i have an engine from a 78 camaro z-28 its a 350.
i was thinkin of makin it a racing engine i know that in some of the 350s you could destroke it to a 327 and i know you can stroke it to a 383. which engine wouod you choose i know the 327 has the rpms and the 383 has the torque but i just wants some peoples opinions

 

what will it be used for....street...strip....street/strip.....383, 327, 350 respectivly

 

What heads are you going to use? If you stick with what came on it, it will still be slug-slow no matter what crank you put in it.

 

Nice car. I don't like many second gens, but that one looks cool. Remember..more cubes = easier to make more power.

 

More cubic inch will give you more power and be more streetable.

 

You did say "racing engine", correct? My '57 is 1 second faster with the 396 than it was with a 350. But, it's 2 seconds slower than a '57 Nomad with a 383 "racing engine". He has a better overall package, but certainly wouldn't be faster with a 327.

Neither would you.

 

Definitely a 383.

 

To quote an old friend of mine "there is no substitution for displacement". I agree it is easier to make more power with more cubes!

 

383

 

I think it sounds better if said there is no replacement for displacement.

 

A second gen as clean as that one deserves a 383 with a blower stickin through the hood and nothing less

 

There is no replacement for displacement says the drunk guy!!!
Beer is great! Hahahahahahahahahahhaahhahahahah!

 

I don't see the question here. 383

 

Save some money, stick with the 350, the performance isn't that much different.

 

You could make any of those engines very powerful. A 383 is obviously the best out of the three,if you want to put really good heads on it with large flowing intake runners. A 350 is an easy and cheap way to get a lot of horsepower but everybody has one of these engines and unless you have descent heads, it's gonna be slow. A 327 can be just as powerful as a 350 but they are harder to find than a 350. If you can get a 327 instead of a 350 I would do it for sure. I have a 327 with 305 heads milled .030, .488 .488 cam 234 duration, performer intake, stock ignition, 600 edelbrock (that is way out of tune) 700r4, and 3:73 gears. I can beat up on mildly modified LT1's pretty bad, so I know a 327 can run. I have seen many people build 350's and think that they were gonna have like 400 horse just cause it was a 350 and it ended up like a stang (makin a lot of noise and not going anywhere.) Any one of these engines can get the power you're lookin for but it just depends on how much money you want to put into it.

 

yeah there is

bigger turbo

 

omg, RX7 your graphics are hilarious! There's nothing like wiggling your wankle!

In seriousness, the second-gen F-body is generally a 3600 to 3800 pound car. That is pretty portly and needs lots of grunt to move it along. Thus, the torque of the 383 will make much more sense. However, you really need to get some good cylinder heads!

Consider this, too: A 383 can be made one of two ways: Low-end grunt for great streetabilty with a good midrange for lots of giddyap, or as a motor with a fat midrange and big hair-blasting power at 6000 to 7000 RPM. The decision to build a sub-6000 RPM stroker versus an above-6000 RPM stroker must be made at the outset, because each will require a fundamentally different shortblock design.

The sub-6000 RPM engine can get away with a cast crankshaft, and probably make do with regular 5.7 rods or even magnafluxed 5.565 inch "short" rods. The latter are a good choice for a budget stroker because there will be much less cost involved. You wont need fancy pistons, and you wont need to do nearly as much relieving of the block in order to make the whole assembly go round and round. (I'm learning this the hard way!)

An externally balanced, cast crank 383 with short rods (and ARP rod bolts) will safely make 425 horsepower at 5500 RPM if you pick out a good hydraulic roller cam. That's pretty good "giddeyap!" for you! Just pick up John Lingenfelter's book: He has a recipe for this very engine and it has a torque curve that looks like the top of a wild-west Mesa. Flat and tall!

As for the 6000+ RPM 383, well, start saving your bucks. You'll be needing some better rods, rod bolts, and pistons. Your cast crankshaft is probably okay, however, dont nitrous it to death. these days, a really good stroker crank can be had for between $330 and $500 dollars. I have an internally balanced 4340 stroker crank that I bought for $500.

One thing to note, however, these inexpensive cranks sometimes have vaying diameter journals. My 4340 crank requires two different size bearings on the rod journals in order to get the proper clearance.