i have a 91 camaro with a 350, i was going to start doing further performance modifactions to it when my buddy threw the idea at me to make it to a 383 stroker. The more i thought about it the more i liked the idea. The question i have is how much will have to be bored im just courious is it like 30 over or what? Is their any other suggestions or information i should know about before i pull the engine to get the machine work?

 

In my opinion it shouldn't be bored anymore then is nessicary, just have it bored as much as it needs to be to make the holes round. As far as other info on machining I'd call around to local machine shops and get prices before you start.

 

If you bore it .030 over it will be 383 cubic inches. If you leave it standard bore it will be 377 cubic inches. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two without taking it apart and measuring the bores.

 

Using the 3.750 stroke crank will require notching in the block to avoid clearance issues. Also, you need to decide on whether you're going to use a 400 crank that will be externally balanced, or if you want to go with a custom crank that will allow your rotating assembly to be internally balanced. My recommendation is to with the internally balanced configuration because it places less stress on the crank at high rpm's. I've seen 400 externally balanced set-ups that snapped the crank. Another point of interest is that you will have to use 400 rods and bearings instead of the traditional 350's. The custom crank will allow you to use traditional 350 parts. The 383 will be a little more powerful than a 377, but like one of the others posted, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Only a slightly improved E.T. would show the difference to you. As for boring the block 30 over instead of the minimum amount needed to round the bores, ask yourself, do I want to have to search for and replace this block later because there wasn't enough meat left on the block to bore it again. If you don't drive the car much I'd say go for it, but if it's your daily driver and might rack up in the neighborhood of 15-20k miles a year, I'd rather save some meat for the next rebuild in about 5-7 years.

 

A 400 crank won't fit into a 350 block unless the journals are turned down. Most people use dedicated medium-journal 383 cranks now.

You don't use 400 rods and bearings. The rod journals are the same size on the 350 and 400 anyway, so there's no difference in the rod bearings, and 400 main bearings won't fit a 350 block. You can use a stock 5.565" 400 rod and normal 350 pistons (which along with the ground-down 400 crank is the "old-school" way of building a 383), or you can use a stock 5.7" 350 rod and dedicated 383 pistons, which have a higher wrist pin location to match.