when i start building my 383 this summer im gonna have to make a decision if im gonna go with a TPI set up or Carb. carb would prolly be cheaper and easier to tune. which is what im leaning twards. any help would be great.

 

im gonna take a stab at it and suggest carb. what kinda specs on the 383? what would you like your redline to be?

 

gonna be a mostly street motor. run about 10:1 compression. prolly have a redline of around 5500. id like to keep my iroc hood. but if i must i will get an aftermarket cowl hood. if i go carb i was thinking of along the lines of a Performer intake. if i remember right that is good from idle to 5500. tranny is gonna be a 700r4. no decision on rear end. i wont run any type of power adder. any help on this would be appreciated. car as it is now is a tbi and it just wont support the power i want. im hoping to get the car to run in the 12s

 

redline of 5500....you couuuuullllddd stick with the tpi as thats about where it stops making power to.....

wanna keep the hood? either intake setup will allow you to keep the hood depending on the height of the carb intake chosen and the element that goes on top

want 12s? good luck with an N/A tpi motor...well ok with extensive port work on some aftermarket runners i guess you could crack it...but id go with a carb here. (plus i dislike tuning computers...especially dealing with air flow restrictions in some model ecus)

besides a carbd 383 sounds more bitchin to me then a tpi'd 383...but its a matter of opinion i spose :P

dont base your decision solely on what i say, im sure others will respond...some agreeing some not.

when building this new motor....why would you want a redline of only 5500 btw? why not 6k or 6500?

 

5500 would give me more power on the low end where the motor will live most of its life. it will rarely see 5k. will be taken to the track every now and then but nothing super important. if i went with a TPI set up i wouldnt use the stock intake id end up with a super ram.

and its not that its gonna stop at 5500 it will rev to 6k just that the power band will be there. i want low end torque. thats what im going after.

 

ok then in your case id say go with what fits your wants...but instead of a super ram why not a holley stealth ram?

 

once again the HSR is meant for higher rpm's that my motor will never see. the super ram will give me more low end torque which is what im after.

 

its not that its "meant" for higher rpms, its just that it performs better up there than most other intakes. a holley stealth ram on a properly setup 383 stroker will give you more torque than your tires will know what to do with, there is a point that too much torque is bad...so unless youre running 33 inch wide tires 24/7 you really dont want "too much" torque.

i only say this to help you expand your horizon into the future, i just dont see the point of putting a lot of money in a motor that will only make power down low...id rather it make power all around up and until redline of 6 or 6.5k...but thats me.

what i can say is gl with your efforts and for sure let us see a dyno when shes good and ready

 

gonna be along time before its ready. im still looking for a un-molested 4 bolt block. its not that i want the power just at low rpm's its just that from what ive read that the HSR is intended for the upper rpm band. i want the power where ill be using it. between 1500-4500 rmp. only time it will really get above 4500 is when im at the track. or playing around.

 

Okay, I'll vote. Considering the high pressure fuel pump you already have in your tank, I would stick with fuel injection. That way, you don't have to replace your fuel pump, which is a MAJOR pain in these cars.

That being the case, why not just TRY the TPI anyway? Just try it and see how you like it. Just bone stock at first. The most I'd change to begin with is the prom (which you'll need anyway) and the injectors (which you'll also need anyway).

What you'll find is gobs of torque that you won't know what to do with. I'm talking about block-long burnouts, mostly by accident, no matter what tires you use. And I think you could threaten the 12's, and almost certainly be in the low 13's. At Denver's mile high altitude, a friend of mine scored 13.4's at 109 with his stock TPI on a 383. Knock 8/10'ths of a second off for altitude, and it'd be running 12's down low.

And for those "special" moments, you could always get a dry nitrous set up. So maybe try the stock TPI out first, you might be able to save an awful lot of money if it turns out you LIKE it. And the nitrous is cheaper than any other F.I. option.

 

im not gonna use any type of forced induction. from the research ive done a TPI set up would cost more than carb. another reason im leaning twards a carb is i have about 5 or 6 4 bbl carbs sitting in the shop ranging from a Holly 390 to a Edelbrock 800 to a stock Q-jet. plust a few more for fords.

 

are you using 350 rods or 400 rods?

 

dunno yet. was thinking of just buying a 383 forged rotating assymbly. most likely scat.

 

rods are rods... 5.7 inch or 6 inch...the range is 262-400 for those..what do you mean by your question?

 

Stock 400 rods are shorter than all other small block rods. The short rods will create a little more torque at lower rpm but longer rods are best for more overall horsepower. The piston spends more time near TDC with longer rods.

For a low rpm 383 stock 400 rods would have a few advantages- they would clear the cam better and stock off the shelf 350 pistons could be used. When using longer 350 rods, custom pistons will be needed and some of the rods will have to be clearanced to clear the cam or a small base circle cam will have to be used.

383 kits are avalable with pistons, rods and a crank, the kits with the longer 350 rods are more money but they work really good for higer rpm use.

Bottom line- a 383 with the stock tpi setup will make stump pulling tire burning transmission breaking torque but like it was said earlier it will run out of steam before 5500 rpm. The longer rod setup with a carb will make more overall horsepower but you'll need a bigger cam and a smaller converter to take full advantage.

 

do you mean the 6 and 5.7 inch rods?

 

You really should do some research, like reading Vizard's book on intakes. He has a whole section on tunnel rams explaining their broad torque curve.

 

350 rods are 5.7, 400 rods are 5.565. Using 6 inch rods in a 383 gets expensive. I have Vizard's book on how to build a small block chevy, it's really good.

 

i have it also just havent had time to read it yet. i dunno what im gonna do with the motor yet as its a ways off in the future.

 

I'd defintely give it a read before buying intake and heads, you're making incorrect assumptions about the Stealth Ram.

 

WEll, you are going to need some more info on your engine. What heads do you plan on running, Cam, headers. Go with the longer rod, has a better stroke ratio. And jsut because a intake says that rpm, doesnt mean its for that. I have a victor intake on a 454, and my power band starts around 2200, and it says in the books it starts at 3000. All depends on your combination of the cam, first off, and the heads. I would jsut go carb, but not a performer. A performer rpm flows better for some more power. Plain performers are used for like towing, 500-4000 rpm, and they choke out after that. A rpm will move that up but not high enough for you to notice. Just my experience