Hey fellow Camero owners! I've got a 4 bolt mains 350 block in a 79' Impala (im presently pulling the motor/tranny). Anyways, I want to stroke it and im hopping you guys could recommend a kit. First of all, let me tell you what I want.

This is going to be a Street driven car.

I want to use Vortec heads, 1 5/8 headers, mild cam (someone recommend a cam please! Im not to cam savy... ), not sure about carb size... Ive got a 625 quadrajet, is that to small? This engine will NOT be abused with nitrous so will a cast crank be fine? forged cranks are just so expensive, and well... im just looking for cheap/reliable power (arent we all ). Torque to me is more important than hp, I want like 400-450 lb ft. you know... enough to just slam my friends in their seat when I floor it!

Thank you all who reply!!! :hail: :hail: :hail:

 

you don't want anything special use the 350. if it's your first engine, and it sounds like it is, do a search here and pick up some general info.

 

Best kit I cannot tell you. I am currently building a 383 for my 91 RS, and as you said you did not want, I went with EVERYTHING forged, because, YES, she is going to have to deal with a large 275 shot of the old NOS. Try summit or PAW. I know that PAW sells a cheap 383 kit, just look in any hotrod mag and you will find it. Ask ede said, maybe you should just build a nice street 350 with some low end TQ. The 383 is a build up that is going to be a little more than I believe you are looking for. Even if you do a cheap build, the 383 is a dam powerful street motor. A nice new rebuilt 350 would be just perfect for your street driver.

However, if you still want a 383, try PAW, they can get your kit and tell you the perfect cam to match it for you daily needs.

Hope that helps?

 

ede - yes this is my first engine I've considered a 350, I just want that extra torque!!

GOFASTER - thanx for the info man, I'll check those kits out. Good luck w/ your build man
so im assuming a cast crank will be just fine then

Do I have to order the PAW catalog? they dont have one online...

 

A cast crank will be perfect for that motor, if like you say you will not be running any N2O.

 

GOFASTER, what tranny are you running in your RS? I have your same make and year, stock. You runnin the T5. Please say yes.

 

If this is your first engine build, build it back a 350; learn what you're doing before you try to tackle a mountain motor and you end up with a pile of expensive shrapnel. Limit your amount of financial exposure to your own inexperience. You're going to find out too many things the hard way.

 

Kinda straddling the fence here but.......

On the one hand since this IS your first engine build, I kinda agree with the ones who say just go back with a 350, but.......

Chevrolet small blocks are SO interchangeable, a 383 would not be hard to do. Add the 3.75" stroker crank, stock 400 5.565" rods with good rod bolts (I suggest ARP), and some stock 350 pistons (overbored .030) and there is your 383. No clearancing needed due to the use of the 400 rods, just like putting a 350 back together but when you are finished you have an extra 33 cubes and that extra stroke to help ya off the line.

I have a set of 400 rods if that would help ya, just let me know............

Cya's

Ed

 

dunerida82, sorry to let you down buddy... I am not running the T5, if I was I would be swapping it out for a T56 or something stronger. All the power my motor will have plus NOS, that tourqe would kill a T5 in about a second! No, I am running a stock 700R4, with a 3500 stall and shift kit (soon to be installed).

Sorry, but I bet the world class T5 is fun!

 

PS Let us know what you decide to do. Building a motor is about the funnest thing you could ever do for you car!

Have fun with any motor you decide to go wtih and good luck.

 

Minus NOS, could a T5 handle what you are pushin with engine only? I am talkin about daily driver, not racin. I imagine it could, but wutcha think GOFASTER?

 

RB83L69 - My dads going to supervise me (He's rebuilt a few engines in his time ). I just want to find out as much info as I can before telling him what I want to do.

BowtieLOVER - Yeah, I had a question about block clearance. So if i use 5.7 rods I'll need block machine work? are there any pro's/cons of 5.7 verses 5.565? the only difference I think would be slight compression loss (if I have NO idea what im talking about, someone slap me )

GOFASTER - I havent made any offical decisions yet, but im leaning toward the 383 because torque rules the street baby . I saw your set up on another thread and its kick a$$! im guessin it just a weekend warrier.

 

Greasy Monkey: Well, thanks for the props on the motor! Ever since the racing bug bit me, I have always wanted to build a nice 383. Now after finishing college, the money is flowing so I decided to do it right! The set up I am going with should slam my butt to the floor off the line, now to get the rest of the car ready to handle the power! And yes, it's mostly a "Sunday driver" (aside from the race track). I may drive it to work once a week or something just to get some looks! Hell with it, go with the 383 if that is what you want. You should do it the way you want the first time so your happy. Good luck! Check out PAW's web site, they have the total 383 kit for under $680.



dunerida82: I don't know for sure if it will or not. If I had to say yea or nay, I would say NAY! That T5 has been known to break with just a mild 350 bolted up to it. On the other hand, I know a guy in Texas that had a 89 RS w/ the T5 (stock) and put a 355ci in it that ran mid 12's and he had no problems with it at all. In fact, he was happy as a pig in s-h-i-t with it! So, give it a try and if it breaks, then upgrade it and try again. That is what racing is all about, when your talking about a daily driver that has power. Good luck and let me know what happens!

 

Thanks GOFASTER! I appreciate the time and effort to talk to me! You rock! Thanks man, I think I'll stay with it.

 

GreasyMonkey: I've built a few 383's in the past with the shorter 5.565" rods and I never had to clearance the block OR grind a rod bolt for cam clearance.
OTOH, I am currently putting planning a 383 with the longer 350 rods (5.7") and I am gonna have the machine shop do any block or rod bolt clearancing needed and put the short block together for me.
Probly gonna start a flamefest here but anyway: Years ago, back in 1991 I believe, SBC guru Joe Sherman did a side by side build up of two .030 over 400's. One had stock rods, the other had the longer rods. Exact same cam, heads, intake, carb, etc. were used on both engines, as he was testing the long rod power theory. At the end, the shorter rod engine made slightly more torque than the longer rod setup, peak horsepower was about even between the two engines. The shorter rod does put higher sideloads on the pistons and cause "faster" cylinder bore wear, but not enough in my opinion to worry about. The shorter rods are considered to be limited to a safe max rpm of around 6500, while the longer rods are supposed to be able to rev higher.
Since street torque is what you are wanting, I'd say go with the stroker and short rods and whatever 350 pistons you want, and go have fun.
PS--Make sure your dad adds a little to your allowance for the tires you're gonna burn off with all the torque......heheheh!

 

I ran 5.7 rods in my old combo with no block clearancing.

 

dunerida82: No problem at all buddy! That is what this board is all about, helping out others so they can make there cars GOFASTER! I am sure the T5 is a fun tranny to have/drive. I wanted a manual, but could not find a project car in my price range that had a manual. Oh well, so I got the auto, but in the long run it is nicer to have for racing.

About the rods thing... I can see now that someone will reply that longer rods make more power. I have not seen that test that BOWTIELover talked about, but it seems like it would be a great thing to read, I would love to get a copy of that if you have any links or something? I have always been under the impression that longer rods ALWAYS makes more HP... I am going with 6.0 rods in my 383 build (forged), so I hope I am not killing any power or TQ in doing that? Anyone running a 383 with 6" rods? I would like to know what kind of power this combo produces with the longer rods compared to the 5.7" rods..

Thanks

 

Hiya GOFASTER!

I gotta dig up the article from am old HOT ROD magazine, but soon as I can I will scan it and send it you if ya like.
I think the point Joe Sherman was trying to prove was that the longer rods "might" make a few more HP, but not to expect a dramatic increase.
I was a little vague on the long rod 383 setup, sorry about that..........some folks get away without having to grind the block, some even get away with not having to grind a rod bolt for clearance, but that is more dependant on the cam specs than anything else (talking stock type rods here, not ones designed for stroker motors).
I built a long rod 406 a few years back, had to clearance the block, also had to grind the rod bolts on the #2 and #6 rods to keep 'em form hitting the cam, BUT, it was a healthy roller with lots of lift and duration.

 

Thats what I wanna hear! I 383 it will be thanx again for all your time GOFASTER. and like dunerida82 said "you rock"

BowtieLOVER - I guess its no biggy if I have to machine the block for longer rods, but I would like to see that article if you happen to dig it up Thanx for your time man.

 

Still searching for that issue guys.......please bear in mind that I have 21 years of HOT ROD to dig through, so it may take another day or two..................

 

I have been looking around for some stuff on "longer rods producing more power" and will post the info when I find it. I think it was Smokey Unik that said "go with the longest d-a-m rod you can fit in that block to get the best performance and HP out of it you can." Not sure if that's his exact words, but something close. You know, building motors and cars is a "play it by ear" type game. Some people can build an exact motor someone else did and get less or more performance out of it than that person did. It's something you just have to toy with, if you know what I mean. Build you a motor and go from there. Try stock rods and then move up and watch your gains (if any). You have to find that exact set up for you driving style and car, then ad to what you have to GOFASTER than before. It's a process of rulling out what does not work for your needs, then finding out what does. I may be rambling, but to me it all makes sense. Toy with your build up until you find that exact match of motor and driver. That is why so many aftermarket companies make different performance parts, because different stuff works for different set ups and EVERYONE wants something that works (HP), but just need different routes of getting there.

I have to end this, because I feel I am making no sense now what-so-ever! Simply put "do what works best for you." And that takes some time to figure out by trying different modifications. But never stop half way, IMO, you should go all the way and get that 3rd gen of yours to GOFASTER! and GOFASTER! he he...

 

Well, I found this... its an answer to a question about building a small block 400 (CHP, July 02)

" There are many reasons to lengthen the rods in a given engine. If you subscribe to the late Smokey Yunicks theory, you can't put a long enough rod in an engine. There are several benefits to a longer rod. The first is that the piston dwells at TDC for a longer period of time. It also lessens the side loading on the cylinder wall from the piston skirt because of better rod angularity. Also, a longer connecting rod will give you higher piston velocity at mid-stroke when you're into the meat of the intake-valve lift range (0.400 inch). This will boost cylinder filling.
Look at this list of benefits, you would think that long rods would work in everything. Years ago we did a long rod (5.7) versus short rod (5.565) comparison in a small block 400. Both engines ran very well, but the short rod engine made around 10 hp more and a few more lb-ft of torque. These engines had the same cylinder heads, cam, inlet manifold and carb. We used two different short blocks w/ the same piston manufacturer, cylinder wall finish, and production rods and crankshafts. The moral to the story is that in its street-oriented torque configuration, the engine wanted short rods. If you were to build a high-revving racing or endurance engine, the engine would want longer rods."

GOFASTER - yeah man, you make sense. Its daunting sometimes when I think about all the different combonations of parts and stuff. It drives me crazy and I have to remind myself to KISS (or, keep it simple stupid!!) and not worry so much about little details (although they sure do count... but its not like im building a racing motor, ya know??)

Oh, and its a 2nd gen... read the sig

 

PS About the 2nd gen... I built 2 2nd gens, a 1970 and a 1973 camaro. By far my favs for that year. I almost did not buy this new 1991 project car I have now, in favor of another 70-73 camaro, but could not find one in my budget that needed a nice freshing. Most all that I found for sale were already done and the owners wanted over $6000 minimum... So, I got the next best thing, this 91 305 that I could do amost anything to in this county (on emmissions or anything)!

Got any pics of that 73'?

I think I will just stick with the 6" rods in my 383, seems like great power to me :-)

 

Dude, thats awesome!!! I love 70-73 bodystyle... they're just the best looking camaro out of ALL cameros IMO. I dont have any pics of my car, but it looks exactly like the one in the picture minus the the paint job (mine's primer gray) and I have an L88 hood. I bought it for 2 grand from a guy down the street, didnt take much to get it running. The bodys near perfect except the left fender. I love my car... its name is Lenny btw... (dont tell me you havent named your baby hehe )

 

Gotta love ky. I can smell the exhaust already. :lala: :lala:

 

I HEAR THAT..... WHOOO, DAMN IT'S STRONG... MY EYES ARE BURNING.........

theyr'e was a guy that used 5.7 gm rods in his 383 without clearencing...... when i mocked my 383 up i used the stock l98's and they cleared when just snugged on the crank..... torqing would have gave about .010 more.......

try your best to use at least a 5.7 rod....... also get speedpro l2491f30 lightweight flattops....... scoggin dickey has em for 260.... theyr'e what i'm using.....

below is a pic of my shortblock....... if i can just get my small base cam in... oh well ... one day!!!!

 

Looks good man! I just ripped my motor apart today. I said before that it was a 4 bolt but... its not oh well... I notice that you've got a 2 bolt also, so I should be fine. 5.7 rods are from a 350, right?? If so, I'll just reuse the old ones. About the pistons, w/ the vortec 64cc chamber im gonna need dished. Who did you get your crank from? Im guessing you didnt buy a kit because you bought your own pistons?? How much did it cost you to balance?? Im sorry for all the questions, but its greatly appreciated :hail:

My plan right now is to get the short block together (just like yours!) and stash it away until I can afford to complete it!

 

dude one address does it all!!!!!

www.flatlanderracing.com

they sell the stuff or parts i am using for like 800 in a kit...... i wish i new that back then.......

they have alot of good deals when it comes to stuff like that........

also i might be able to get ya a new vortech head for 50$ bucks... my teacher has a new head on the parts shelf at school.... i'm going to run the part number and see what comes up.... i looks like a vortech but i'll have to check the numbers....... like i said it's brand new!!!!

the balancing costed me 175..... it was done by a shop that builds motors for bristol...........