383 Stroker

[CrazyJesster]

does anyone have a 383 in there 80's model shortbeds? if so do they perform well i know the motor does in like cars and stuff im thinkin bout building one for my 82

[SSC's76]

It will do just as well in a truck as any other ride. I'm not too impressed with mine anymore it's eventually on its way out and a 454 is going back in.

[piecesparts]

I presently have a 383 stroker in the 84 GMC that I drive. It is the second stroker motor that has been in it. The first had a small venting problem, when a rod broke and made a hole in the block big enough to put your fist through. I like my stroker motor, it creates a large amount of bottom end torque and it pulls hard. I built this last one to stand up to a little more abuse than the last one, by putting in a few more of the higher dollar parts than I had before. (h-beam rods, forged crank, heavier duty valve springs, a better vibration dampener, etc...) The heads on my stroker are Dart II cast iron heads and the flow characteristics are phenominal, especially with the Comp Cams roller cam that I am running.

There is an old saying "There is no replacement for displacement", the big blocks definitely have the torque and the pulling power. I love the idea of that, however, the fuel economy really stinks and the weight is a factor, along with the cost of rebuild parts. My stroker does well on the highway (15 MPG) and will eat a Mustang for lunch and be hungry for more). It all sets with the gear ratio, tranny choice, cam and heads that you choose.

[flyboy]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

... My stroker does well on the highway (15 MPG) and will eat a Mustang for lunch and be hungry for more). It all sets with the gear ratio, tranny choice, cam and heads that you choose.

What tranny and rear gear do you have? I am looking to have my engine rebuilt later this summer and would be interested in your engine specs as well.

[piecesparts]

I am running a modified 700 R4 tranny WITHOUT the lockup converter. It still has the .7 overdrive, but the lockup was taken out and a 2400 stall converter was installed. I did this because the cam profile on my engine had the truck pushing itself at the stoplights while waiting for the light to change. That caused me to stumble and falter on acceleration unless I wound the truck up to 3500 or better to break off the line. I also changed from a 3.42 gear ratio on a 12 bolt posi rear end to a 3.73 gear to get the lower end gears that I needed in street driving. That curbed my overall top end, but I have still had the truck well above the 100 MPH mark. The acceleration is a blast and when the tranny shifts (rebuilt with heavier clutch packs and bigger planetary) it sets you back into the seat.
I cruise at about 2500 RPM, at 70 MPH, and it does not need a lot of fuel to jump to 100 MPH at that speed.

The cam profile is a CS XR264HR-10 with a intake duration of 212 and exhaust duration of 210 at .050 / Lobe seperation of 110 / installed at 107 degrees intake center line. The intake is a Performer RPM and the carb is an Edelbrock Thunder AVS 650 with a K&N 14" air filter and Extreme top. The headers are ceramic coated Cyclones with a 2 1/2" exhaust and Flowmaster mufflers. The radiator is cooled by electric fans, so that there is no drag on the motor.

[Tom]

383's are nice, but once you want over 400hp it's cheaper to go with a big block. For cheap grins you cant beat the price of a 383/vortec head combo, talk about a torque monster.

[SSC's76]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

There is an old saying "There is no replacement for displacement". My stroker does well on the highway (15 MPG) and will eat a Mustang for lunch and be hungry for more). It all sets with the gear ratio, tranny choice, cam and heads that you choose.

Exactly what I'm going for. I can add a small cam a good intake to a 454 and flat kill my stroker in every catagory except fuel mileage unless thr Pro Ram gets added in the mix. Of course on a recent 62 mile round trip the 383 neted 19 MPG at 3000 RPM, 78 MPH. Even with the micro bursts well over 100 mph. Of course the Q-jet help alot with that.

[81shavedtrk]

Originally Posted by Tom

383's are nice, but once you want over 400hp it's cheaper to go with a big block. For cheap grins you cant beat the price of a 383/vortec head combo, talk about a torque monster.

I beg to differ. My aluminum headed 383 I had in my truck made 540hp and i had around $3500 in it. I loved racing bigblocks. I made more power, for cheaper, and weighed less than with a bigblock with the same amount of money involved.

Now my new 383 is a different story

[bodydropped]

hmm big block are good torque monsters but for about 5000 u can build a badazz 350 that will eat anything sht my dad has a 40over 350 dart sr2 heads .205/.160,dz302 69 camaro offroad cam dual plane intake and a holley and its pushin well over 500 and i think the total amount we have in it is about 1000 because we bought it used and rebuilt it but hes buildin a 60 over 283 with flat tops,blower with a demon carb,either 882 heads or zz4 heads with a comp cam and he wants to push about 500 or so

[bigblock73]

Something to add the the equation. Lets say you wanted a 500 HP engine, small block, big block...didn't matter...you wanted 500 HP. I big block can make that 500 HP a lot easier and work a lot less harder doing it compared to a small block making the same power. My 468 is mostly stock with ported cast iron heads, decent cam, aftermarket intake and valvetrain and it makes 515. To get a small block to do that, you might be talking aftermarket heads, beefed up bottom end, and who knows what else. Granted the price may equal out when the building is all said and done, but I doubt a heavily modified small block will last as long as a fairly stock big block. Not only that, but how many small blocks do you see in our trucks compared to big blocks? Different = cool.

Oh, one more thing...my comparison is on a low tech build...carbs and no computer controlled devices. The new engines of today blow my mind and are ultimately the way to go for durability and power IMO.

[81shavedtrk]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

Something to add the the equation. Lets say you wanted a 500 HP engine, small block, big block...didn't matter...you wanted 500 HP. I big block can make that 500 HP a lot easier and work a lot less harder doing it compared to a small block making the same power. My 468 is mostly stock with ported cast iron heads, decent cam, aftermarket intake and valvetrain and it makes 515. To get a small block to do that, you might be talking aftermarket heads, beefed up bottom end, and who knows what else. Granted the price may equal out when the building is all said and done, but I doubt a heavily modified small block will last as long as a fairly stock big block. Not only that, but how many small blocks do you see in our trucks compared to big blocks? Different = cool.

Oh, one more thing...my comparison is on a low tech build...carbs and no computer controlled devices. The new engines of today blow my mind and are ultimately the way to go for durability and power IMO.

Depends on how you look at it. For example, my 383 made well over 500 hp with only around $3k. Now take a big block with the same amount of hp and it will NOT work less doing so. Because, to pull around the extra weight it is actually working harder to move said weight. A big block actually works more because of the large rotating mass it is trying to spend. I will always run smallblocks because i make more power for less money then with a big block.

That engine was assembled with no problems for 5 years. 3 of those years i was putting a 175 hp worth of nitrous to it putting up into high 600hp range and when i pulled it apart, the engine still looked new on the inside.

[SSC's76]

The BB SB weight difference is meaningless unless your attempting to shave weight from somthing that only sees 1/4 mile at a time. I know what your saying all too well from the track but it's like you take you buddy for a spin in your truck and notice a huge reduction in power. We know this doesent happen unless you stuff 9 drunk chearleaders in a claped out Celica and it wont go above 40. Notice 3 winks and 9 girls .

A BB is better suited for building a power plant in almost any situation. Cubes are cubes and the engine with the ability to suck down air and fuel at a greater rate will always make more power per revolution. This is why you almost always see amazing tq numbers with very mild BB builds.

[bigblock73]

Originally Posted by 81shavedtrk

Depends on how you look at it. For example, my 383 made well over 500 hp with only around $3k. Now take a big block with the same amount of hp and it will NOT work less doing so. Because, to pull around the extra weight it is actually working harder to move said weight. A big block actually works more because of the large rotating mass it is trying to spend. I will always run smallblocks because i make more power for less money then with a big block.

That engine was assembled with no problems for 5 years. 3 of those years i was putting a 175 hp worth of nitrous to it putting up into high 600hp range and when i pulled it apart, the engine still looked new on the inside.

How many miles a year did you drive the truck? Sounds more like a weekend cruiser than an every day or 8K a year semi-daily driver.

I have $2600 into my BB, it makes 515 HP, 525 TQ...no fancy speed parts, ported cast iron heads, etc. I'm going to drive it...and a lot.

Not trying to argue, I stand by my statement. Both BB and SB have their advantages...I just prefer the simple power you can make from a very mild BB, compared to the steps you have to take to make a SB perform equally. I also like to see something other than a small block when I open my hood...everybody seems to have a small block in their truck. Hell, I'd be happy with a hopped up 6 as opposed to a SB. But again...thats just me.

[81shavedtrk]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

How many miles a year did you drive the truck? Sounds more like a weekend cruiser than an every day or 8K a year semi-daily driver.

I have $2600 into my BB, it makes 515 HP, 525 TQ...no fancy speed parts, ported cast iron heads, etc. I'm going to drive it...and a lot.

Not trying to argue, I stand by my statement. Both BB and SB have their advantages...I just prefer the simple power you can make from a very mild BB, compared to the steps you have to take to make a SB perform equally. I also like to see something other than a small block when I open my hood...everybody seems to have a small block in their truck. Hell, I'd be happy with a hopped up 6 as opposed to a SB. But again...thats just me.

For 2 of those years it was daily driven everyday 50 miles+ and then played on the weekends and went to a different city to play (40 miles away). The last few it has been driven a few days a week and play on weekends. I would say that engine when I tore it apart had probably 30k miles on it. Still ran mid 12's on the motor after all that time. I will always build my smallblocks just for the simple fact of making more power cheaper, yes i said more power cheaper. If you know what you are doing, small blocks can make lots of power for little money.

[CrazyJesster]

ok back to this old thread how are yall getting 15mpg on the strokers? carbed?? gears im guesing??

anyway im thinking about going ot a 383 again for the 82 out of a vortech block i can get the full vortech engine for 600$ and then rebuild it

i once had a site for stroker kits for around 750$ or so but lost it

[piecesparts]

Running a 650 carb for streetability. Yes, I know that a 750 would make it top out better, but that is not where I drive it the most. I wanted something that would allow me to drive around highways and cities and not bog out the engine and overgas it. I would like to put an EZ EFI setup on it and see what the engine would dl for mileage and then the top end.

I also run a 700 R4 tranny W/O the lock up converter with a 2400 stall. The rear gears are 3.73s and the tires are 28" tall. I run at 2500 RPM at 70 MPH and that works great with the cam and stall converter. It still has plenty of bite to pull anyone on the road and works well in the hills. Took this on the Power Tourk, this year, and put 3000 miles on it in 8 days.

[CrazyJesster]

well i want it decent mpg it wont be a dd but still. ive got alot of thoughts running thorugh my mind right now. sould i use a vortec block or get a 5.3 an do a 383 with it? ya know its hard to make a real decision

but i want a darn 383 lol ive got an edlebrock performer rpm manifold and a holly 650 that needs rekitting

an a th350 for now

[storked82]

Hello Crazyjester

I have a 383 in my 82 swb and I love it I have a blast blowing away
Ford mustanges and some Mopars For my tranny Im running a Hughs
Turbo 400 I do need to change gears in the rear end I dont race my
Truck but it is fun when I get some one toying with me after Im leaveing
A carshow had that happen twice LOL

Take care
Jeff Main