ok, for starters ive never built my own engine before, swapped them, bolted on heads, cams, intakes, but never completely built a shortblock...
i have a 350 that i want to make into a 383 as cheap as possible, i know i will need a 3.75 crank thats the obvious, but exactly what else will i need as in hardware? could someone give me an exact list? i want to piece the parts together as i get the money (i know it will be more economical and convenient to buy as a kit but its easier for me to save a little money and buy a part then save alot of money and buy alot) i want to reuse the stock rods to save money (ill have them reconditioned and get new bolts any estimate on cost for that?) what else can i reuse to save money? exactly what machining needs to be done to the block besides .30 over for the cylinders>? i would like to go to the machine shop with a complete list of things i need done so i can get a very accurate estimate. i will do as much of the assembly myself as possible to save money, thanks for any and all help these boards have been invaluable to me since ive joined
PS if anyone has anything i need for sale cheap pm me i will be trying to get the crank first as i think it should be the most expensive piece it is a 1 pc rear main seal motor thanks again

You'll need new pistons, and/or new rods along with a new crank. You can recondition your rods with new bolts, but you'll find that by the time you're done, you've come close to the cost of new rods anyway.

The machine work required on the block really depends on its condition, and doesn't matter whether you're building a 383 or a 350. There will be clearance work required around the oil pan rails and bottoms of the cylinders, but that's not a precision operation and you can do it yourself.

lol id rather leave the clearancing to a machine shop this time around that was really what i was asking about, where do i need clearanced? i realize it needs bored, decked maybe align honed? anythingelse? Q: should i have the block overbored to .60 for the extra cubes since im buying pistons anyway?

so def need pistons & rings, crank, rods, gasket set, rod, cam, crank and main bearings, main seal... miss anything?

As already stated, around the oil pan rails and bottoms of the cylinders.

Only if needed.

No. Over boring is to clean up the cylinder walls. You want to take out as little as possible to leave material for the next rebuild. The increase in cubes is worth less power than a few degrees difference in air temperature.

You'd have to find that out the same way the shop does... by test-fitting the assembly together, rotating it over by hand, finding out where there's interference, disassembling, grinding it away, cleaning it all out, and then starting over until there's no more clearance problems. It's the least-skilled part of the whole process, and the least cost-effective to pay someone else to do.

I just finished a 383 myself, I wanted to do what you stated about a part here and there. But the cheapest and easiest was to buy a rotating assembly then as stated I clearanced the block myself, really enjoyed it too, learned alot. If you have any questions about clearancing it let me know if I can help.

ok so dont over overbore check.
what tool did you use to clearance? as i dont own any type of porting tool except a dremel. i dont want to buy one either, can i rent?? i see what you mean about cost effective though, i thought it could just be clearanced in specific areas ahead of time i didnt realize that it had to be assembled and torn down over and over...
it only has to be bored, decked and align honed if needed check.
so i should just take the block to the machine shop and have them assess it for me. anyone know about how much i can expect to pay at the machine shop so i dont get ripped off?
and about that list, am i missing anything?
thanks to everyone this is really informative for me

To give you an idea of machine costs... I helped build a 383 for a friend recently... He bought a Scat internally balanced rotating assembly from cnc-motorsports.com for a little over $1000 then my machinist charged $980 to hot tank block, bore/hone with a deck plate, clearance block (it required only a very small amount of clearancing on the oil pan rails), balance rotating assembly (had to add a tiny amount of metal), file fit the rings, install cam bearings, and assemble the shortblock.

wow i was hoping to keep it to 1500 or so(same price as buying a remaned 2pc rms 383), maybe i can find a cheaper rotating assembly... how about this... who had the cheapest 383 builds w/parts and labor ???

A dremel would work, but slowly. A die grinder is much quicker and you should be able to rent one.

ok ill look into renting a die grinder

i just found this on the Scoggin Dickey website now if only i lived within driving distance
Race Prep Special #1


$490.00
Part Number:
SUN10-901


SKU: SUN10-901
Brand:
Scoggin Dickey Parts Center


Price: $490.00

• Bore and Torque Plate Hone with BHJ Fixtures Up To 0.100"
• Tru-Deck and Set To Proper Deck Height
• Stoker Clearance For Steel Rods (up to 3.750" stroke on SBC and 4.250" stroke BBC)
• Block Prep--debur, chamfer, tap for plugs, install lifter valley screens, & exterior paint.
• Install Cam Bearings
• Install Freeze Plugs
• Final Wash for Assembly

so im hoping i can get a local shop to do it for 600

Check this out http://www.cnc-motorsports.com/produ...44&CtgID=20134

thats awesome GOT the only thing im not sure about is the compression ratio... will 10.7:1 be too much for a street car/pump gas? of course theres 93 octane and it wont be daily driven but sounds kinda high for my application... CC quadrajet changing to HSR next year...

Dont buy the internals piece by piece...these kits r the lowest price ur gnna find and they come FULLY BALANCED READY TO INSTALL ....wat more do u want?
i recently built a 383 LT1 engine that has 11:1 compression it runs on 91 and passes smog...
it'll run pump gas just depends on a few things...how bigs the cam...Auto or Stick...Rear diff gears...u just gotta watch how much low speed load ur gnna put on the engine

ok, the car is an 700r4/ 3.23 rear, should be pretty light its a base firebird V8 model and i took a lot of crap off it so lets say its def under 3300... not sure about the cam yet, was thinking somewhere along the lines of the ZZ383 cam GMPP uses i think its something like 500/530 lift ??? but if someone could recommend a better cam im all for it, i dont want this thing to be on the ragged edge tho i want it to last and be consistent, kinda like its for bracket racing, but its not lol just want to have it for a while dont want to have to spend more money a short time later, cause then i really should have just saved up and got like a dart 377 or something ya know? thanks for the great tip on CNC though that place is awesome 11$ for shipping!

Cam choice will depend somewhat on the heads you're using.

alum L98 mildly ported, forgot 2000 stall lol this is old i didnt know you replied ape

anyone wanna give me a ballpark $$ est for just clearancing my block and balancing a crank rods and pistons??? i found everything for around 480 and i only want to spend a little at a time so it makes more sense for ME to do it like this also have a block that ONLY needs clearancing i will be assembling it myself i just want the rings and rods fitted to the pistons thanks for the help guys

Well you said you have a dremel tool, its slow thats what I liked about it. Because there was less chance of making a mistake when going slow trying to clearance a block for the first time. Try and get a price on floating rods that way you can put them on the pistons yourself if that will help save money.

would that be bushed or press fit??? was gonna just use stock replacement rods... i just got a die grinder so i COULD do the clearancing but i dont think i have the patience besides ill have to take the thing back to the machine shop to have them clean it again afterwards... how hard is to put the rings on is there a special tool?? i wanna get rings with a standard gap not file fit... also dont they have to put the rods on the pistons anyway to balance everything?? it would be great if there was a "map" for where to clearance and how much

I'm sure you can find that "map" if you search enough. I haven't clearanced a block since I got my digital camera.

i was just doing some research and found another glitch, the stroker crank uses a "external balancer " can i have my flexplate machined to work then use a 400 balancer?? or if i get an internally balanced crank can i use the 350 balancer i have along with the stock flexplate???

im gonna wait till youve had your pepsi before i expect an answer to that pm attilla lol

just found this... $481 with recessed cast pistons and moly rings https://shop.enginekits.com/osb/itemdetails.cfm?ID=81

What, that big long PM I just answered? Besides, my asleep answers are still better than most newbs' awake answers.
Internal balance is best, but requires 6" rods, and more costly pistons. Cheaper to stay 5.7 / ext. bal. even though you have to change the balancer. Your flexplate just transfers over if the blocks and cranks are all for 1-piece seal. In this situation, there's no machining back there, and you don't use that add-on balance weight thing you may find advertised.

If you're willing to never jet the nitrous past 150, and if you're willing to never run above 5500, (except maybe in first while running on the dragstrip) and if you're willing to never use the nitrous below 3500 without doing it progressive or 2-stage, then this is a fine value.
A 150 hit at 3000 on cast pistons, you're asking for it.

scratch a couple Qs in the last pm you moved a little faster then me lol how would you make the nos come in at 3500?? would the hyper pistons be ok to shoot from the line?? and yeah i guess i could live with the 5500 redline at the track as long as it made good power what kind of cam would you use to cover that??

ever heard of RPM switches? Or you can control it manually. Hypers aren't much better than cast when it comes to power adders, you still have to play it conservative. With 2618-material forged pistons in a 350, I've seen them live many race seasons with a 125 shot hitting at 2500, but even that was pushing his luck. Nitrous is NOT a low-rpm thing. Boost can be on around 1500, but below that rpm, the only help is cubic inches.

rpm switches for the nitrous.. nah thats new to me, im guessing manual is the cheap way to go

hi flipping i'm building a 383 stroker right now. i got the ket from northern auto parts. mine is a two pice thou for the older block. i was going to grind down the block myself but figured there 1.5-2 hrs labors was worth them doing. plus if you grind down to much then you take the chance of going into the water jackets. I was also going to build the bottom end myself. but since i'm doing a stroker i have the machince shop building it so they can check the specs. my crank is only semi blanced the flexplate and blancer both have a weight on them. the will be checking to make sure the blance is correct.

they charge 69 dollars an hr.

for them to
cook the block
bore .030 over
chect to see if its lined bore is ok
install new cam bearings and freeze out plugs
flux the block to check for cracks is about 500. thats not including them grinding to make room for the crank or installing the bottom end.

hey please let me know how much they charge you to grind for clearance and install the rotating assembly, im thinking of letting the machinist do it to because of checking the clearances like you said, if its cheap enough i can put the rest in cam and lifters oil pump and pan timing set but if they install the rotating assembly itll save me a big headache

Need to check what type crank.
The cheaper stroker kits use a 400 crank core that needs a 400 ext balance balancer and a 400 ext balance flexplate.
The 400 flexplate is different to ext balance flexplate used on the 1 pce seal engines ( which use a neutral balancer at front same as older 2 pce seal engines)

I have an internal balance 383 stroker kit with 5.7 rods. You can get all kinds of combinations. If you ever plan to add a T-56 get a neutral harmonic damper/external balanced Flywheel kit.

the cheap cank im looking at s from eagle, little more expensive is scat, both say external balance

wanna sell it?

Are they for 1 or 2 pce seal engines?
Big difference

only looking at 1 pc as thats what i have

When they say external balance on a one piece crank they mean the stock factory balance setup which is ext balance at rear / neutral at front as noted by Atilla in post above
You get to reuse your stock flexplate with the weight attached but most building a new engine would get the rotating assembly balanced with the flexplate and balancer you intend to use

so your saying i can use the balancer i have that is for a 350 but have the machine shop balance it with the rotating assembly?!? i thought i needed a 400 balancer...

Is preferred to get everything balanced as one unit
Need to check crankshafts makers notes as to balancer type required as they vary