newbie needs help, imagine that...

[junktruck]

ok guys, i'm new but i figured i'd go ahead and start posting. i have a 82 long bed that i got for free. not much cancer at all just minor surface rust. cab corners are good, along with rockers and floor pans. the only cancer is in the pass. door. but it had a 350 that i pulled out that is now a boat anchor. it has a huge gash in the cylinder wall i can lay a nickel in and it's flush with the cylinder wall. i think one spot is worse because it broke into the water jacket. i'm wanting a RELIABLE truck. i stress reliable because i'm not gonna have the money to redo the engine down the road. i'm wanting to kinda go with the prostreet/raked look/street rod look. no offense to the guys that like to drag frame, i just don't think its for me. i want it to look like a hot rod and BE a hot rod. but i can't drop in a big block with 900hp. one, i don't have the budget, two, i want to be able to drive it everyday if i want to. it's not gonna be my daily, but if i want to drive it for a week straight then i don't want to have reliability concerns. sorry for the long ramble, but what engine size, engine combo, foward movement would you guys suggest? i'm leaning towards a 383 or 350. one of the two.


thanks in advance, junk

ps i'd like anyone to walk up to it and say man, that thing has got one helluva cam in it. i want it to cut a lick, but not two much that i have a lot of vacumm issues. and i'm working off a 5000 buck engine budget.
thanks guys and sorry so long.

[junktruck]

by the way here's a picture.

[87 STEPPER]

Thats a nice looking truck and the price was right.

I say a 350 came out and thats what i'd put back in it.

IMO.......A 383 isn't a "Reliable" daily driver street engine and with fuel prices going going gone clean outa sight you will be better off with the 350.

[neverfinished]

I'd shop around for an LS1 or LS2 as mentioned in an earlier thread. I wouldn't build a stroker engine for daily use, but a mildly built 350 works, mine does just fine for daily use.

[swb85]

What's wrong with a 383? I'm putting a reliable 450+ hp 383 stroker in my daily driver. You're not going to get any worse fuel economy with a mild 383 than you will with a lumpy cammed 350. It's not going to be his daily driver anyway as his first post states. I vote for the 383...you can build one for pretty much the same cost as a 350 nowadays, and as the saying goes there's no replacement for displacement.

Welcome to the board! Probably one of the best looking free trucks I've seen.

[neverfinished]

There's nothing "wrong" with a 383 in my opinion, it just wouldn't be my first choice for something that I want to drive everyday. I don't need all that bottom end and I drive slow (most of the time).

[Jim85IROC]

I'd say a good 5.3 or even an LQ4 6.0 liter would be an economical swap, and would have huge mod potential as your budget allowed. 5.3s can be had cheaply, are super reliable, and will make as much power stock as your typical iron headed 350 crate motor. Getting a 5.3 or 6.0 & transmission out of a donor truck gets you a nice modern drivetrain for very little cash.

[knightlife]

at a projected 6.5 mpg...383 isnt your daily driver, especially if you plan on cammin it out brotha... *cries* cant wait till I swap her in tho...

[Srubydo1986]

Originally Posted by 87 STEPPER

I say a 350 came out and thats what i'd put back in it.

IMO.......A 383 isn't a "Reliable" daily driver street engine and with fuel prices going going gone clean outa sight you will be better off with the 350.

agree a 350 is very reliable and like hes said better on gas. Mine has no cam just stock and sounds like it has on. but that what happens when u remove the cat and put straight pipes with a glass pack (dual)

[benoit454]

A 383 IS a 350 just bored and stroked. LOL.

I'd run either in it, 350 would be cheaper.

if you want a big cam look at the comp 268 or 270/272 cam, maybe 280 magnum. I think thoose are they biggest cams they have for a power accessories compatible deal.

I run a 268 in my monte carlo and I've had alot of ppl say damn that's cam'd to death aint it? I should have ran bigger, the next step up is the bottom end magnum, and it says run aftermarket headers, 4 bbl, and intake, and I do. But I went with a 268h I think or just a 268 comp cam.

I ran the same motor with a bigger cam, holley intake instead of weiand, and a holley carb instead of edelbrock in my 76 truck and it was a BEAST!!!!! I couldn't keep rear tires, and the acceleration was awesome. I ran a 3 speed stick shift converted to floor shift in it. I have no idea what rear but it was posi.

I'd say a 350 trans. if you want an auto, or if you HAVE to have OD get a 700r4 built. I'd throw in a shift kit which is awesome, you'll love it. Nice and smooth when you want, but if you ride the gears out and manual shift it, or hold the gas to the floor or way down in drive, when she shifts it'll break the tires loose. Also maybe consider a stall if you run an auto. I run a 2000 rpm stall, pretty moderate, it's good because I'm always cruising at 2k and up, with 3.42's. if you can and want to, run a stick shift. 3 speed or 4. I love em, and want one in everything lol.

For a $5k engine budget you can have one nice freaking setup. I don't have that much in mine and it's awesome. A stock rebuild would run you about $300 without cam or machine work. Also might look into aftermarket heads if they fit in the budget, I hear they are a great performance booster. Alot of people say they are the BESt performance upgrade to make. I run a set of 2.02 gm replacement iron heads.

I'd say make sure to leave room for some transmission improvements though, at least a $40 b&m shift kit, and fluid. They are easy to install, at least in a th350 they are.

[junktruck]

thanks guys, i appreciate all the replys. normally a new guy to a forum ask a question and people hound him to death. but it's not my daily driver, but if i want to drive it all the time would a 383 be bad? i don't care about gas prices. if the truck ain't got gas i'll just take the sportster. so could i run around town with a cam'd 383? or would that be to much?

thanks in advance,

junk

ps i wrote down those numbers cause i want a loud and lopey cam, but not one with vacumm problems.

[swb85]

Originally Posted by junktruck

so could i run around town with a cam'd 383? or would that be to much?

Absolutely! "Too much" is all about personal preference and what you feel is "streetable", and that's different from person to person. What I consider perfectly streetable may be a "track only" setup to other folks.
My truck is getting a vortec-headed 383 with a lumpy roller cam as soon as I finish it up here in a few weeks, and I driver her every day of the year (175-200 miles/week). I'll have just a touch under $6k in my motor (every nut/bolt new), but stick with a flat tappet cam instead of converting to roller and you'd end up right in your $5k budget range.

[benoit454]

I don't see why you'd have any problems with a 383 I know alot of ppl who have 400's or 406's or bigger stroked out 350's and daily drive them. As long as they don't run hot and you don't care about gas prices I say build it as bad as you want or can afford.

ON a side note I seen on the montecarloss forum there was a guy selling a forged 383 motor, and a 2004r trans for 3 grand, but he said he'd seperate as long as the motor went first. I can get you a link or his info if you want. Might save you on building time and costs.

[Russell]

Forget about the old technology! If you have 5000 bones to play with, swap in a 5.7L or 6.0L LS1! Those engines are incredibly reliable, and get great gas mileage stock, esspecially considering their displacements!

Swapping them in is cheap too, I figure I'll have spent between 2000 and 2500 including buying my engine...

As far as how you build it goes, if you are building a daily driver, forget about the big lumpy cam. You can cam these LS engines like that, but it puts your powerband way up where it is totally useless to you unless you are holding your gears to 6000 rpm every single time you shift, which means you'll be using a crapload of fuel all the time.

If you want a rig that has a nasty cam, and behaves poorly like you see all the hot-rods doing, then spend your 5000 bucks on a car to drive every day, then hunker down and build your truck into a weekend warrior

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

I vote for a 383 stroker. Good all around moter. Beef it up as much as you want since its going in your truck.

[benoit454]

I personally don't like computer controlled stuff. Never have, yea they run good and great right out of the box and do get decent mileage for the power, displacement and all that crap.

But give me old school. Everybody and their brother and building ls powered vehicles now a days, all years of cars, truck you name it.

Nowadays having a carb is old school and I like it that way.

As for a lumpy cam mines a 268, it's great for daily driving, rpm powerband is 1500-5500 or idle-550 I forget which. I'm always running at 2k around town and a bit more on the highway. it's got the nice lump to it, and doesn't hog gas very badly either. if you call or email summit or some other place and tell them you want a nice lumpy cam sound without the high rpm powerband and good on gas I'm sure they'll set you up with the right one.

You said you weren't worried about gas mileage, so I'd run a th350 and a lumpy cam with 4 11's our back or 3.73 then you'll be in the powerband for sure. not too mention one quick and mean ride, shame on your back tires then LOL.

[junktruck]

thanks guys for all the help. i'm probably gonna go with a .030 over 350 with summit's power package. (heads, intake, carb, all that stuff.) but i'm not gonna go with their cam, i'm gonna get the 268 that you mentioned ben. thanks guys again.

thanks,

junk

[benoit454]

No problem man, and keep in mind you can get a bigger cam. There are a couple others above mine that claim to still operate power accessories, and some stock torque convertor, the biggest recomends aftermarket convertor, and all above mine say aftermarket carb, intake, and headers. I got that info from northern auto parts catalog.