383 build;D

[klaussk]

Hello everyone. I am going to be building a 383 from the ground up for my 85 k10 when I get back next summer. I am also having the 700r4 tranny beefed up and rebuilt by a professional. I'm going to be using an Eagle balanced rotating assembly and a trickflow head and cam kit. the heads have 195cc runners, 62cc combustion chambers, the cam has a 210/214 duration at .500" lift. I have an edelbroke performer series dual plane intake manifold, and a holley 600 that i want to rejet and see how it works on the 383.There are obviously more specs for these kits but the computers onboard are being really slow so summit racing doesn't want to load. I have a few questions though. Has anyone here ran any kits close to these, how did you like them? some peole have said I will need a higher stall converter but I really don't want one, what do you guys think? Also, I know its hard to estimate horsepower and torque with such little specs but any idea what I might be looking at? I am hoping for around 400 hp and 450 tq.

[muddpuppy01]

The stall will depend on the cam. You would not want to put a stock stall in a motor were the cam needs to run 2500 - 5000 as an example

[chevymanrob]

i personally think that with a cam that small (duration @ .050) you'll be more like 325 horsepower. it will be a monster torque motor though. and staying with that cam i would run a stock or small (2000) stall. you wont need any more than that.

[frotosride]

i personally think that with a cam that small (duration @ .050) you'll be more like 325 horsepower. it will be a monster torque motor though. and staying with that cam i would run a stock or small (2000) stall. you wont need any more than that.

+1 with that small of a duration you won't move your power band much if at all but the low to mid range torque will be good for moving your air plow. If I'm not mistaken those kits come with 6" rods. The only things you need to do are clearance for the rods and bolts on the sides of the block near the oil pan rails and at the bottom of the cylinder walls. If you have a large paper clip it is the easiest way to measure for the proper clearance. Oh, and you will want to check each rod bolt against each cam lobe as well.  AVOID large base circle cams. You will never get the clearance you need without sacrificing strength on your rod bolts.

?"onboard"? NAVY?

[frotosride]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-K314-350-400/KitComboContents/
This must be the top end kit you were looking at. Trickflow and most major manufactures are usually good at listing a basic operating range for their componets and this one list the cam as 1900-4900 so you should be good with the factory converter no doubt.

[klaussk]

I am glad I wont need a  different torque converter. That saves m e a good bit of money. I think It will have a bit more than 325 hp. That is what trickflow got on a stock 350 with the kit. A 383 should have more. But I definetly  want alot of torque. Its gonna be a work truck and I will be towing boats and a car trailer with it eventualy. And yes I am in the navy. I will be building this engine with my dad when i get back from deployment. Thanks for the input everyone.

[frotosride]

One Navy man to another thanks for your service....Hope your deployment isn't to bad. If I can give you any advise on your career especially if you are a mechanical rating as am I (MM2/SS) dON'T EVER GO RECRUITING! I hate it and I can't wait to get  back on a sub..

[Engineer]

If you are want 400hp/450tq you really need to consider going big block.

But staying with the 383, consider this:

If you are going to be working that engine my suggestion is to not exceed 9:1 static compression ratio. If you have a fast burn design combustion chamber you may get a reliable 9.5:1, but work engines last longer with lower CRs.

With the 62cc chamber, and flat top piston it will be real easy to get into the 10:1 static CR range. Not good for an engine that will see any tow duty and using a conventional mechanical advance distributor.

[klaussk]

i plan on using a mallory vacuum advance distributer.  Frotosride thanks for the advice. Idk if you consider HT as mechanical but some how I always end up helping GSMs fix there MRG lol, thats mechanical

[frotosride]

i plan on using a mallory vacuum advance distributer.  Frotosride thanks for the advice. Idk if you consider HT as mechanical but some how I always end up helping GSMs fix there MRG lol, thats mechanical

I got the honored job of 'turd hurding' as well but I get the perks of working on everything else non nuclear...Oh and given that you are an HT, they don't normally do good at this job because as also with most mechanics we all lack some people skills. mostely the pactience and the fact that machines don't talk back..mechanical adjitation goes a lont way in our world.

[klaussk]

oh yeah. the good old turd hurding.  Ive had my hand in just about everything. But mostly just the fabrication side of it. It is cool to work on all kinds of stuff like 5 inch guns and the ciws guns. especialy when they let you shoot the guns after you fix them.

[pocket5s]

I run a 383 with AFR 195cc heads but a bigger cam. Mine is a comp XE274 with 230/236 @ .050 with a .490 lift. Mine was modeled on a build that Super Chevy did in Aug 2010 where they compared the same parts on a 350 vs. a 383. the 350 made 440hp, the 383 made 480hp and 500lb-ft of torque. All with a dual plane and a 750HP holley, which SS said was a tad small for the 383 combo, but it worked. I have a slightly large carb that flows about ~830cfm (custom built double pumper carb).

With this cam I ran a stock converter for several months with a stock 700r4. The engine didn't like it, but it didn't stumble or have any real driving issues. You could just tell it was being held back until about 1500 rpm. Once I got the trans rebuilt I also put in a 2500 stall converter and it really likes that. I have no driving issues at all with the DP or the converter. I drive it 30miles a day to work and back. Only issue I have is when it is really cold (under 40*) it takes a little finesse with the throttle for about 30 seconds to keep it running until it starts to warm up, but then it is fine. I attribute that to no choke more than anything else.

The engine has a wonder lope at idle, pulls about 12" of vacuum at idle and no issues with my power brakes. I even have the stock radiator and it never gets above 182*. A great running engine so far with about 2600 miles on it.

[klaussk]

Well i decided to go with a  400 small block.i found a complete engine on craigslist for 500. My dad is going to look at it next week.im just going to rebuild it with new pistons.keep the stock heads for now.put headers on it and a mallory unilite.use my edelbroke performer on it.im gonna rejet my holley 600 and see how she runs. Im also getting a dual core aluminum radiator.ill probly switch to vortec heads whenever i find a good price on some used ones.and get a better water pump.

[pocket5s]

if your truck came with a small block originally, your radiator may be just fine. The radiator in my 87 cools my 383 without any trouble. In the heat of the late summer my temps never got over 186-190 on a 180 thermostat. In traffic, stop light to stop light or running on the freeway. Most of the time it sits right at 182.

Once I had an intake leak and had the radiator down to half full and it still never got over 190.

[klaussk]

yeah but I've heard alot of stories about 400s overheating. and my original radiator looks a little rough and the hose were the resevior connects snapped of.  so I figure I'll just replace it. The one I found is only 150, at that price its much better to be safe than sorry.