Twitch RS

Hey Guys!! It's been a while since I have been on and for the few of you that know me you might remember I left for Army Basic Training in june. Well I am back now all graduated and with a hansome ammount of money in my pocket and I have a decision to make.

Build a 383 Stroker myself, or Drop a crate 383 in from one of a million builders??

I'm just asking for some opinions on the subject. Which is a better way to go and what are the best deals on crate 383s that you know of?

I know most of you might just jump to don't waste your money on a crate build it however I am not THAT experienced as a mechanic yet and so I would be relying on my step father alot for guidence and it might end up taking forever where as I could drop the crate in in a weekend.

Going to be looking for donor car soon so plenty of time to make my decision.

Looking for around 450 torque on the ground with good pull all through the powerband

1ADan

iTrader: (4)

How about somewhere in the middle? Grab yourself a used block, get it cleaned up and assembled by a local machine shop? You can get the parts you want and you have someone experienced to assemble everything for you, all while saving some money over the crate route.

Tolerances and build quality matter more when you start pushing the power higher. I'd hate to trash some good parts because I didn't properly check my bearings or ring gaps.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Personally I would rather build one from the block up, if that's your power goal and you go for a crate engine its probably going to cost more than building one for that power range. Because you know you're building what you want, rather then buying a crate, deciding that its not powerful enough and then you tear it apart to put better components in, like cam, heads, etc. after already having paid for the ones that came with it, idk just kind of how I feel about it. There are other good reasons too, I just can't think how to explain them.

SeanW

I actually think its more expensive to build it yourself. Or at least it can be. Especially if you are talking a dressed long block. But you get exactly what you want.

Personally i think if its a short block and you have the resources to build yourself its a no brainer. You aren't getting a warranty so why not make sure everything is perfect?

But you can buy a long block with a 2 year warranty for close if not less then building it. If you look at short block kits and heads you might think you are going to save a ton. Once you have bought all the valve train, gaskets, oil pan and pump, balancer,ignition, fuel system ect..it starts to really add up and doing it yourself might not be such a great deal. And no warranty. If its a mostly street driven car I think the warranty offered by some of the more reputable dealers makes them very tempting.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Buy a short block and get the cam and heads with the intake of your choice.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

That speaks volumes.

The more you have to pay to have done, the more a crate makes sense. For the same money, they can do on a volume basis a lot more than a custom build can. Even if you "spec out" the crate.

In the end, we can at best only give you pro/cons. What "I would do" is irrelevant. Only you can decide between cost, convenience, custom vs. off-the-shelf, down-time, etc.

dannyvera778

iTrader: (5)

I had this same problem...i decided to build myself with the help of a machine shop. the reason that changed my mind was with my own build i can buy the best internall parts and with a crate your buying something that has power but if you want to add power they never put top end parts unless you pay alot of money, therefore limiting how far you can go, because sooner or later you get tired of what you have lol...i spent 1700 on internals and paid the machine shop 1000 to bore the block 30 over and put it together and balance it...now i dont have to worry about if i made a mistake putting it together. buy your own block with the heads and your pretty set...

deoverton

I have been going through the same situation planning for long term when my engine goes. So far in my options with needing the limited down time the zz4 is probably going to be my best bet. Although the hotrod article they had a while back (cheap 500 hp I think it was) where they had gotten a shortblock and went from there and had nice results. I be live you can find the article on their website and hopfully if anything else give you some ideas on what to expect.

macertheracer

I think I will put in my two cents on this one. I am getting ready to assemble a 327 that I have been "creating" all money is spent and the parts are wating on my lazzy butt. I am using KB hyper' pistons, pink rods, balanced, '010 block,68 large journal 327 crank, comp split duration cam, 305 TPI heads, and a TPI to top it all off. max rpm is aimed at 6k, max hp at 5k, max torque ?? Idono ??
any way I have roughly $3300 in it, granted it is exactly what I want, built to my specs. but I can purchase a creat 350/350 fo $2500, I reciently found out. which does NOT set well with me. As we all know 300hp is pretty much max on these cars, and I wouldnt push that to hard even with after market frame conectors, ( to dang cheap built for my likes) so I guess my advice is purchase a 350/350 it should be all you need. oh you get a warrante as well as a cherry virgin motor that has never been started. just my opinion and experience, I do not know if I will ever build again????