Hey, new to this site, been reading it for a while, and believe you guys to be pretty cool, anyways i bought a '89 Iroc last summer with an abused 305, the cars in decent condition, so i decided that i'm going to drop a 383 into it. This is my first time that i've done this and i would like some advice as to what i need to do to help this process. I plan on puttuing in a 700r4 trans soon, but believe that a new rear end would be a good idea, and an aluminum driveshaft. I also believe that i need a torque converter and would like to know the difference between stalls. But most important for now is what i need to buy to make my new engine work. Here is the engine specs and what i got with it:

-.30 over 4 bolt mains
-oil pump passage through the rear main cap is enlarged and polished
-oil pump pickup was also welded on
-oil passages between the mains and the cam are enlarged,
block was clearanced for the 3.75 stroke crank
-DOUBLE ROLLER TIMING CHAIN
-Professional Products balancer
Has 90 degree marks for optimun adjustment of
spark timing and cam timing
-Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons 2 valve reliefs,
10.4:1 compression
-CRANK - Cast steel instead of nodular iron
alot stronger and can handle 500 HP
-RODS - These are GM PM rods RESIZED and checked for crack
and imperfections, new rod bolts
-Rings - Speed Pro CHROME Molly rings
-BRASS FREEZE PLUGS
-ROCKER ARMS - Scorpion 1.6 ratio
-INTAKE - TPIS BIG MOUTH TPI intake
-CAM SHAFT - CUSTOM COMPETETION CAMS Grind
Ground on a 112 Lobe seperation angle
Lift of .544 on the intake and
.554 on the exhaust with the 1.6 FULL ROLLER rockers
duration of 230 degrees intake
and 236 degrees exhaust @ .050
-HEADS - SPORTSMAN 2 heads 200 cc intake runners,
2.050/1.60 SS 1piece valves, Swirl polished,
bronze guides, VITON positive seals, 3 angle valve job
Hardened retainers and HARDENED keepers,
Comp Cams springs to match the cam,
-OIL PUMP - Melling HI VOLUME oil pump
STEEL oil pump shaft with a STEEL sleeve
alot stronger than the plastic sleeves
HI VOLUME oil pick up tube, WELDED on
-PUSH RODS - Comp Cams Hardened
-LIFTERS - Hydraulic Roller lifters
-BALANCER - Professional Products External balance flex plate
- Timing Cover - CHROME steel cover

I plan on putting my old air intake system on if for now, proabably holly stealth ram air later
Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated

 

welcome aboard. Your question is very broad and I will try to give you my best advice on this. the first and formost thing you need to figure out is the balance situation with your parts. once yo uhave your crank, balancer, and flexplate, you will need to have all of it balanced. mis matching parts wil get you into trouble. you didnt say if your having a machine shop put this togheter for you. Also, your pushrods you have now are proberbly not going to work. Once the engine is all put together, you will need to get a pushrod length check tool and determine the correct length. pushrods are one of the last thing you buy. never assume the ones you have are correct. all of the serpintine belt setup will swap right over.

ditch that chrome timing chain cover and pick up a nice 2 piece polished one. chrome parts either leak or look like crap after time. Plus a 2 piece cover will let you change out cams w/o messing with the oilpan gasket.

the torque converter selection is gonna be your choise and I highly advice you to call a few manufacturers to get their recomendations. I, nor anyone here can tell you which convertor to get. plus convertor selection has a LOT to do with your rear gear choice.

thats all I can think of for now.........................oh wait, take those heads and weld them to your mailbox and get yourself a nice set of aluminum AFR or something.

 

Ok, first i want to thank BOTTLEDZr28 for the advice. i forgot to say that this engine was premade for me, by a shop in texas who specializes in heads. I will probably upgrade to aluminum heads later on, but now it's not in my budget. So i know the push rods are the proper length and it's all balanced.
The 2 piece timing cover is a great idea.

yea, my dumbass didn't know that you don't need a torque converter with a manual transmission, well what can i say, i just started getting really into cars a little while ago.

Anyways thank you very much for the ideas, sorry that i forgot to include the info about the engine.

Ummm.. i guess for now i'm going to just wait until i get the engine to really be specific, but if anyone has any advice, i would love to hear it.

Thanks :

 

Wait.... say that again? You said your getting a 700r4 trans which is automatic... did u mean to say automatic? Because you definetely dont need a torque converter with a manual trans....

 

Ok another dumbass question... Is a flywheel the same as a flexplate? Remeber, be kind, i am doing this swap with very little experience.

Another thing, would i need to change out my engine mounts? and if so how hard is that? i got a friend that can weld for me, so thats not really a problem.

As far as i know most all of the "bolt-on" accesories should be compatable, i do plan on getting a new water pump, starter, and alternator eventually, but i will now if anything woun't work with the 383.

Does anyone know the difference between the regular starter and the min high torque starter. I will use my camaro mainly for street use, probably no real race track stuff.

Does anyone know what the stock fuel injectors are on an '89 camaro IROCZ, so i know if i need to upgrade those right away.

One last question... Upgrading to a HEI system for my distributor, how would i go about that?

 

Ok sorry my last post wasnt too helpful, and it was a legitimate question i just thought you made a typo.

So to actually answer some of our questions, the mini starter would be a good idea for your application, it weighs less then stock, can handle more heat then stock, and you have built yourself a higher compression, larger stroke engine which is going to need more torque to turn over, i would recommend getting that mini (this comes from someone who has changed 3 stock replacement starters w/in a few months due to overheating and starting problems)

Engine mounts are not going to be a problem, should bolt right up...

Injectors are going to need an upgrade, nothing drastic/ you dont need 48 lb'ers or anything, ask your engine builder what his recommendation is.

Your iroc should have come stock with an HEI system, if you want to upgrade, go with new high energy coil/theyr pretty cheap. Maybe a multiple spark discharge (read: MSD) box if you dont mind spending the extra 150 -200 $ For me it made a big diff on the seat of the pants dyno...

Have fun with your new toy and dont worry about 'dumbass questions' If its legit i dont mind helpin out and there are plenty others on here that feel the same way

 

Yeah,
The tourqe converter is like the autos.. cultch. You can get them w/ high stalls RPM's so you can get a better launch and holds gears longer.. but check out your rear gears.. think it as a bike... w the big wheel and the little on in the back.. its all about combinations.also its harder on the transmission the higher stall you get.So you need coolers and what not to get a longer transmission life. You can also do an on the top right.. that can answer alot of questions w/ out asking, if you think its a dumb question, but agian there is usally some one w/ the same question but sarced to ask... i just sit here and read every post because i may not have the same problem, but its all learning.

 

P.S.


i plan on doing the same swap.. but mine is not fuel injected. So i am learning too like that whole CHROME thing

 

Who's making your engine for you? I did the same swap last summer, same situation.

For a 700R4 (automatic) transmission, you need a torque converter and a flex plate.

For a manual transmission, you need a clutch and a fly wheel.

You also need to know how old the block is. Find out if it has a one piece rear main seal or a two piece rear main seal. It won't matter for the clutch or torque converter, but you have to order the correct flexplate/flywheel since the bolt patterns are different.

Most likely it will also be "externally balanced" which matters on the flex plate/fly wheel as well. Better ask your engine builder which one it is.

I may know the guy who built your engine....

 

Well, i knew that it was a one piece rear main seal, so that was ok, but i did ask the builder about what flywheel to get, and he told me an externally balanced one piece, so he sent me one for $99, it's not a lightweight aluminum one like i want, but i can't afford to drop $400 on one right now. But thanks again for the help

 

You are going to use an automatic transmission, so you should be getting a flexplate, not a flywheel. Flexplates don't come in lightweight aluminum styles, but flywheels do.

For $99, you'd better be getting a pretty nice flexplate. Most one-piece rear main seal 3.75" stroke cranks are internally balanced, but I guess they don't necessarily have to be. Hopefully the builder knows what he's talking about.

 

And make sure you do buy the correct starter. It sucks being in a hurry, and getting all excited because your new flexplate just came in the mail, and then you try to bolt it all up to find that your old starter doesn't fit.

 

Ditto on the flexplate. It's probably 168 tooth vs. a flywheel that would probably be 153 tooth.

Who made your engine? Was it out of Houston?

 

Why not just get the 2 peiace rear main seal like the factory?So you dont have to get a new flexplate and worry all about the tooth count and whatnot. Or.. inless you already got the motor than understandable... since you told us you where learning. SOoo... NeVERMiND



*PointLEss-PosT* <---------------- My FaUlt