383 Stroker build

[AustinDube]

here is the kit im looking at
http://www.ebay.com/itm/352081370211

And it says that the block would have to be decked and bored for the pistons, now yes I want to have it machined .40 over in the cyllinders but Im wondering if I need to deck the block? this engine has been rebuilt before and Im not sure what it was machined to then. Is there any engraving on the top of the block to show how much it was decked? almost like the engraving on a piston? And would it be really important to have the pistons sit flush with the block at tdc? or would I be sacrificing power or compression ratio? Also the reason why I am doing a rebuild, engine build is I belive I am burning radiator fluid due to exessive white smoke out the exhaust and it kinda burns the eyes and the antifreese is getting burned up at a pretty fast rate

 

[74 Shortbed]

That's a nice kit..There's numbers stamped on the front of the block on the deck on the passenger side, if they are there then it hasn't been decked, if they are gone then it's been decked, but you don't know how much unless you measure it, if you don't have the means to measure it have the machine shop check it, they're telling you to deck it to square it up and 0 deck tightens up the squish area which means more HP, also the advertised compression on the piston is usually taken a 0 deck, from there you can adjust the compression to your application.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

And when decking the block pay close attention to piston to valve clearance depending on how aggressive your gonna go with cam profile.

 

[74 Shortbed]

They're dished pistons no problem there, but even if it was a dome you can fly cut the piston, should tell on the paperwork how much lift they can take though.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

They're dished pistons no problem there, but even if it was a dome you can fly cut the piston, should tell on the paperwork how much lift they can take though.

Valve size has influence to on clearances as well. But you know all that ****. Some may not tho.

 

[74 Shortbed]

Valve size has influence to on clearances as well. But you know all that ****. Some may not tho.

Very true..

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Very true..

That's all I'm doing I'm not arguing the point

 

[shiftpro]

I like the skinny rings but dished pistons.... ahhh!
Oh you got a blower! Right on. Twin turbo woo ha!
Seriously that's really low compression. Don'tcha think?

 

[shiftpro]

The chart confuses me even more. Maybe just having a bad night.
But looking at the pic duh I get it. When Art said 'dished pistons' I was thinking
DISHED PISTONS lol.. the 7.1 compression pistonees... we all love for boost.
Sorry, carry on everyone.

 

[shiftpro]

Ok now I'm serious,

Deck height,,,oh!
I have strong opinions on this, but understand I'm coming from a place of propane and high compression
engines. I am biased toward every bit of compression I can get.
That probably answers somewhat your question about deck height.

In the spirit of truly trying to be helpful I will advise that you should, be prepared to assemble, at least
partly, your engine at least three times.

Unless there is a better way, my first pre-assemble is placing the crank in but only using three bearings sets and caps. Install 4 pistons (no rings) and rods, #1,2, 7,8.
A little imagination and a magnetic dial gauge, learn all kind of things, like the alignment of crank centre line to deck, not to forget the point of deck height.
And this is a good time to check the newly installed cam bearings and toss on a head too. Check your valve to piston clearance if you think you need to.

As far as BBCs around here, the local engine builder kinda always takes at least .020 off the deck.
Then if you're serious about compression and power and glory and all that, (fuel efficiency shhh don't say),
you make the measurements and take you block back to the builder to whack off another .030.
Is it too extreme to even have the piston sitting proud 5 or 10 thou? If your head gasket compresses to .030
you piston could sit proud .010 with no problem as far as I understand.

I guess this is "blue printing" in it's essence.

And you're probably aware of the need to do some clearance grinding? That's always fun. While you got the grinder out, where's them heads?
Of course you don't have to take your block into the bathtub with you until you know the engine is going together for the final time... hopefully for many years!

Good luck with your build, we envy you a bit.