I am looking at a trans am, the guy selling it says it has a crate 350 with a 383 stroker kit on the engine.

He has no paper work, because he said he did it himself. How can i tell if it has a 383 in without taking the engine apart.

I drove the car yesterday, and its quick, i had a 5.0 firebird before and i know how slow they are. Its atleast x2 faster then that 5.0 firebird i had.

Heres the ad http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/3724777695.html

Asking to see a receipt for some of the pieces/parts he had to buy to stroke the motor would lend some credence to his claim. Is that dash really painted red?

reciepts would be the only way to tell, if he doesnt have reciepts take it as a 350, im not too fond of those pro comp aluminum heads either.

You can look at the crank damper... if it's an external-balanced 383, the damper will show it. Internally balanced ones though, use the same damper as any other SBC.

It may also be possible to put something (a wire tie for example) in a spark plug hole and see how far the piston moves.

but then again they make stroker kits for a 6.0 rod and a 5.7 not sure if that will matter but a wire tie id think would be extrememly inacurate.

No rod length won't matter; all that matters, is how far the piston moves.

Wire tie won't be "accurate", true. But all that matters is, is it 3½", or is it or 3¾". May be "accurate" enough for that.

true i just think it would be a very difficult method. id still want paperwork on it regardless and he should have some, if he bought the kit on summit or something he can go into his account and print stuff out or call them and trace down records.

Sure, it's difficult. Sure, I'd "want" paperwork. Sure, souls in Hell no doubt "want" icewater too; doesn't mean they'll get it, any more than the OP will get his paperwork.

"Want" in one hand and ACCOMPLISH in the other; tell me which one fills up faster.

Thats gonna be tough... A hemi head or a 4 banger where the plug hole is axial with the cylinder would work, but the wire tie is not gonna sit straight along the cylinder wall. Maybe some fishing line and a sinker? still not gonna be dead on, but a 350 will be x amount longer than 3.48", and a 383 would be that same amount longer than 3.75". so in any case, if its less than 3.75, you know its not a 383, but if its longer than 3.75, it still might be a 350, due to the inaccuracy of this method.

im not trying to be a dick but with the seller not having any paperwork on the engine the least it can be assumed as is a slightly built 350, you can see different heads, hear a cam the rest is sorta just guessing and assuming unless he lets you take **** apart.

Actually i just did the math and its only gonna add less than .1", so that should be plenty accurate.

so you're looking for 3 1/2" - 3 5/8" for a 350, and 3 3/4"- 3 7/8" for a 383.

Same here.

Just recommending being PRACTICAL instead of being a whiny demanding brat, demanding something instead of getting up off the gluteus maximus and DOING SOMETHING to get whatever is desired, like EARNING it. Seems to be a great deal of resistance to the concept of self-sufficiency these days; not sure why. America wasn't built by people sitting on their a$$ and waiting for - DEMANDING even - somebody else to hand them what they wanted.

understood, my thought is no one can really know if someones trying to pull a fast one in my experience, its easy to get some records of a purchase online or over the phone, i think itd be a good idea to get of ones but and test it someway but who knows if the seller will even allow it.

Basically the guy bought it off someone who did the engine with there dad as a son and father type project. He said they had it apart for him and showed him everything

He let me drive the T/A and compared to the 5.0 i used to have it flys.

I am still learning about cars, but from what i gathered from my old 5.0 and other peoples responses is that 5.0's suck. Replace it with a 350 and bore it out to a 383 stroker is the response i always got from people

What the hell??. Where have you two been??. You can tube that and have a accurate measurement of the size of the engine. Gezzzz!!!!.

what?

Man tubing engines for sizes has been around since the cavemen days.All racing classes that have limits on engine size uses them.

Problem is, some street type guy that would ask a question like that, has no access to a P&G or similar device.

NASCAR, NHRA, etc. use em all the time. We all know that. (those of us that have been around sanctioned racing, that is) It's not something laying around at AZ for "rent" though.

Try the tie wrap, barbecue skewer, drinking straw, etc. method. All you're looking for is the difference between the piston moving 3½", and 3¾". This is not rocket science, doesn't require a micrometer or a P&G. None of that.

Be nice to have it of course. We can all "wish" we had one. But just like "demanding", you can "wish" in one hand and sh... {defecate} in the other, and see which one fills up faster.

Get practical. That other, while "nice", is a bunch of measure with micrometer mark with chalk cut with axe, for the application at hand. You're not trying to disqualify the Penske guys or whoever for having 5.805 liter engines when the rule is 5.800; you don't need that level of precision. Find out what you need to know and move on.

hold on a minute someone explain what tubing is. i am soooo confused. ive built tons of stuff and no nothing of this.

"Tubing" = a technique wherein a vessel of some sort (often like a tube) is attached to the spark plug hole, and the cyl fills it up; and the volume expelled by the cyl is measured.

Google "P&G" "racing" "displacement" "measurement" and similar words, and read Speedtalk and similar forums for people a bit more ... professional ... than what mostly hangs out here these days. Most of the people like that don't ever come here any more. Nothing of interest to them unfortunately.

i dont blame them really. makes sense surprised i never heard of it.

Not that hard to find.Contact any oval track near you or do a search for the nearest tech adviser for N.H.R.A. and they can help you.Also machine shops might have them.

When someone says this,

"says it has a crate 350 with a 383 stroker kit on the engine.

He has no paper work, because he said he did it himself"


9 times out of 10 it means one of 2 things,


1. Its bone stock ,with maybe some shiney parts bolted on

or

2. Its a junkyard engine that I spray painted and added some chrome too.



No recipts, no performance build.

I mean, who buys a crate engine and swaps the rotating assembly?

Who buys a crate engine and keeps no proof?

The lack of proof kills the resale, if it were true, he could easily get a copy of the invoice to prove is $300+ investment.

Simple wording shows evidince of lies, "stroker kit on it" ? Stroker kits don't go on an engine.

I'd put money on it being a dressed up 305.

This should work. Put a piston stop in and find tdc, or if balancer is accurate place at 0 deg tdc and that should have piston at top.

I would may tie a small nut to a piece of string or strong fishing line, and lower into hole til contacts piston. Mark string at edge of spark plug hole, remove and measure. Record measurement. Then rotate to bdc and drop string in again. Measure to plug hole. Subtract difference. That may give you a good idea

Displacement checker is obviously best but even in my area where we have a track and oval tracks i dont know of anyone who has one.

He lists Prop Comp heads, that may tell a lot.

I can't see the heads well enough in the pic to tell if they are aluminum

If its true its a heack of a deal!

procomps are eh in my experience some are good some are bad, they used to be and they seem like they still are

Agree, but it may be proof of work actually done to the engine.

Nobody's gonna borrow you a $1000 tool unless they know you really well...

Far ahead of the game to even pay them to come out and tube it.

unless he has receipts and/or photographic evidence that the engine is a 383 or is willing to take a head off to show you how far the pistons move, i'd value it as a stock 350 with a cam and the heads added to it and pay accordingly.

Any update?

Drove it over a week ago alot faster then a 305 by far, more pick up. Suppose to buy it 2morrow hopefully it lasts a nice amount of the time since i am going to be hurting for money