383 stroker vs 5.3 ls

[big_moss]

whats going on every body. im about to start building my 51 chevy 3100. im planning on doing full air ride and cant decide which route I want to take motor wise carbureted or fuel injected. ive narrowed my options down to a 383 stroker or a mildy built 5.3 ls. the truck will just be a cruiser and wont be drivin any crazy long trips maybe from Houston to Austin tops about 2.5 hours. just trying to get any input and opinions being new to the motor side of things. thanks for any suggestions - big moss

[joedoh]

if you use a junkyard pull 5.3 and add a cam it will cost 1/5th building a 383, which is the only way I would buy a 383, too many guys spray paint a used 305 or 350 and bolt on an aluminum intake and sell as a 383. the 5.3 will also get almost double the mpg, figure 8-10 for the 383 and 16-18 for the 5.3. my moneys on the efi.

[Speedbumpauto]

If your budget had the money for that 383, look for the 6.0 or 6.2L version of the LS engine. They cost a little more but then you would have the only advantage I think the 383 had, cubic inches in a heavier vehicle.

[1-ton of fun]

lq9 is what i would look for. 6.0 ls motor with the bigger square port heads.

i gave my son my 385 SBC (383, but .404" over instead of .030" overbore) for his truck. mine is likely going LS or BBC now

cheap option is a 5.3L from a junkyard, and cam it and you have a pretty reliable 300 hp cruiser. turbo it and have 700 hp.

[1-ton of fun]

or an LS3 if your money is long enough. it is just a cam change away from turn key 600 hp for about $10k.

[e015475]

Hard to beat a junkyard 5.3 with a cam/spring swap for more power.

It seems to me that unless you're going to get really serious about getting the power to he ground, a 6L motor, whether it is a gen 2 stroker or a LS, doesn't have much utility over a 5.3. Around here you'll pay 2-3X for 6L vs the 5.3s for horsepower that you can't really use in a truck were you can't keep the rear end planted

[Advanced Design]

My $.02 is for the 5.3 and 4L60E for all the reasons listed above. Love the all around performance and reliability in our 56 so we are putting the same set up in our 48 Burb. We have the 6.0 and 4L80E in the 72 Burb and are very happy with it as well.

[big_moss]

ill more than likely go with the ls just because of the reliability and the amount of parts available for it. only reason I was thinking carbureted was just to do something different don't just wanna be another bagged ls swapped a.d I guess thanks for the input guys.

[iowaboynca]

you can carb a LS too if you want to be different. Here's a link from the LS section of the forum from a guy who did that.

You can also buy a throttle body injection, but those setup are a little pricey.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=679407

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by big_moss

only reason I was thinking carbureted was just to do something different don't just wanna be another bagged ls swapped a.d

being different works until you sell it. then all you hear from buyers and really just nebby guys who have never worked on a single project of their own is "how come you didnt just put in an ls?".

I can be happy with whatever I choose to run in my projects. my advice is do whatever you want and to heck with whatever anyone else thinks

[big_moss]

Right I'm going with an ls. Now I've just gotta get the truck moved to my shop and start the build

[2tractors]

I've already got my 5.3 only wish it had the 243 heads with bigger valves. Pick one with the good heads and low miles and hear it run. Go to CL and use "parting out" to find yours.

[yossarian19]

Another vote for the 5.3 with EFI
You could leave it bone-stock and with a 4L60E & factory rear end, it's got more than enough power to make you smile and catch rubber going into second.
The 383 is the way to go if you want to keep it old school. There is just no reason to put a carb on an LS motor - by the time you are done converting it to use a carb, you could have made more power with an SBC. Spark controller, new intake, carb, etc.

[solidaxel]

I have both, and my money is on the 5.3/4L60E with a good tune

[iowaboynca]

Originally Posted by yossarian19

There is just no reason to put a carb on an LS motor -

Well you can't say no reason... If you got a steal on a long block that didn't have the ecm, wiring harness or packs, its worth a look (such as my case, ). When i looked at sourcing, cost, and time I decided to make it old school.

With that being said, if you can get a hand on motor w/ecm and wiring harness and ideally transmission its such a plug and play and you're right it makes no sense to convert.

At the end of the day, there is just so much usability in an LS and its just as available as a SBC, in my mind it just makes sense to go the LS route.

[mongocanfly]

LS for sure 5.3 or 6.0..I have a 6.0 in mine and have no regrets..but the demand for 6.0 engines is running up the cost on them..you can still get the 5.3s at a good price.