I am about to start my first rebuild on an IROC i have had for five years. The last time i took it out, after it had sat for a couple years, the transmission was a little slow and the heads have leaked oil since i have owned the vehicle. I was going to start by replacing the heads after taking off the TPI. The tranny is probably a simple fluid problem, however I am looking for any other direction. I am on a limited budget but am looking to invest around 7500-10000. Thank you.

 

do you want more power or lots of power... port heads vs aftermarket heads, 350 vs 383 stroker...

 

I would not mind a 383 at all. I am definitely not going to rebuild this into an everyday driver.

 

a good idea if you are gonna do the work yourself, is to visit a local machine shop and talk with them and get some ideas about using your block as a 383 stroker... the majority of 383 strokers as I have seen are 4 bolt main blocks, but it would be something good to talk with at your local machine shop... some advice visit a few machine shops so you get the feel of things.. also when you look for cam ask about a custom camshaft... if you do the work I don't see how you could exceed 4K on your 383... you'll have to buy bigger injectors probably 30 lb injectors... and if you have a Maf sensor, you might be better off getting a custom tune, but from what i hear MAF systems are more forgiving and adjust air/fuel parameters on the fly....

 

thanks for the advice KNB, due to the fact that this is my first rebuild, what parts am i going to need to make this a 383? or at least what should i start with. i love the 4k figure, and i WILL do the work myself because i want to LEARN how to do it myself. anyway....

 

do you want a torque build, or a horsepower build? A good torque build will get you near 540 ft-lbs from a TPI 383, but it'll be all done by 5200 rpm. If you want a horsepower build, you can make good power to 6500 rpm, but it'll need more gearing.
If you want to run down the LS1 cars, forget the torque build, it just feels better, it doesn't have a hope of winning any races. It'll be too busy shredding your rear tires, and breaking tour trans and axle. But it is more fun in a different way, and it'll last longer. Plus it's cheaper to build, if you don't count the trans and rear.

 

well my advice would be to have the machine shop do the work of assembling the block including the camshaft and heads, so that if there are any clearance issues, they are taken care of appropriately...