new to the engine building community

[Hawkattack2007]

new to the engine building, 383 stroker

Hey everyone. I've got 77 k1500 with a stock 350. I want to build my own 383 Stroker but don't know internal combinations that would work. If someone could give me ideas for getting 400-500 HP that would be great. Thanks

 

[Driver4r]

If its gonna be a DD, i would aim more for 350-400.

 

[Hawkattack2007]

Yea its a DD I plan on stripping it down to the frame and rebuilding the whole truck. I want it so when I step on the pedal I take off

 

[HotRodPC]

He could do the 350-400hp daily driver, and add a little 100 shot NOS for the track and that would have him there. Need to keep compression on the low side anyway for pump gas.

 

[Hawkattack2007]

That would work. Didn't think of that. Do you have any combination suggestions got pistons crank and heads

 

[Jake292]

buy a crank for a stock 400 sbc, this gives you 3.75 stroke with a bigger main(stonger) than the 350, you will have to get the block line bored to fit the bigger main.

use 6in h beam rods(stronger than I beams) and a shorter piston, this gives you more mechanical advantage on the crank.

Flat head pistons should be adiquite for pump gas

get some "double hump heads" form the '60s, if possible put bigger valves in it. check commpression on these first though.

my dad ran a similar setup in his 78 that he had as a kid. it was a touque monster, would pull 60% + grade in 3rd gear at low rpm.

 

[HotRodPC]

buy a crank for a stock 400 sbc, this gives you 3.75 stroke with a bigger main(stonger) than the 350, you will have to get the block line bored to fit the bigger main.

use 6in h beam rods(stronger than I beams) and a shorter piston, this gives you more mechanical advantage on the crank.

Flat head pistons should be adiquite for pump gas

get some "double hump heads" form the '60s, if possible put bigger valves in it. check commpression on these first though.

my dad ran a similar setup in his 78 that he had as a kid. it was a touque monster, would pull 60% + grade in 3rd gear at low rpm.

Scratch the double hump head idea and go Vortec heads instead. Those camel humps are the old school hot item. You'd also spend a fortune putting hardened seats in the Camel Hump heads, where the Vortecs are already taken care of that way. Much more performance form the Vortec heads, they'll breathe much better.

I've never heard or line boring a 350 for the bigger journals, I've always heard turn the 400 journals down. Makes sense though. However, I think if I did that, I'd at least strap the main caps, maybe even run a girdle depending on the horsepower/torque. I'd for sure do it running a big NOS unit, but prolly get by with straps just fine up to a NOS 100 cheater shot.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

You dont want to go with the double humps , the vortec's are much better , ( like hot rod pc said) , but if you have the money after market heads smoke the vortec's , like , afr , world , eddie , dart , etc... If you want the bad boy street motor on pump gas you should build a quench motor. You want to have your block square decked so your piston's are close or at 0 deck and run a d dish piston with a close chamber head , best volmetric efficiency and you can get to your 400hp range on pump gas with no problem with a 383 and a semi mellow cam. Remember , on the street it's all about torque really not hp to have fun stop light to stop light. With aluminum heads and the right cam you can get to the 10 to 1 range with a quench (.040) motor running 91 octaine. At all cost's make sure you pick a good machine shop , because most of them just tell you what you want to hear and they dont build a motor to your spec's thinking you wont know any difference. Piston height in the deck is most important , what the piston's say on the box means nothing. A good test is to roll into a shop and ask about a cam , if they pick one out for you with out knowing your piston height in the deck , head cc's and gasket thickness run the other way as fast as you can.

Good machine shop , most important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you must have a wild man cam you can bump the compression up a little , and it will drop the cylinder pressure down so you can still get away with pump gas but they are harder on valvetrain.

 

[HotRodPC]

You dont want to go with the double humps , the vortec's are much better , ( like hot rod pc said) , but if you have the money after market heads smoke the vortec's , like , afr , world , eddie , dart , etc... If you want the bad boy street motor on pump gas you should build a quench motor. You want to have your block square decked so your piston's are close or at 0 deck and run a d dish piston with a close chamber head , best volmetric efficiency and you can get to your 400hp range on pump gas with no problem with a 383 and a semi mellow cam. Remember , on the street it's all about torque really not hp to have fun stop light to stop light. With aluminum heads and the right cam you can get to the 10 to 1 range with a quench (.040) motor running 91 octaine. At all cost's make sure you pick a good machine shop , because most of them just tell you what you want to hear and they dont build a motor to your spec's thinking you wont know any difference. Piston height in the deck is most important , what the piston's say on the box means nothing. A good test is to roll into a shop and ask about a cam , if they pick one out for you with out knowing your piston height in the deck , head cc's and gasket thickness run the other way as fast as you can.

Good machine shop , most important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you must have a wild man cam you can bump the compression up a little , and it will drop the cylinder pressure down so you can still get away with pump gas but they are harder on valvetrain.

Good Tips here, if you're willing to go this far. Pretty much gets to your HP goal and will have a **** load of torque that will for sure set you back in the seat, all while having the ability to run pump gas and be a Daily Driver.

I'll go with the idea of aftermarket heads too. While the Vortecs are the best bang for the buck if keeping with an OEM head, you also need the conversion intake. Also with the Vortec heads, you have a pretty low IMO, valve lift max without extensive machine work. If you crunch the #'s, buying the Vortecs an hoping you got a good set, the proper machine work to do what you want, you will come real close to the cost of a bolt on and run aftermarket aluminums that will discipate heat quicker, lighter the front end of your truck by a good chunk, not to mention easier to work on if you need to pull your heads, so the advantages are there to make it worth the money spent if that's within your budget.

 

[rsnafu]

cam selection

When you choose a cam get with the manufacturer tech line and tell them its a 383 and they will point to what they call a small base circle cam you need it with this combo

 

[tanz45]

What kind of budget first of all. Last time I had a block prepped, bake, bore, line hone, cam bearings, it cost me $600. Then all the internals. Spent close to 3k for something that i built.

For that kind of money i would rather buy a warrantied crate long or short block from BluePrint. Or update to aleast a Gen3 LSx. Get a boneyard 6.0 for under a $1k and get 345 HP stock. Go fuel injection or get a MSD carb kit for an LS1 and bolt it on.

Just my opinion, not trying to get into a debate.

 

[Driver4r]

buy a crank for a stock 400 sbc, this gives you 3.75 stroke with a bigger main(stonger) than the 350, you will have to get the block line bored to fit the bigger main.

use 6in h beam rods(stronger than I beams) and a shorter piston, this gives you more mechanical advantage on the crank.

Flat head pistons should be adiquite for pump gas

get some "double hump heads" form the '60s, if possible put bigger valves in it. check commpression on these first though.

my dad ran a similar setup in his 78 that he had as a kid. it was a touque monster, would pull 60% + grade in 3rd gear at low rpm.

If your going with flat tops(mine run 10.1) go with the 4 valve releife style, it will lower the compression down. My 10.1's RUN on pump gas but i also have the cam set up as a pressure release setup. My truck would be much happier with 100octane compared to the 89 i run it on.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

Crate motor's are a nice , easy way to go but buyer beware. Most , (not all) are mass produced , so a lot of them dont put out what they say they do.They run good and last but sometimes are dogs. A buddy of mine bought a 330hp , vortec gm crate motor from summit and it ran well but was a total pig , (may as well got a stocker). He had to take it back and it was a pain in the butt. The ls motor's , 6.0's and such are a good set up as well , (like tanz45 said). They have good all around hp and pretty good torque and run really well , but they are no were close to a quench built 383 with lets say afr head's.There is a lot of great combo's out there , it just depend's on money and what you really want , a great strong runner or something that will scare you.There is nothing quite like a small block 383 that makes close to 500lbs of torque at 3,200 rpm with a semi mild cam with 9.5 to 1 compression on pump gas. You will be buying a lot of back tire's for sure.You can do the same thing with a big block as well and then it get's really crazy.My 77 crew cab has a big block in it and it will boil 44 inch tire's as far as you want to on 91 octaine.

 

[Driver4r]

You dont want to go with the double humps , the vortec's are much better , ( like hot rod pc said) , but if you have the money after market heads smoke the vortec's , like , afr , world , eddie , dart , etc... If you want the bad boy street motor on pump gas you should build a quench motor. You want to have your block square decked so your piston's are close or at 0 deck and run a d dish piston with a close chamber head , best volmetric efficiency and you can get to your 400hp range on pump gas with no problem with a 383 and a semi mellow cam. Remember , on the street it's all about torque really not hp to have fun stop light to stop light. With aluminum heads and the right cam you can get to the 10 to 1 range with a quench (.040) motor running 91 octaine. At all cost's make sure you pick a good machine shop , because most of them just tell you what you want to hear and they dont build a motor to your spec's thinking you wont know any difference. Piston height in the deck is most important , what the piston's say on the box means nothing. A good test is to roll into a shop and ask about a cam , if they pick one out for you with out knowing your piston height in the deck , head cc's and gasket thickness run the other way as fast as you can.

Good machine shop , most important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you must have a wild man cam you can bump the compression up a little , and it will drop the cylinder pressure down so you can still get away with pump gas but they are harder on valvetrain.

If he gets the block decked, then he will have to get the heads and intake ground down to fit right. I wouldnt deck it unless its warped.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

Nope , most of the time you will not take off enough to have any problem's , (have done two decked block's so far) and if you dont square deck the block a quench motor is pretty much out.