I was planning to have a friend(owns a race car team) build me a 383 stroker, but after a recent conversation between him and his son(driver), they decided they were going to switch race classes. He tells me now that he will sell me at a very reasonable price(non known at this time) the engine out of their stock car. Its a 350 with all light weight internals putting out about 400HP(was my target goal for the 383)*well 450HP was my actual target* I think I will buy this engine. He said they will strip it down, and refresh it so its in essence a newly rebuilt engine.

My major question now is. my 700r4(stock) will be strong enough to hold up to the power that this engine will put out? I have 2 options if not. I can put the 700r4 back into the car and buy a TH400 or TH350 as a backup untill the 700r4 blows. Then next winter spending the money I need to rebuild the 700r4 to a stronger state. Or I could rebuild the 700r4 right now. If I did it now I would have to dip futher into my Retirement savings even further this winter than I already am.

My 2nd question is I currently have my stock 3.23 gears in rear end as well. Should I swap em out now? Or should I wait to see how they hold up to the added HP. At least for now I'll get a bit better fuel economy with these gears than I would my ideal 4.10's that I would get as a replacement.

I only drive the car back and forth from Car shows, Muscle Car gatherings and the odd trip into town for a short cruize. In average probably about 100km's or less/week.

 

I'm definitely keeping the 700r4 as my main choice of transmission due to the Over drive and the fact that 1st and 2nd gears are better for the low end torque.

Also, which Torque converter should I put into the car. I'm thinking of an 1800 stall or slightly lower stall converter. I dont want to have to sit at stop lights. Not sure what stall the one I have now is but I would assume its stock. Its currently out of the car, so is there somewhere I can get an identifier number off of it?

 

If it was me I would say run the 700 until it blows. No need to rebuild something till it breaks.

3.23s should be fine. The 700s first gear is amazingly way to short. But will let you get away with the 3.23 and shell be fine. But if it breaks I would go with some 3:73s since its not a daily driver that sees a lot of highway.

If this is never Gunna see the track then the 700 should last fine 400 hp at the crank isn't a whole lot of abuse on the streets. If you go 400 or 350 then you'll want 3.73s atleast to have it fun on the streets.

1800 stall is nothing on the streets. I would go with atleast a 2500 stall but that's just me. It will help you get that heavy car moving.

Only thing with buying a stock car motor is the cam is probably Gunna be way to big for even a 2500 stall so make sure you get cam specs.

 

400 GFWHP out of a 350 is a walk in the park. 450 is a little hairier.

If it were me, I'd have the TH700 gone through while doing the engine swap. Much easier to pull it once than to pull it twice. The standard upgrades (search the Transmission and Drivetrain forum) make it more than capable of handling that type of power.

If you are only driving it to & from car gatherings and the occasional cruise, then 3.42 or 3.73 gears will be fine. 3.23's are a little short for an engine that is healthier than stock. 4.10 gears start to limit rear end life, but if you're not racing the car, that shouldn't be a problem. Of course, if you aren't racing the car, you don't really need 4.10 gears. Welding around the axle tubes and an aluminum support cover are always a good idea. Aftermarket axles are a pretty good idea as well.

What year is this car? The earlier 80's models had 26-spline axles. If that's what you have, get an aftermarket posi carrier with 28-spline axles and aftermarket axles while you're at it.

I would really want to know what heads and cam are in this engine. If we're talking about NHRA stock class, those cams are not streetable, and are really hard on the valve train. Off-the-shelf aftermarket cams are much more likely to provide satisfactory service.

Do you currently have all-factory exhaust? Figure on all-aftermarket replacements, then. Good shorty headers & Y-pipe, cat-back - only about $700-$1k more out of your retirement funds (under the hood of my '57 is a sticker that says, "Built with my children's inheritance"...).

 

Hi Ronnie, can you get the specs of the camshaft, maybe your stock stall is fine.

 

Not likely a stock converter will work with an ex race engine.

But, that needs to be decided after the cam decision is made. Get the cam settled, then intake manifold & converter to match the cam.