i need to know what cam and pistons to run on a 383. my mechanic said he has a 350 laying around that he'll give to me to swap in for my 2.8, big step up. so i wanna bore it out to 383 cuz thats what the 5.7 is good for. i was gunna turbo my setup or run a remote supercharger, i actually i had a pretty decent size post on here about how and everyone helped me figure out how then i was offered this. Well anyway i dont really know compression ratios and what i should have if i wanna run a twin turbo. I am twin turboing this and then droping in the engine and turbo at once and just welding the turbo to exhuast and thats it. My cousin has a supercharger in his crustang and he said you should have a different compression than stock when running extra psi so i wanted to know what it should be and what pistons and cam i should get.

( i heard that a cam that swaps the firing order of the 4 and 7 will add around 30 horses from i think horsepowertv or something but i wanted to know if that was ok with the twin turbo.)

 

do you want the usual junk yard setup or do you want something nice? if you want something nice/reliable/durable get ready to spend some money.

I'm running 9:1 CR, JE turbo pistons, eagle rot. assy. Pistons are about $550-$600 (JE). I havent priced any low-buck stuff in a long time.. maybe speedpro has a forged piston for about $350-$400.. I dont know..its been a while.

As for the cam.. do you want to "set it and forget it" ? get a hydraulic flat tappet cam. If you want something that will give you more power, something between a roller and a hydraulic, get a hydraulic roller cam...if u dont mind getting dirty once in a while and want the most power, get a solid roller.

 

yea i deffinately want some good pistons. The 350 im getting only has 58k miles on it so i dont wanna blow it up. I wanna run some pretty high psi though, im looking for like constant 14 with the ability to go up to almost 20. im looking to run crazy power but i dont wanna mess with the cam all the time unless i have to. if i can run psi in the high teens with anything other then a roller then ill have to get a roller but i was kind of wondering if anyone knew the limiltations on how many horses i can run on the different cams. (each psi equals about 20hp) So at 18 ill be making about 360 extra horses over whatever the enigne will make. I need to know what can handle that kind of power.

 

There is software out there that will give you a "ballpark" on what cam does with what combination. One thing you can do is go to turbomustangs.com and use the search feature to see who is running a 383 and what kind of power they are making. Some people break down their setup and let you know exactly what they have..then you can see if that fits into your budget or not. A friend of mine (same dude that did the work on my tt camaro) is building a 68 RS/SS single turbo 383, going to be pushing about 700hp. I'm doing the research to see what kind of parts he will need to get it there. His parts are almost the same ones as mine..same heads, same pistons, rods, crank, intake, only difference is engine ci.




lol

 

Holy cow man, judging by what you've said so far, it appears you have no idea how to build a motor, or how turbos work. Sorry.

I highly recommend you buy a book on rebuilding an SBC, and turbocharging before you get yourself dug too deep into parts you can't use.

"hemi piston in a 383"? Are you referring to a dodge hemi, or dome pistons?

"something between a hydraulic and a roller, get a hydraulic roller" ???
I think something was lost in translation here.

Read the camshaft article in my sig to get up to speed on some of the lingo. There's 4 types of camshafts available for an SBC. 4/7 swaps are a waste of time unless you're building a full on 7000RPM race car. If you're going turbo, I wouldn't sweat it.

EDIT; added signature. I'm talking to the original thread poster.

 

aah..I didnt want to be mean so I just replied with some info.. lol..

as for the flat tappet/roller quote..that'd be me that said that.. the reason I said that is because you can get more power out using a hyd. roller then a flat tappet cam... yea I know turbos dont care too much for the cam, but if you swap a flat tappet w/a hyd. roller you'll get more hp out of it. Maybe I'm thinkin N/A too much instead of forced ind... correct me if I'm wrong.

Alex

 

Yep, you're on the right track, just got lost in the terminology there (can be confusing).

You've got 4 choices;

Hydraulic flat tappet - The norm before 1987. Still a good choice.

Solid flat tappet - An inexpensive racers cam. Requires maintenance.

Hydraulic roller - The norm after 1987. Good, but pricey.

Solid roller - The $racers$ choice. Big $, but big gains. Requires maintenance. (relash valves).

 

ok i didnt realy know if the cam matter with a turbo but i knew it matterred over all but why is the solid so much better? is it the ability to perfect it for the specific application or is it something else. Obviously i dont know a lot about the compresion rations and why firing order makes such a difference all i know is what i wanna do and that i need forged pistons and should get a new camshaft. i want big gains and i want reliablitlty but if the solids are expensive to have maintained then i will go for a hydraulic just because im a full time student and i do carpentry now but i dont make a **** load of money and i dont have a lot of time that i can be with out my car. ive found great forged pistons from JE that are gonna cost me $516. im buying the inverted dome pistons for a 383 and i have some compression choices and choices on the depth on the inverted dome. ill post the pistons specs in an attachment to this and th prices are on the side. All the high lighted ones are for 383s and i just need a little help deciding.

pretty much i need to know
1)what dome volume i should go with
2)what compression ratio should i choose
3)id like to know how much of a difference a few grams makes just to know it but if nobody knows that cool dont kill yourself trying to find out.

http://www.jepistons.com/cat/srp/aut...-400_inv.shtml
sorry my scanners not working so theres the link to the chart. All of the 383 pistons are $516 except part #138103 is $546.96. its the last one listed for a 383.

 

That is true for an engine that makes about 300 hp naturally apirated.

If you start with more then you gain more from each psi.
If you start with less then you gain less from each psi.

A better rule of thumb is that you gain a 1/15 of the naturally apirated power from each PSI. At 15 psi boost you have doubled the horsepower.

 

my causin put an sc in his crustang and he said pretty much its about 20 hp per psi. i got the number off his dyno read out. it could be other factors that he didnt mention and your probly right it most likely isnt a set number its a formula or equation.

 

Your cousin is wrong. And pretty much anyone who can equate a fixed horsepower number per psi. There is too many variations to account for when it comes to stuff like that. Each psi of boost is different within a setup. Going from 15 to 16 might be different than 20 to 21. Different amounts of airflow and the heat it generates is the reason.

Anyway, psi is relative to the unit generating it. Its flow vs temperature vs air compression (psi) which will determine horsepower. Every psi is different. My k03s in my jetta develops 24psi of boost and only makes 203whp. But a GT28rs at 12 will make 240whp. 21psi wil make 310whp.

 

well then do you have any suggestions on the turbo i should get if the turbo itself really effects it that much. i was looking at getting one small and one large one for the different spooling rates so i have crazy hp at high rpms by with the small one i was hoping to kill some of the boost lag.

 

A sequential twin turbo? Only car company I can think of to ever get that working somewhat right is Mazda. And even then it wasnt that great.

Depends on alot. What kind of horsepower are you looking for? 500? 750? 1000? I am going to be running 2 Turbonetics P-Trim 60-1's and I am hoping for 500hp on low boost when the car gets done. They should make 800 or so if I REALLY pushed it. But then the car is a rolling grenade. Not to mention I am keeping my AC and PS. I want a extremely fast car with tons of room to grow.

Honestly man, if youre not prepared to spend $7500-$10000 on a engine, $2500 on a axle, and $2500 on a transmission, you shouldnt go hunting for anything over 500hp.

 

i was gonna run two turboes the same size and run for crazy hp but ive decided that i wanna have less boost lag so one small turbo that spools quickly and one large that blows massive psi is good but if it is nearly impossible to get a good combo i wouldnt mind running two big turbos and pushin high psi for extreme hp. the tranny isnt an issue the guy giving me the engine said he can get me a good tranny really cheap. and seriously the rear end is easy to get there a foth gen crashed every few weeks by my house and the parts sell cheap at a few places. plus im making good cash where im working so to win it back racing makes it worth it. seriously though i just need a cam shaft that will hold up to high hp and torque with large amount of psi being blown in.

 

Read this and understand it:
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...o_tech101.html

Then read this and understand it:
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...o_tech102.html

Then read this and understand it:
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbob...o_tech103.html

It should help you out a good bit.

 

QFT. But that $10k price is a little low..


@turbochargedrs:
I understand the excitement, but read what Stephen is posting (url's) .. it will save you time and you'll end up answering many questions on your own.

 

Maybe I should have mentioned the labor costs.....

 

Well, I am just going to ramble on since I do not think the OP really gets it.

Stock block pukes between 500-700hp depending on which one it is. So you will need a aftermarket block.

$2500. Booyah.

So now youre started. Most of the aftermarket blocks that Ive seen are 400's. Put a set of 400 pistons that are dished to drop compression. You want quality so it resists the heat.

$700. Goodbye. $3200 so far.

Youll need a good set of rods. Those can range from $550 for L19 Eagles to $1000 for Olivers. We'll figure $750 for that one. $3950 so far. And you do not even have a full rotating assembly yet!!!

Crank. We'll figure $1000 there. $4950. Almost there!!!

You will need crank bearings, rod bearings, cam bearings, ARP main studs, oil pump and shaft. We'll figure $400 for all of that. After all, all those bearings are coated.

$5350. Horray. Now you have a shortblock. Oh snap...we're not done!!!

Copper o-ringed Headgaskets, $200.

$5550.

Machine work, such as honing, line boring and o-ringing. We'll say $450. O-ringing is expensive.

$6000. Man, we havent even touched the heads yet. Or the cam. $400 for the cam regardless for a hydro roller. $6400. *** bleeding yet?

Man, you already spent this much. You need a set of badass heads. AFR Eliminator 227cc's. $2400 or so. $8800. *** has to be sore....

Thats without the small ****. Do I have to start pricing fuel injection, turbo, transmission and rear axle stuff too? Or do you get what the dave is cooking?

 

i'm way over $10k not counting labor... but good parts cost good money.. lol.

 

ok can we get back to the reason i started this thread? i was looking for good suggestions on a camshaft and pistons and since ive found my pistons already can someone please just suggest a few cams that will run well with a twin turbo setup? the argueing on price really doesnt matter that much because a lot of the **** i need like the tranny and rear end are a dime a dozen by me and my mechanic has already offered to get me a good tranny for cheap and a posi rear end. for now im trying to accumulate all the parts i need and price doesnt matter so much when your not going to buy all the parts at once. if i have to spen 1400 on a cam for it to hold up to the demands i have for it then thats what ill spend itll just take me a few more weeks to get it.

 

I dont think you got what the dave and Stephen are cooking.

There is plenty of info in this thread to answer your questions. Have you read any of the url's Stephen posted? Have you figured out what cam type you want? This thread will turn into a joke pretty quick with the type of replies you're posting..

-Alex

 

ok now ive read the url's by stephen and while i better understand how to choose a turbo i still have no idea at all about what cam to get because that really didnt talk about the camshaft at all. my biggest issue is that im not quite sure how the cam works or what it really controls and is controlled by. i know because they make 4-7 cam that it can effect firing order and i know it has something to do with the powering of the engine but i still need to know how it works or actually if anybody knows of any url links like stephen had up thatd be great. fopr now im gonna search wikipedia and google it and search the forum but maybe someone in here KNOWS and can help me.

 

ok and know i just read sonix sig which i guess i over looked before and now i kind of understand something about camshafts but since you can end up with little power brakes with poor tuning and i want my car as a daily driver thats gunna be fast as lightning but i need brakes for the street so could i solve that with a different brake booster? possibly one from maybe a c4 vette because the braking system on vettes has always been bigger than that of camaros or would that not make any difference? i know im going to have to bring it to a dyno shop to do a bunch of runs to tune my car and give me a good custom chip, could they tune that there or should i not trust a dyno shop and just go to my former mechanic and runit on his dyno and have him adjust it. Obviously im gonna have to wait on the camshaft unlike the pistons because i dont know what year the engine is from so i dont know if i need a retro fit cam or if i can just go with a normal roller. thanx for the help im learning alot from this.

 

I spent all that time writing that bit of info for you to only ignore me? This is my last bit of advice since I am feeling I am wasting my time.

Cam durability is a non issue. You will NOT break a cam from a street car.

My advice on selecting a cam is to choose if you want a solid or hydro, and a flat tappet or roller. Call Comp or whoever and tell them YOUR WHOLE SETUP. Cammotion is probably the best to call on this. Anyway, you will want a smallish cam so during idle your car will develop vacumn. Its different than a NA engine that you need a big cam and alot of revs to make good power.

And you'll get tired of fixing ****. Mark my words.

 

Im going to be as honest and not mean as I can...

IF and I say IF.. You decide to proceed with this.. YOU NEED TO FIND A BUILDER who deals with turbocharged setups..

You MUST KNOW MANY specifics to order a turbo cam.. You seem lost on the BASICS... If you called a cam grinder and repeated what youve posted the conversation would be taped and played on funniest home videos..

You have to know specifics...

For instance going through cam spec guides they ask things like..

What rear end ratio>>>Your answer>> Whatever is wrecked out of a 4th gen.. = wont help the guy design something that will work..

When they ask What Trans> Your answer>>My engine builder is hooking me up with something= Wont help

What converter> your answer>>whatever is in my hooked up tranny>>> wont help..

What CR> your answer...I dunno Its got HEMI pistons???= doesnt help

What heads> DUNNO >>>doesnt help

weight of car> Dunno>doesnt help

Intake system>dunno >doesnt help

Turbos being used> a big one and a small one for "extreme HP" >> DOES NOT HELP,,

Notice a pattern forming here,,, Im touching on some very BASIC things you need to know to get a cam made..they will ask 50 more questions all that get much more difficult to answer...

I spent HOURS on the phone with the guys who made my turbo, my engine advisor and the guy grinding my cam, going over SPECIFICS...

My BEST advice I could give would be Do your homework and IF you must do this FIND A NEW ENGINE GUY IMEDIATELY. No good builder will have you go on the net and hunt for cam suggestions.

 

I like you.

 

Cool... Usually I get "I hate you" posts..lol... thats why I rarely post anymore,,,

 

thanks for the advice i thought getting a cam wopuld be as easy as the pistons. i did find a comp cam made specially for turbo and twin turbo small block chevy engines from 58 to 98. if it is really as detailed as your saying i might have to wait to find out exactly what motor im getting to give all of the right specs on it before i buy anything. I really didnt think it was that involved because it seems like so many ppl bore engines and do swaps and run juiced or boosted setups. i thought the blocks were all the same and that the heads and everything else were just bolt on pretty much. it deffinately appears i should stick to minor performance upgrades like bolt on stuff and cosmetics i dont belong touching the internal engine parts yet.

 

Well it depends what you want... NO out of the box setup will work as well as something purpose built..that comp turbo cam is just a generic grind.. You really need to talk to someone who is familiar with turbo setups>>>Last time I talked to COMP >>>No one there was>>>>But that was years ago...

But you need to decide your EXACT plans for the car... A grind to run a turbo street car is radically different than a grind to run a 7 sec strip car..

But trust me.. I went in with a lot of knowledge of what I was building and still had to gather more info and call them back.. Ive got a notebook in my shop with pages of stuff from the guy that did the heads, what I got from Precision Turbo, what I was getting from the local turbo egine Whizbang/builder.. I was pulling my hair out...But it was well worth it in the end.

 

@Kenwood:

nice post.


@ turbochargedrs:

the cam is the least of your worries and such a small dent in the budget. Buy everything else around it and worry about that later. By the time you've spent <the rock> the millions..AND MILLIONS </the rock> on the other parts you would have figured out the best cam for your application.

 

LOL I didnt spend millions..BUT you are correct.. the LAST 2 major items I procured were the Cam and the Torque Converter.. I was 99% of the way there before I got them... I had the entire setup test fit in my car before I had the correct cam...

 

@Kenwood:
do u have pics of your setup?

 

I have a couple here at work...

here is one of the engine compartment... Yes my photography skills are lacking...And Ive cleaned things up since this picture was taken... This is when I first got it done..

 

looks great!! need more pics.. closeups.. do you have a intercooler? what are the specs on the motor? how much boost/hp ?

 

Intercooler is WATER to AIR... Its hidden in the Driver side quarterpanel... Tank is in the rear cargo area..

The only way I could take a pic of it would be to remove my quarterpanel..

The setup was done Using parts of Guidos old setup... I completely re-engineered the layout.. Guido and myself redid everything to correct the problems he had before...

then I built a much more aggressive engine for it..

Its a 406 Dart Little M, Solid roller, Brodix CNCd heads, 1206 ported Pro ram.