Thread: 383 500 Hp! No Juice

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Hi THEFED,
The good Doctor is correct. If you can't get it to the ground there's not much sense in having it.
I don't know if it was mentioned earlier but you might think of using an overdrive tranny.
The one thing mentioned in the first post was that the block was done a couple of years ago and you are going to change the pistons. Make sure you have the correct piston to wall clearance and deck height.

i understand that doing a burnout at 25 is no good, but my point is that i want to have the torque to do so. my last rebuild was a 350 that turned out okay, ran mid-high 13's, but didnt have a lot in the torque department.

i want to break em loose, IF i choose to do so, IF i want to, I wanna be able to smoke em at will. thats all

As far as the OD tranny, I will possibly upgrade one day, but i just bought this th 350 recently, built to handle about 500 hp.also a new megashifter, so i dont wanna waste all that $$.

thanks for all ur input guys!

Fed.....

If you ran 13's with the 350 you had plenty of torque....you just got used to it....

If you want those results get an adjustable rear suspension....pinion angle is where it's at.....if you raise the angle towards the bottom of the car....even a 4 banger could roast the tires for a 100 feet....lower it towards the pavement and it WILL stick.....a 540 cu in 700hp motor would have a tough time breaking the tires.....

Do you see what I am trying to say?

My last toy was a 78 chevy 4x4 with 38's and a 400cu.in mostly stock except a minor changer and I could rip the heck out of all 4 tires in 4 high.... does no good....

i maY have gotten used to it, but 12 secs flat, and high 13's are WORLDS apart.

that 11.9 sec combo seems quite easily attainable, but seems like it wouldnt happen imho. im not calling u a liar, just that ive never seen such a combo do that.11.9 is VERY respectable.

I WILL most likely aim that direction, but going with the AFR's

You think the AFR's will help a lot?


what thickness gasket did u use in ur setup?

an asymmetrical cam,plus the afr's should produce a LITTLE more power, from what I gather.

I wouldnt mind having trouble hooking up. It's better than being disappointed u have not enough power.

SO DR BOWTIE, i just realized what the specs are in my 350 in the driveway. hydraulic summit cam, 234/244 488/510 @ 50. whats ur take on that cam?

that would be a great cam for the 383 or a 350.....I did the same test as they did in HotRod a while back and got similar results...

First I started with a complete seasoned 350 with 882 heads...these are 76cc Comb. Cham.

First we did a basic cylinder hone and added new flat top 9.5:1 pistons and a comp cams 292magnum cam this has a .501 lift

sounds good right...rumpety cam.... thru this thing together and ran it....it ran 14's.... where did we go wrong....I already knew...

The stock head were a major hold back....changing the heads to sportsman II's neted over 100hp just the bolt on....the other place....well after the actual pour of the engine the "actual"compression was closer to 8.9:1 than the 9.5:1

The moral of this story is just because you get the same parts as some one describes does not mean you will make the same power...I knew the mistakes before I even assembled the engine and wanted to do an "off the self"rebuild after correcting everything the 350 made an honest 375hp and ran 12.00 flat...

just goes to show the DIY'r can get/make something that does not perform there are a lot of tip and tricks you need to know in a successful engine rebuild to make the power you want.... most time this will envolve "mocking" up the engine several times before the actual build begins....

The combo I suggested will run what I said it would...especially if you used the cam you mention...but you need to make sure of your exact tolerances....

If you are serious about this build I will help you in any way I can....also order a Lunati catalog...you will need the formulas in the back...plus some basic engine tool to do the math work....Terry

I appreciate all ur input on this build. just curious though, as i think it will be more cost effective for me to stick with a solid setup if i buy this short block.

i threw a xs274s 236/242 501 510 cam in the dd2k. it made a nice curve for what i need... i think. slightly lower tq/horse til 4k than ur combo, then opposite. could u do the same and see what u think of it?

it would do the same....as you up the duration of a cam you also up the power curve....as you do that in some cases you take away from the bottom end.... leaving a dog until you hit the band...that cam would work well in a 383 and would be less noticable than in a 350.....

For most daily drivers I try to stay conservative on the cam choice and build for more torque (hp will naturally follow)....

My last toy I build for a customer was a 86 Elcamino with a 400 @.030 with dished pistons (8.8:1) I used a Crane 216 dur@.050 .430 lift and decided to put all the effort in the heads...I used the stock open chambers and heavily reworked them..I used Manley Street Flow 2.02/1.6 valves and this netted me 445hp at4800-5000 rpm with and Edelbrock 2x4 lowrise intake with to Edelbrock 600cfm manual carbs....The cam was real conservative and all the power came from the heads...but theres more in it with better heads and maybe a bigger cam...

I also used a 700R4 tranny and the stock 3.42:1 rear end....

this car would not hook till 3rd gear.....45mph in second and punched it and it got real squirly....in 3rd if you punch it will burnem around 20-30 feet @ 50mph....1st gear is entirely useless...nomatter how you feather the throttle it won't stick...2nd gear takes a little work to go....fun to drive and could be a mid 11.50's car.....It's all in how you put it together....