Making a 383

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Making a 383

Postby v6buick » Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:51 pm

How hard is it to make a 383 stoker ?
Is all you have to do is drop a 400 crank in a 350 block ??
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Re: Making a 383

Postby T-FATTY » Mon Oct 21, 2013 7:16 pm

You/machine shop have to clearance block for rod swing. If I personally had a 400 block I would do either a 400/406 or a 377ci.
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Re: Making a 383

Postby Smiley » Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:13 pm

The stock 400 crank mains have to be ground .200" smaller to work in the 350 block,
affordable aftermarket 383 cranks are available now to drop in.
You can use the shorter stock 400 rods with stock 350 pistons
or 5.7" 350 rods with custom pistons
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Re: Making a 383

Postby dadhad1 » Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:25 pm

You'll need the 400 crank & 400 rods.
The 400 is generally 'externally balanced', meaning the crank is balanced with the counter weight tunable harmonic balancer & flywheel attached.
350s are typically internally balanced, unless it's a newer 1 pc rear main.
In summary, if you're NOT going to have a machine shop balance it from the build, get the HB, crank, rods, and flywheel all from the same motor as a set.

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Re: Making a 383

Postby v6buick » Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:50 pm

I'm building a engine for my 87 Camaro. I'm using the stock block from the car. I didn't know it took all that.

Thanks
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Re: Making a 383

Postby Fastmax32168 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:12 am

The absolute simplest and cheapest way to turn a 350 into a 383 is to buy a $175 eagle crank and a set of $150 speed pro pistons designed for the stock 5.7" rods. You can clearance the block yourself and the stock externally balanced flywheel and front damper will work. The low end and midrange torque is well worth the effort vs a stock 350 crank.
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Re: Making a 383

Postby cosvega76 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:47 am

Using an '87 block, you'll either need an aftermarket crank for a one-piece rear main seal with an aftermarket flywheel/flexplate, or the two-piece seal conversion kit for the block.

There are all kinds of 383 rotating assemblies available, and for a mild street application many are quite affordable.


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Re: Making a 383

Postby monzabug350 » Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:42 pm

You can go through all the advice listed here (its all good) or you could shop around for a crate motor (lots of them out there) and save time and money.If you want to DIY, and are handy with a wrench,you might want to look into getting a book from www.cartechbooks.com its called "How to build a max-performance chevy small blocks on a budget",by David Vizard. Its got a TON of info and pics on how to build a SBC from mild to wild. I got mine from a book store and it was a tremendous help in building my engine.(Former Mopar tech) If you don't have the time or money, look into the crate engine idea. Good luck or your project.
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Re: Making a 383

Postby BillPappy » Mon Dec 02, 2013 2:24 am

Building old Stroker v8s from Old engines had become a passion for me in the past.

My last engine was a 427 4in stroker crank from enginekits 72 2 bolt 400 block sbc .
Pretty much pushed the limits over the top with this engine. Done a lot of clearancing.

Pan rails are thin. Notched the cylinders. Used a small base cam. Cut and welded oil pan.
The engine is a beast. Now, I am getting ready to install a bigger rad to keep the beast cool.
This engine may fail on me. Only my right foot and time will know.


383 is a great engine. Thats where I started. But torque is addicting.
Kind of like NOS. Can't wait to get the hot rod store to get your next fix.
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Re: Making a 383

Postby rtm » Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:10 pm

BillPappy wrote:Building old Stroker v8s from Old engines had become a passion for me in the past.

My last engine was a 427 4in stroker crank from enginekits 72 2 bolt 400 block sbc .
Pretty much pushed the limits over the top with this engine. Done a lot of clearancing.

Pan rails are thin. Notched the cylinders. Used a small base cam. Cut and welded oil pan.
The engine is a beast. Now, I am getting ready to install a bigger rad to keep the beast cool.
This engine may fail on me. Only my right foot and time will know.


383 is a great engine. Thats where I started. But torque is addicting.
Kind of like NOS. Can't wait to get the hot rod store to get your next fix.


just curious as to torque #s
my 406 develops a respectable 516 ft. lbs.
what does it take to develop better torque #s?
BTW, I am not a horsepower freak, as torque is your initial low RPM grunt, (to move you forward quickly) whereas horsepower is more of a top end #.
jus thinkin? :th:
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Re: Making a 383

Postby BillPappy » Wed Dec 04, 2013 7:42 am

I also had 406 running before before this last engine. To be honest I really don't have any numbers on the engines.
The 427
I am running a Lunati 300/300 with advanced cam timing. With a smaller base line, this is to clear Rod ends cap bolts. The smaller base gave me 515 left.
Vic JR Open plane airgap intake. I can look down into the intake and see my intake valves. I forget the spec on the valves. But they are huge. I have spec on alu heads. I would have to look them up. There are a few pic on this forum from where 1st got the heads.

I built this engine doing almost everything wrong. As far a parts matching.. I am sure. With this long stroke, old block, the amount of metal I chewed away from the block and advanced cam timing.It will indeed rip its self a part. !st time I really got into it (3rd gear). I buzzed the 10,000 rpm flex fan into the rad.Before I could let up on the gas pedal, Just to note, I am pretty sure, I no way came close to 10,000 rpms. The engine don't feel like it wants to quit pulling. I would like to dyno this engine. Would love to see the numbers at the crossover point. When going to sumit store. I also picked up a MSD Ignition Control Module, With Rev limiter.
Ya asked what does it take? Ya may need to clear me up on that.
One reason to advance the cam was to limit rpms giving more torque. Also running sanderson shortys. I was not trying to make rpms. But my conclusion, RPM will come with a free breathing torgue engine. This engine has a lot of low rpm grunt above 2100 rpm.
It's hard for an old street racer to stay on the safe side of stupid

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