Could y'all give me some ideas on your engines. I am very interested in building a 383 in the future and would like some tips/ideas. Jeg's and Scoggin-Dickey have a rotating assembly kit with crank, pistons, rods, and extras for around $900. That seems like a reasonable price to me. The engine I build won't be a monster, so I don't feel I need forged parts. What kind of power have y'all got from your 383's? I have heard a lot about the use of 6" rods to lessen piston thrust on the cylinder walls. Is this really necessary? 6" rods will jack the price up pretty good. I don't need anything too detailed. Just a tip here and there. Thanks guys.

 

I've never had a 383 but know a few basics about them...not sure about the 6" rods but yes they will be more expensive and require different pistons then the 5.7" rod, unknown if that is included in the package price...You generally dont "Have to" go with forged if your not going to use nitrous or rev it high, which you wont do with the 383 because they dont make any power over 5500rpm unless you do spend a ton of money. And dont be fooled by the $900 dollar price...although that isnt bad for the rotating assembly you must add balancing to that price of the 383, it is required and will run you a few hundred dollars, there must be some asterisk somewhere near the price -*requires balancing-

-Brian

 

Had a few 383’s. The cost between 5.7” and 6” rods is practically the same if not the same. The Eagle SIR rods are cheap and the price is the same for either the 5.7” or the 6.0”.
You really don’t need forged pistons. We’ve used the KB hyper’s with good success. The price between a KB 5.7” rod piston and a 6.0” rod piston is around $40-$80. Not that big of a difference at all. If you want to go with a forged piston, the Speed-Pro/TRW work just fine. A lot of success with those pistons too and they’re very inexpensive. Don’t believe what people say about the Speed-Pro/TRW being heavy slugs because they weight almost the same as the KB’s. Crack open the Speed-Pro/TRW and KB catalogs and you’ll see for yourself.
For rings, Speed-Pro’s are great. Don’t go with the cast rings. Go with the moly-top or if you have extra cash, the plasma-moly.
You’ll have to check the rod to camshaft clearance. You might have to clearance the shoulders of the rods or go with a rod with a K-cut (AKA stroker clearanced). 12-point rod bolts or rod bolt nuts with clearance issues also. Or you can go with a small base circle cam.
The new cast steel or nodular iron cranks are good to about 450-500HP. The price on those are from $250-$280. Real good cranks for a street/strip car. They even come with one-piece rear main seal versions if you have the late model blocks.
Last but not least, make sure you get the entire rotating assembly balanced. Hope this helps.


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N/A 406, TPIS Miniram, 58mm TB, 30lbs injectors, Custom Ground Elgin Cam, Ported TFS heads, SLP 1-3/4", & DFI computer.
11.70@117mph