well, i pulled a spark plug out of the 350 and it kinda smelled like oil, i already got new heads for it so my seals will be ok, but i'm afraid the rings mite be shot

since i mite re-reing it, i figure i should just spend the extra money on some decent pistons, new bearings, and a stroker crank too

i heard that for a 383, some areas of the block need to be machined for clearance........is this true? and if so, what areas of the block and why?

i guess i would also need a 400 flywheel and balancer......am i correct?

i know the heads i just bought for the engine will not be the best, but they should be decent enough for me to get the car running for the time being

also i know TPI will pretty much choke a 383, but my pockets arent that deep, so a Stealth Ram will have to hang on a little while too

my main goal for now is to get my Z28 running, then i can jump into this engine/car...........i just want a head-up as to what i am going to be doing with

oh yeah, does anybody make a 2 piece rear main seal/ 383 spec flywheel that can be used with a T56, because thats what i would like in this car, a T56

thanx

 

you can buy an internal or external ballanced crank, buy the corosponding flywheel and dampner. you need to grind the block to clear the rod bolts along the oil pan rail and bottom of the cylinder. if you trust a shop to do a sonic test get tat done to see how much metal you have starting out. having done a lot of ultrsound testing i'll tell you it's hard to get sound in cast iron and i wouldn't put a lot of faith in what a "amature" told me his sonic results were. i'd just fill the bottom inch of the block with grout and not worry about it. buy rods that use bolts instead of nuts and you'll save yourself some grinding.

 

thanx once again!

so if i get the "bolt" rods, i wont have to do any gringing at all?

or will i have to still grind a little?

thanx man

 

oh yeah, can i use 350 pistons, or do i need 383 pistons...........i dont think i am going to overbore........so i'll actually have a 377

but do i need to buy 383 specific pistons?

 

You will need new pistons for a 383. Think about it, the crank has a .25" longer stroke which would make a normal 350 piston pop out of the bore .25". A 383 piston will move the wrist pin farther up into the piston to compensate for this. Ede is right about the rod bolts as well. I'm just about to put my 383 together so I'll take a few pics for you so you can see what I mean.

 

Here you can see where the block was clearanced for the rod: along the oil pan rails and also at the bottoms of the cylinders. I'm using rods that are already clearanced, and I still had to clearance the block.

 

Compare the 383 piston with a 6" rod to the old 350 piston and rod. You can see that the rod bolts don't protrude nearly as much on the Eagle rod. Also you can see that the wrist pin has been moved up on the 383 piston. This one was moved up .25" for the longer stroke, and .30" to compensate for the longer rod.
I think you can use a 350 piston in a 383 if you use a 400 rod, which is 5.565" long instead of the 350's 5.7". I don't know much of the details on that though.

 

cool, thanx man, so i guess a visit to the machine shop is inevitable for a 383................how much should the clearancing run me? it seems like a fairly easy procedure..............who sells a less-expensive 3.75" stroke crank that is internally balanced?
i'm not really looking for crazy *** power, because this is going to be my daily driver (unless i can convince my parents to let me have a third car.......in which i would get a truck, cuz i need one bad....fat chance )

this is going to be my first motor rebuild, so bare with any stupid questions........you gotta admit, though, this is the best way to learn

if i were to run TPI on this, would it still be choked with larger runners, better manifold and a ported plenum? also what injector size (24#)?

 

Check ebay for an internally balanced crank. They seem to go for pretty cheap there, like around $100 or so.

 

make sure you check Rod to cam clearance . If you get the really good (cap screw) rods it shouldnt matter but if you go with a traditional setup be careful, especially with a roller.

by the way, did you consider getting a 400 block and building a 377? If i had to do it over again thats what i would do.

 

heres some pics of my clearenceing..... i'm using scat 4340 i beam rods, scat 9000 series 383 i peice seal crank, and speedpro l2491f30 lightweight flattops.....

i used my stock rods for the clearencing, that way my scat bolt type rod will have plenty room for expansion......

here you can see where all has to be grinded for the entire block...

 

Are the yellow spots the areas that have to be clearanced. Is that a photoshop effect, or did you assemble it and use something to mark where it hit? Thanks

 

nope, and i cant

i already have 2 transmissions and a 350 in my parents garage, and their ready to kill me

in fact, i have to be very stealth about this engine rebuild, sounds weird, but i know how to "work" my parents

about a year ago they said i could not:

get a project car
keep any large parts in the garage
do any major work in the driveway

well, i've done all that and more, so i know i can fool them, but a buying a 400 block is going overboard, especially considering i'm on a VERY tight budget

thanx for the idea though

 

o

 

yep, i was afraid of possibly hitting the crank and damaging somthing so i mocked up each cylinder and marked exactly where it needed clearencing........

it's done now so i will send pics monday......

 

I had to clearance in 9 places, 8 rods, 4 notches on each pan rail. and one for the rear crank weight. I also had to grind 2 rods for cam clearance, but i am running Eagle SIR rods that are the traditional style with arp bolts and nuts not cap screws.

 

well, i think i am going to forget all about EFI for now........i think i mite just slap a nice carb on it and when i can afford to, invest in an aftermarket injection system for they seem far superior to TPI

when i buy a crank, i am going to send it out to get balanced, or should it already be balanced

keep in mind, i'm a rookie to this stuff

i did some digging, and it seems like the LT4 hotcam would work very nicely in this engine, along with some AFR heads, again when i can afford the heads

 

Glenn, you're going to take me for a ride in this car when you're done with it right? hehe, sounds like you're workin on a mean project. :rockon:

 

get your crank rods and pistons at the same time and have them balanced together. I wanted to get eagle H beam rods with my eagle kit but i was told by eagle that they would be very difficult to balance with the 383 ( externally balanced crank ) because they are too heavy, i got the SIR rods instead, probably better to have the light weight. Then it came with a flexplat as a flywheel was not an option, and i had to have the flexplate balance transferred to the flywheel. If you aren't up on this stuff ( i thought i was !!) get a kit that is balanced, becarefull to get the right pistons though because if you decide to swap then for a different CR the balance will change ( different weight pistons )

 

eh...........i'm not liking all this balancing business...................how much am i looking at paying for balancing?


so what your saying is that the entire rotating assembly needs to be balanced together?

i cant reuse my stock rods huh?

might have to stay 350

give me a range on what all this should cost me

 

im planning on doing the same kinda thing you are....good info on this thread . anyway probably will run you around $700. same question here too...can you reuse the stock rods?

 

hell yeah, i want to know exaclty what i am getting into before i jump into it headlong

 

sure thing buddy

 

i'm an idiot, a decent stroker kit is only about $400 and balancing is $200 extra i can handle that!

 

stroker kits can be had pretty cheap, try powerhouse. i got my eagle kit through a friend for just under 900 bucks. JUst keep inmind that there are some hidden costs. First just the buildup takes quite a bit more time. Clearancing and checking. I needed a 11 inch flywheel, and as a result a lakewood scatter sheild because a T5 belhousing doesn't fit an 11 inch flywheel, a new starter, transferring the flexplate balance to the fly wheel. They add up quickly compared to just rebuilding a 350.

 

Forgive me if I just overlooked it but, I don't think anyone said what the rod to block clearance should be. I am starting my 383 build and I currently have .65mm clearance at the tightest point. Is this good or should I still have my block clearanced.

Thank You.