Superblue87Formula

hey, I am considering building a replica of you 383 for my car, except using forged pistons and rods..

I was wondering, if you could build up your combo again from scratch, would you do anything different (ie: cam, heads, converter, etc..) do you think I could push out the same power with afr heads, like 210's maybe?

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1987 Formula 350, headman hedders, Accel supercoil, cap, rotor.
MAF screens removed. 160 degree stat and manual fan switch.

Best ET: 14.745@91.317mph-Stock
Best ET: 14.418@95.51 mph-Modded
Ridiculed Founder of the Traction Impaired Crew

AlkyIROC

Considering I never originally built that engine, it was in the car when I bought it and it ran well. It needed better heads when I bought it. The smog heads were very restrictive. Once I got the camel heads installed, the engine ran much better. It came with a low profile intake to keep everything under the hood. The only thing that could have made the engine better (other than a stronger bottom end) would have been to use a better intake manifold. I would have prefered a Victor Jr.

As for building the same combo from scratch it's hard to say. I worked around some parts to make them work better in the combination. The cam wasn't my choice but seemed to work well once I bumped up the compression with the heads. I probably wouldn't have picked that cam by choice. It was chosen because the car was street legal when I bought it and worked good on the street. The car originally had a 700R4 with about a 2000 stall converter. When I switched to the TH350, I picked up the 3800 stall at the same time. The converter worked well but if I built the engine from scratch I would have probably needed a 4500 stall.

Using AFR heads on my engine may have netted me another 30-50 HP just because of how aluminum heads work but that's only a guess. Racers have been successfull with cast iron heads for years and I proved it can still be done.

The key isn't just throwing money at fancy parts and expecting them to work as planned but using the right combination of parts so they all work together. Somehow my wierd combination of parts just happened to work together.

When I bought the car the first thing I did was get sub frame connectors and slicks before I took it to the track. First pass gave me a 15.0. Within a week I had it down to the high 13's and at the end of the first season it ran 14.0's because of weak valve springs. Over the winter the tranny, torque converter, carb and heads were changed and the first pass in the next season gave me a 12.0. The power was there in the engine but it just had the wrong parts installed to get it out.

All in all, if I had to do it again, I'd just build a 406 instead of the 383.

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Follow my racing progress on Stephen's racing page
and check out the race car

87 IROC-Z Pro ET Bracket Race Car
383 stroker (carbed) with double hump cast iron heads and pump gas
461 Big Block installed and ready for the 2001 racing season

Best results before the 383 blew up
Best ET on a time slip: 11.857 altitude corrected to 11.163
Best MPH on a time slip: 117.87 altitude corrected to 126.10
Altitude corrected rear wheel HP based on power to weight ratio: 476.5
Best 60 foot: 1.662

Racing at 3500 feet elevation but most race days it's over 5000 feet density altitude!
Member of the Calgary Drag Racing Association

87 IROC bracket car, 91 454SS daily driver, 95 Homebuilt Harley