factory 383 (not that I'm saying there ever has been). It's a 1980 350 block with a 400 crank. If I can catch them in time, I'll see if they can pull a crank part # off of it.

I mean, if the guy tells me it's not a 350 crank, I'm going to believe him. What reason does my brother have to BS me? Aside from that, if they can get a #, I'll be happy. I'd rather know beyond a shadow of a doubt too. But as it is, I have zero doubt he's right. I've got four different mechs telling me the same thing. And one very pissed that he missed out on it. (mind you, he's the import guy, so I doubt he'd know by looking at it. He's running an 85 Silverado with a 305 on propane though, so he still may have a clue) The only guys who are skeptical aren't the ones looking at the lump and bottom end first hand.

[loblazer]

Ok now you got me going too. When I bought my 1980 Blazer a few years ago, the guy said it was a 350. My mechanic buddy said recently, no it is a 305, has a small balancer. It seems to have some go to it so I assumed it was a 350. Guess I better check my numbers with my parts buddy at GM. I don't really care one way or the other, maybe if it is a 305 I will stay with it as I don't want any worse gas milage then I get now! I have no plates on the glovebox or door to say what I have.

[oldraven]

I don't know if all 350's and 305's are like this, but on mine, the 350 exhaust manifold tracks down from the ports, and back, below the plugs. (see the picture at the top) and my 305 manifold runs above the plugs and back. (complete PITA to do plugs on)

[cliffsta]

Originally Posted by oldraven

I don't know if all 350's and 305's are like this, but on mine, the 350 exhaust manifold tracks down from the ports, and back, below the plugs. (see the picture at the top) and my 305 manifold runs above the plugs and back. (complete PITA to do plugs on)

no thats not a definate determiner. Some of each have manifolds that do that. Kinda a moot point this bickering over displacement. If its a 350, then its a 350. If its a 383, then its a 383. Your gonna have to use 350 parts on it since that's the base of the motor.

[MylilBowTie]

Its always nice to know what it actually is. Even if it is a 305 it was just rebuilt and everything looks good, got a really good price for it also. This is one reason I dont really care to buy built up blocks that the owner has no information about. To a point you are at there discretion to what it really has or not. Some just really dont know what they have just sent to the machine shop and got it back and installed it.

Its up to you if you really want to know what it is. We can help if you decide if you want do that.

[oldraven]

Originally Posted by cliffsta

no thats not a definate determiner. Some of each have manifolds that do that. Kinda a moot point this bickering over displacement. If its a 350, then its a 350. If its a 383, then its a 383. Your gonna have to use 350 parts on it since that's the base of the motor.

Thanks man. I wasn't too sure that was a good way to tell either, since the manifold isn't actually part of the engine itself, and those can change with years. That's just the first thing that stood out to me when I got the 350.

I'd be happy with a 350. It's still a considerable upgrade from the ol 305. I don't really need any more proff than I was given that it's a 383 though. The only reason I'd get the crank # is to proove it to the nay sayers. (though I don't know why it's bugging me so much that you fullos don't believe me) If it's a 350, it's got 350 power, which is nice. If it's a 383, it's got wicked power, which is better.

Mylilbowtie, I do know for a fact that it's not a 305 though.

I came here to share cool news on my truck. Why are you guys picking it to death? I got confirmation a few days ago when a collection of journeymen techs gave me the good news. I trust these guys to know what they're talking about. I worded things poorly in my first post, and the topic has just been spiraling into frustration since.

I really don't want this awesome development in the restoration of my truck to turn into a reason to not want to come to this board.

Peace guys. Just, please be positive. My own thread is bringin me down.

[cliffsta]

hey hey hey now lets not bust on the 305 its a good little boat motor as they say. Hasn't done me wrong yet, and the truck is older than me. Its older than my parents are married.

[oldraven]

I can't complain about my ol 305. It still runs like a top, and starts every time. It only needs a few kicks in the go pedal and it fires up in the cold. Doesn't leak anywhere, is plenty torquey. It's just a dog, is all. There's too much truck to push around with so little motor.

I'm selling this one for $500 if I can. Or whatever someone offers me. It's a good old motor. Only 219K on it. (136K miles) Just had the carb rebuilt, about 1,000 km ago. I've got no use for it, and I can't move accross country with an old motor.

[MylilBowTie]

I wasn't trying to pick a part your engine. Just trying to help. My thinking is I would want to know what it really is just for piece of mind. It also helps when you need parts (ie crank, rods) to be able to get the correct part for it. Say its a 350 that has a been built for a stroker. I would want to know what pistons, rod length, gasket thickness and size of the crank they used to make it with. You didn't go wrong for 500.00 in a rebuilt engine. Im not knocking what it is or could be. It just to many variables to just go get parts for a sbc that could lead to damage of the engine.

[Russell]

Hey dude... You say you have a rebuilt carb on that 305, is that a Q-Jet? And if it is, would you be willing to lend it to me for a couple of weeks till I get my EFI in? I'm gonna go and fix my intake gaskets again, but after I do that, I'm gonna be needing a carb that can actually be tuned again, I had to really royally mess my old one up to make it work...