Well my 305 has taken a dump and im getting 0 compression out of one of the cylinders, so its either a stuck valve or a burnt valve or something.. with the engine cranking i get ZERO compression(and the piston IS moving).. and im fed up with the ghetto vacuum lines the moron before me routed...and i also have a t5.. how would that hold up to a 383 or a 350 pushing 300-350hp? im pretty much scrapping the engine and going in fresh..

Im gonna be reusing the TPI intake and such, im taking off the A.I.R., and the A/C(been driving around FL all my life without it, this wont kill me ) basically everything else but wireing is going to be scrapped out. I talked to a local machineshop ( Keech's Performance if any of you are farmiliar with them, there pretty known in the drag racing area) and i talked to him about building up a 350 a while ago.. he told me a better route to go would be stroke it to a 383, and the price differance wouldnt be much if any more than the 350 buildup. he mentioned something about the 383 eagle crank which is fairly cheap and i could reuse my 305 rods(which im not too keen on doing ) and go from there.. what are your opinions on building up the 383 in contrast to a 350... this all came really unexpected (engine has supposivly 20k on it) so money is pretty short right now, but if im gonna do it im doin it right..

i plan on running Hooker catback with hooker shorties.. or would you recommend me run longtubes? i plan on lowering the car 1-2 inches in the future so that might play a role with the longtubes(clearance issues).

anyway to get to it, basically im looking for 300hp+.. and id REALLY like 350hp at the wheels... my budget is kinda tight so thats a problem but im sure i could get through it.. im living at home now so besides car insurance i have spare money and a full time job.. me and my dad will be doing all the work so labor costs arent involved. so what is everyones thoughts on this? anyone have any 350 buildups or 383 buildups that would be cost effective and able to perform? i have access to a 350 4bolt that i could probably use for the base, i just need stuff to build onto it. if any of you have any opinions or any kinda specs i should run with it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for everyones help.

(im also posting this in engine forum to hopefully get more responses.. this is my everyday car so i kinda need to get to odering things quick, thanks)

 

depending on which t-5 your car has in it will make a little difference, the second design, the WC T-5 will take a little more abuse but not much, they arn't very good for a high proformance application and blow apart pretty easily.. i try to take it easy on mine behing my 350 hp 376 ft lb of torque 350.. but to be honest I've only drivin it maybe 50 miles since the swap.. the tranny was rebuilt with 2k on it since the rebuild.. got it for 100 bucks so im not complainin.. so far so good.. only time will tell how long it will last, but like I said I'm trying to take it easy on it.. luckily I can buy em for 100 a pop at the local bone yard and they always seem to have a good supply so im not too worried...

 

any suggestions?

 

It's like your machinist said, a 383 isn't that much more than a 350.
I'm doing one myself, there's a world of options out there.... all sorts of kits available, and a few horror stories from guys who bought from the low bidder.
I didn't buy a kit. If I had, it would have been less expensive overall, but unaffordable all in one shot.
Inexpensive kits can go for as little as $500. I'm thinking I'll be spending more than that much just on the major parts. Eagle cast crank, Eagle rods, KB 12cc dished pistons.
And that's still a pretty low budget setup....

Have Fun

 

hey , if that cast crank is from summit or jegs, u can go to ebay and the seller "maddog" or "cnc motorsports" has eagle forged cranks for the same price. thats what im getting.

 

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I got the Eagle crank when I was shopping on ebay for an OEM replacement 350 crank, and the 3.75" cranks were the same price, something like $145. CAT cranks are only about $120.
Shopping online for chevy parts is like striking gold!!!