My friend just gave me a 4 bolt 350 for free. And I really don't know much about 383 strokers. But I was wondering what i need to make a relatively stout 383 besides the 3.750 crank. Rod length? And things like that. I just want to build something fairly cheap for my daily driver until i get my 406. Thank you for any help. Justin

look at the stroker kits on www.enginekits.com -they have extremely cheap kits for 383's ($469), or if you want look at them and they will tell you all the parts you need,if you decide to get all the parts seperately. The rod length is 5.7 inches,i believe.

You can go with 6 inch rods also. You'll probably benefit from these a bit more though.

In that case, just put the 350 in. Wait to spend your money on the 406.

Well, It's gonna take me a long time to get the 406 done. And I want to have something that will be kinda fun while i'm building the 406. I don't expect that i'll have the 406 done for about 4 years or so....so I'm hoping that this will satisfy my hunger for awhile.

What kind of things would happen if i went to 6 in rods over 5.7? Thanks!

Justin

6 inch rods will give you some more torque, kinda the same way that the longer stroke crank does. Just think of it as why it would be so hard to torque a set of heads down with a 1/4 inch rachet. You'll get more torque easier with a 1/2 inch rachet because you are using a longer radius because the handle is longer. Rods are kinda similiar. Longer the rod, the more leverage you'll get on the piston, and more leverage=more torque.

Would running 6 inch rods have any bad affects to the life of the motor or the sidewalls of the cylinder at all?

Justin

Longer rods are easier on cylinder walls because the rod to piston angle is lower.

Like above mentioned, the longer rod will improve torque. Also, with less side to side movement of the rod, higher RPM's are attainable. This was a problem with the small block 400. It was not very RPM friendly due to the short rods (350ci=5.7 rod, 400ci=5.56 rod i believe, take a look at the dreaded Honda VTEC rods.....those suckers are long....also the LS1's I believe are using 6.1" rods). When you lengthen the rod to 6" with the 383, the pistons pin will be shoved up into the oil ring. Most of the 6" rod pistons have a shorter skirt which will allow the piston to rock more in the bore. This is usually not a problem when forged pistons are warmed up, but hypereutectics can be fit tighter to the bore due to lack of heat expansion. They willnot rock as much. However, hypereutectis will limit you to a naturally aspirated engine.
One thing I wish I had known prior to building my 383.......sometimes (if not all times) you will have to grind a notch into the oil pan rail/bottom of cylinder bore in order to clear the increased throw of the crank. I fit my first piston to the bore, turned it to put in the next and "dink!", the rod bolt hit the block. Hmmmm....I bought the forged h-beam rods that are clearanced for stroker use, but I guess thats only in the cam region. Oh well, a little advice from my machinist, a carbide bit, and many metal shavings later I could rotate my entire assembly. Then I had to clean the entire block again to remove the metal shavings.
Just something extra to think about. Would I have built a 350 had I known about this...nope, the 383ci rules!!:hail: :lala:

Can you make a 383 stroker out of a 2 bolts main block ?
It's bored to .030, may have bore further.

Thanks,

ya but it would be a good idea to get the block converted to splayed 4 bolt main caps.

The LS1's rods are 6.125"

a rod longer that about 5.7" puts the rod pin up into the piston rings which most people say isn't a good idea.

Are you sure about the LS1's rod length? I would have bet on them being 6.098". Oh well......semantics right