Dropping my engine off at the machine shop in a week or 2 for the build. With my parts wanna know if its worth the cost to do a 383. Im running a HSR with 113 heads and a Lunati VooDoo 268 cam. It is just a street car Id im sure ill enjoy just as much either way. Is or will there be a big enough gain to 383 it. Machine shop cost is an extra $100 to clearance the block plus the cost of the stroker kit and balancing. Im guessing 600-800 more.

 

 

Here is my two cents. I would spring for a good built 383 bottom end. You can always use your heads and intake for now, but in the future, (and you will) if you want more powy, you can throw in a bigger cam, bigger heads, a higher C/R and a whole fist full of money, without having to pull the motor again. Once the base is built, your off to the races. And you will like the sound of a 383. BTW, you can pull good power from a 2 bolt main, but if you want, you can spend a couple of hundred bucks and have splayed caps installed and the sky's the limit.

 

Im with you for the reasoning.. I'm at a point at where do you draw the line if you know what I mean. From what ive read the 113 heads will max out HP wise around 350 which would be a nice healthy 355. Of course a 383 with AFRs will exceed that. I am using a 4 bolt main block.

Just to give a breakdown of cost so far. Ive spent about $1500 on the heads, cam, gaskets, Timing gears and all the other misc parts. The machine shop is at $1800 to bore, clean, cut my crank, recondition the rods and reassemble the entire motor. They will be supplying hardened pushrods and hypeructec pistons and all new bearings and such. I'm prob looking at $2500 for the 383

 

Well, you could, (if you have the budget) get the 383 part done, and have someone port the heads for a better flow. I'm not sure on how this all went down, but generally, you start with a HP/TQ goal, and the work your way around all the parts that will make that goal. But if your budget will allow new heads and a new cam, you could sell the 113 heads and VooDoo cam to help offset the cost. Or port the heads and call Lunati and ask them what that cam will be like with the build your planning. There's alway's a way. I should add, I don't want to sway you into spending anymore money. Stick with what you had planned. It's just that most guy's when they start going bigger, alway's regret not do something a little bit more.

 

It was originally just gonna be head and cam swap on my stock bottom end. But ive talked myself into taking it to the machine shop to get "freshened up" New bearings and such. Cause its out and ive already invested a bunch of cash into it. SO now the where do I stop debate has begun. The 113 heads are fresh from a machine shop so I dont want to mess with them. Spent $600 on them shipped all done. Would really like to know if the jump to a 383 would be worth the cost for what I'm running

 

Well, i guess the battle is now a personal one between you and your wallet. You can run the 113 heads on a 383 or the 350/355 lower end, depending on the Lunati cam specs will determine when you run out of air at what RPM. That's why you should call Lunati and talk to them about their cam and your heads. I'm sure there are guy's on here that have run that cam, that could help out also. I run a custom grind Comp cam, so i have no experience with Lunati.

 

So, here is some info on the heads, http://garage.grumpysperformance.com...any-good.5521/ , and here is the cam specs i found, Cam specs
Advertised Duration IN/EX: 268/276
Duration @ .050 IN/EX: 227/233
Gross Valve Lift IN/EX: .489"/.504"
LSA / ICL: 110/106
Valve Lash IN/EX: Hyd/Hyd
RPM Range: 1800-6200
So, I think the heads are going to restrict your flow. My opinion then would be stay with the 350 or 355 for the heads an cam.

 

If you dont plan on making power down the road, just rebuild the 355

Only do the 383 if you want alot more power down the road. But i would like to see 4 bolt main but 2 bolt can work

 

It is a 4 bolt main. I guess my fight with the wallet and what the machine will do for me on cost will decide it.

How will a 383 run vs 355 with the parts im using?

 

More torque more hp over all hp in the lower rpm range

 

The cubic inches will only work to your favor if you can feed them (intake, heads and camshaft). I don't think you will see much difference given your breathing constraints. Not worth it in my opinion. I'd take that money and invest in a good torque converter and shift kit (will eat up $800). That will make a far bigger difference than the 30 cubic inches.

 

^ Bingo ^

 

Your overall powerband will be lower and might make more torque off idle to peak torque since the higher piston speed will draw on the head port more so should see more cylinder fill earlier. But the heads will limit top end potential.

Saving the money and spending it elsewhere on supporting parts, suspension and or converter is not a bad idea

 

Spoke to a Lunati tech. His answer to the cam on the 383 is no replacement for displacement lol. But he did say it will run well on a 383 just not as noticeable. I have a built trans and 10" 2800 stall convertor already. Maybe Ill spend the money on forged pistons so I can add boost later lol.

 

Boost is the answer to all things

 

= $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Lol, I vote for a 383

 

My biggest regret is not stroking my 350 the first time....
After it needed a rebuild, I did go 383.....and so glad I did. Made a huge difference.

My dad's corvette has a 383 in it with small Brodix 180cc heads, and it's a blast to drive. Very torquey with a 218/224 cam.

 

I know it's all too easy to spend other folk's money on the internet , as in "Sure , blow all your cash and build the biggest engine possible" , but the responses here are all 100% on target . Why build the 355 only to eventually be disappointed by it in your quest for power and then have to go and do the 383 anyway , loosing all the money you spent on the 355 ? The two golden rules of high performance come to mind here ;

"There is no replacement for displacement"

And

"Speed = cubic inches X cubic dollars , squared"

I wish you well in your journey .

 

Only you can decide what you really want here. Budget build to me is re-use as many parts as possible. Stock crank, rods, heads. But new pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets and seals. Re-using crank should save you from cost of alignhone block. Re-using rods with original bolts saves cost of bolts and rod recondition, maybe balancing to if you can match piston weights.
Boring with a bigger cam will make more power and go faster. Not a racing effort by any means but you can save your $$ for stroker when your ready.

Good luck.

 

There’s no such thing as too few cubic inches...only too few RPM. ��

 

21,000 RPM's out of a V/10

 

 

I pretty much agree with all these statements. Again budget is key which is why I have the parts Im using already. I am restoring this entire car and need to keep a budget for the rest of it as well. I cant drop 3k on just the bottom end and have it sit to finish other things. So Im looking at changing the bottom end build to forged pistons and keeping compression a little lower to boost it in like a year or so.

Before I start another thread will my cam choice react ok to boost? I need a cam that will work well NA and then take boost well later if there is such a thing. Or I just cam swap when I boost it. Would hate to tear it apart again but sometimes theres no choice.

 

You can do a cam thats either single pattern or 4-6 deg split on exhaust duration on a somewhat wider lsa and it should be ok depending on what kinda setup you run, like blower or turbo.

Dont get to crazy aggressive with the cam lobe imo. Alot of na cams can be farly fast cam lobes which make power in na but are harder to control with valvespring and can compound that under boost.

If turbo keep duration on the smaller side. Like a 230 deg cam in a 355 is fairly big but a good na size for power up to 6500 rpm if heads/intake support it. On a turbo deal i would take 6 deg out for more response, use the turbo to make power. You dont have to but alot of setups seem to pull higher in turbos than na so safer to under cam and make up for it with boost.
Blower car usually same cam as na works well since blower is tied to crank rpm. Just my opinion.

 

Im thinking blower Like torqstorm ot vortech

Cam specs for what I have right now
Advertised Duration (Int/Exh): 268/276
Duration @ .050 (Int/Exh): 227/233
Gross Valve Lift (Int/Exh): .489/.504
LSA/ICL: 110/106
Valve Lash (Int/Exh): Hyd/Hyd
RPM Range: 1800-6200

 

You can get by on just about anything in a mild setup. Ideally i think a wider lsa would be helpful but that can work

 

So no disrespect intended, but if budget is a concern with regard to 355 vs. 383 ci now ....I'm not sure how you're going to be able to afford a blown set up in a year. Trust me, we've all made similar statements about our budget, I know I have!!!! -but let's be honest. Build what you can now. A 383 is only a little more money COMPARED to the potential it'll give you down the road, so I'm on board with that idea. But the cam? -it's a few hundred bucks and a few hours of labor. Buy the cam for NOW. Swap it out if you DO end up boosting it down the road, whether it be a year, or 5 years.

 

Yes I agree. Take it one step at a time. That blower will cost more than the entire rest of motor and a blower motor should really be a dedicated effort though many will install a blower on anything. A purpose built N/A motor will be much more powerful than a low compression blower motor with poor quench w/o the blower. Likewise a dedicated blower motor with be much more powerful than a bolt on installed blower.
Our imagination gets the better of most us enthusiasts but the reality is many projects just remain a project that doesn't run for years. You will learn much more by a plain jane rebuild than buying expensive parts that don't really match for the application.
Get to know your machine shops then get your block work and engine building tools sorted out.

Good luck.

 

Honestly , both Abubaca and cardo0 have given the best advice I've ever read on the subject of building a blower engine for "someday" . It may sound like "tough love" but they are both 100% on target , build your N/A engine now and enjoy it , and save up for the blower engine in it's entirety in the future . An engine designed for a blower , run N/A , will be a disappointment compared to a dedicated N/A build , why hobble your engine now for a possible blower upgrade someday ? .....

 

I agree with all you guys. I seem to have gotten carried away with my original plans. So I hit the reset. I am going to keep my original plan of the mild build for this motor and keep it N/A using the planned parts I already bought. The only change I may make is forged pistons based on what the machine shop suggest for my goals. If I get the bug later I will build a new motor to swap in after the rest of my restoration is complete.

Thank you everyone that has stepped in to help!!!

 

Carried away? -That's called hot rodding!