I plan on building a 383 because of budget restraints. I've got plenty of time, my L69 is strong and has plenty of life. My goals with the 383 are this, and I was hoping for some posts on how to achieve these: 1. I'd like 400 HP minimum, 440 Torque min... 2. Run on 89 octaine gas, between 9.5 and 10.5 to 1 ratio probably. 3. Good idle, will be daily driver, need good vaccum. 4. zero to 60 in under 6. I like stop light action, need torque. I was planning on 23* heads by Trick Flow, and 1 5/8 headers. Other than that....who knows. What do I need to accomplish these goals? Thanks again.

Might I recommend Vortec L31 Cylinder heads ($450 per pair about) instead of Trick Flows with a Edelbrock Performer RPM Intake and then call comp cams to meet your needs with those components, it should be no problem. I would recommend 1 3/4" headers to produce more horsepower as a set of 1 5/8" headers could choke a 383 at higher RPMS.

A nice lope at idle is great and desirable, lets people know to watch out, but I don't want to loose vaccum and I want low end throttle response. A MUST. Zero to sixty time for some reason has always been my pet peeve...gotta have it quick. That's one reason I chose a 383, the torque. High end isn't that important to me, I'd rather get a ticket for excessive show of speed than for going 90 in a 45....although that's kinda fun too.

What kind of carb would you suggest?

Why L31's instead of the 23*. The L31's are cheaper, but they're truck heads, not racing or high performance heads. True they flow great, better than anything else in the price range, but from what I understand, they don't breathe as well as the Trick Flow 23* heads.....

let me know.

My 388 in my RS has been pumping away for almost 4 yrs now, and it is running 12's and i drive it daily (not in winter). It only put down 299 hp to the rear wheels but my carb and timing were off a little, it also had 386 ft.lb. of torque. The idle in my car won't rattle your head off, but the guy sitting next to you at a red light will definitely look over at you when you roll up on him!! When you leave the light you had better hold on tight, it will put you deep in your seat. I'm using GM Bowtie heads on mine.

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White 92 RS,388 cu.in.N/A
3.73 gears,auburn posi
Best 60 ft : 1.97
Best 1/4 : 12.679
Steve Spohn
Rear Suspension
Autometer guages
Extremely Loud Stereo !
Driven Daily
HOOKER LT's SOON!!! & 4 inch Exh.

Check this out for ideas for a 450HP 383... The Speed Pro cam they refer to is a Federal Mogul (no, i haven't been checking this motor out for the past couple weeks ;-))

http://www.enginefactory.com/c38.htm

click on the HP chart link and at the bottom it tells a little about the motor (i.e. good idle, carb suggestions, etc)

Interestingly enough, they use the same cam in there 390HP 350.

I'm really debating between that 350 and a GM crate 330HP 350 (which is about $700 less)

-Rich

Chevy High Perf mag got 426hp@5600 rpm and 466ft-lbs@3800 rpm out of their 383 w/ 23* Trick Flows, w/ a CompCams XE 274 cam (I believe that is 230/236 dur@.050), a RPM intake, 750 carb, headers, etc. It was running 9.25:1 compression.

The TFs do flow better than the Vortecs, mainly on the exhaust side BTW. But they're not in the same price range either.

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Ray87Z
-Vortec headed 350.
86 IROC w/ a cammed 305 TPI.
Formerly Ray86IROC.
www.inter-scape.com/Ray

[This message has been edited by Ray87Z (edited February 09, 2001).]

RayZ,

Do you know if there is a copy of that article on the net?

TaliNG,

Assuming your post was directed toward me and the link i posted:

No, it's not a roller motor, and of course you can build one for cheaper. Almost anything is cheaper when you do it yourself (and usually more satisfying)! It's not that hard either... You could also just get the shortblock and put in whatever cam/head combo you wanted.

I just don't have the time to f around with my car right now which is why i mentioned i was looking at the GM crate. BTW, i wasn't looking at turnkey prices, which are obviously a lot more. Lots of extras on a turnkey that you don't get on a longblock. The 383 had two prices if you looked closely - $3300 for the longblock, $4473 turnkey. I was pointing out that they had info on what parts they used etc. if one were looking for ideas - and they had already built something similar to what gruveb was looking for, hence the link i posted.

-Rich

car craft has an article on building a streetable 500hp 383. i can email the article to you if you like.....they did this challenge thing.....called ALL THROTTLE...NO BOTTLE!had 7 engines built by pros...chevy 383 mopar 440, ford 460, buick 455, olds 455, pontiac 455,and an AMC 401. the 383 did 507 horses @5,600 and 525 lb ft. of torque @4,600

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1991 RS LO3
mods: 14" chrome air cleaner, straight-piped after cat exhaust with one chrome dual tip on the left side.
future mods: headers, removing smog equipment, and as many cheap mods as i can find
aol s/n: budman8503

TaliNg, your a f*cking idiot.
No one listen to this clown. he is as fake as I am.

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89RS w/ Rawidiot power package
Powerhouse 334 stroker
ported heads
stock cam
NOS octane booster
18.93 @ 69mph

What's up with your ET there Blockhead???

Tony C,

He was on a bicycle he carried on the back of his car.

I'd have to agree with the comment about TaliNg's prattle. For one thing, solids on a daily driver is insane. I had such an engine, and although it ran great, the valve adjustment every 4-6 weeks gets old really quick.

As for lopy idle, can anyone say "sleeper"? Half the fun of blowing doors is seeing the guy's face after shutting down his lopy idle/rattling lifters/gear drive whine/loud pipes/rubber burning (often the right tire) faux racer. You can meet your goals with a conservative hydraulic lifter cam and good-flowing but quiet exhaust (the 1-3/4" primary recommendation was a good one).

With regard to 23 degree TF's vs. Vortecs, the low cost of Vortecs soon goes away when you figure in the rework for screw-in studs, decent springs, and cleanup work. I'd think you'd be better off power- and budget-wise going with World/AFR/TF.

For a daily driver, I say you can't do better than a properly set-up q-jet. Yes, they can be made to run. I had a Holley on the same engine that had the solid lifters - I'm much happier with q-jets in the driver department, and they'll hold their own in the power department.

Your real concern should be getting all your new-found torque to the ground. Get that suspension ready to handle it before you get the engine finished.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R. 2.93 limited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 w/LB9 block, ZZ3 cam and intake, WP 305 heads ported & polished, Hooker headers & y-pipe, hi-flow cat).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. 0.030 over 396, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, 3.08 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.

[This message has been edited by five7kid (edited February 15, 2001).]

i agree w/ the suspension idea. if u like tq so much you'll have a hard time keeping that 3rd gens *** end planted.

my feeling on the loud lopey racey idle is if u wanna run around town like that you better be for real and be able to put up big numbers.
go for the sleeper, just when they thaught they were the predators they become the prey.