ChickMagnet89

What size rods do you use for a 383? Can you use any 350 block reguardless of journal size or do you need a Large journal for the 400 crank? Also I heard that the 383 was kinda lazy on the top end is this true?

hiker

you can pick up the rodds you need in summit and yes any 350 will work but id suggest a 4bolt it will have to be sent to the machine shop to bo line bored . as for being lazy thats a new one for me i find my stroker to be very responsive in all situations but i do also suggest going big on carberation im running two 850 double pumpers which the only thing youll have problems with is hood room its hard to find a high rise hood to clear the big gas suckers . hope the best of luck to ya

ede

all 350 blocks would be large journal. there have been 383s built with 5.7" as well as 6" rods. do a search and see what others have done and read up on rod ratios and the effect it has on engine preformance. reguardless of what rod size you go with i'd buy steel aftermarket rods with the 12 point bolt instead of the more common bolt/nut arrangement like the stock rods have. this will give you a little more room for clearance and not have to remove as much metal. i'd also have the bottom of the block filled with grout incase you hit water.

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AlkyIROC

There's a proper mix and matching of parts to create a good 383.

The oldest and easiest way to build it is to use the 400's 5.56" rods with ordinary 350 pistons.

Now that there are more aftermarket suppliers available, you can use the longer 350's 5.7" rods and use special stroker pistons. Clearances must be checked when assembling.

Using even longer 6" rods requires very special pistons and clearances will really need to be checked. The trouble with using these pistons is that the wrist pin is actually up in the ring grooves of the piston.

The cheapest and easiest to build is using the 400's rods. It's a simple bolt together, after having the 400 crank machined to fit inthe 350's block. When I had a short rod 383 in my race car it was running high 11's at 117 mph.

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87 IROC-Z SuperPro ET Bracket Race Car
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Damon

You won't have any problem spinning a 383 up. Don't know where the rumor started that they don't rev well. They rev just fine.

Using the shortie 400 rods (5.56") is definitely the easiest way to go although some block grinding will still be required to gain clearance. Not nearly as much as using standard 5.7" rods or 6" rods, though.

Many people have bad-mouthed the use of the 400 shortie rods but they worked just fine for me. Had them in my "real" 400 and went a best of 11.8 @ 116 on street radials shifting at 6300.

I would recommend the use of an aftermarket 383 crank, however. You have to take an AWFUL LOT of material off the 400 crank's mains to make them fit the 350 block. Yes, it's been done, but I mean there is a TON of metal coming off that crank. AND GM only hardens the journal metal to a certain depth in their cranks to avoid making them brittle. I'd have to believe you're down into softer metal by the time you machine down that much.

A stroker crank designed to build a 383 will cost you less than a 400 crank to begin with, unless you already own the 400 crank.