Thread: starting restoration...need engine ideas...

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I am completely new to this forum. Hopefully you won't hold that against me!

Here is my story...

I have a 1970 Chevelle that has been in my possesion for 12 years. For the first three years I drove it as my first car. For the last 9 years it has been parked!

Last weekend we finally started restoration and removed the body from the frame. What a job! We are now at the point that we are throwing around ideas for engines. Right now the car has a a 350 in it. I beleive it is a late 70's model that was taken out of a truck.

We were thinking about converting this engine to a 383 stroker. I have been reading about this a lot over the past few days. I do not really know that much about engines or restoring cars for that matter, but my father owned and worked in a body shop for most of my childhood and is helping. He knows his way around a car but he has never done this kind of conversion before.

Is this a hard thing to do? I have looked a few kits including this one:
http://www.northernautoparts.com/Pro...ctModelId=1674

Would this kit get the job done?


Another option would be using a 454 that we have available to us. This engine would need to be rebuilt also. Any thoughts?



Thanks for your help in advance. I am sure I will have many more questions as we get further into this project...


J.

I'd stay small block, make a 383 Stroker out of it, put a factory deluxe chrome air cleaner on it with the original 350 decals on the air cleaner, keeps it a restoration, sort of, unless you want to customize a little.

That Would Be A Good Way To Go, Probably The Most Economical Too, And You Should Be Able To Push Out Over 300 Hp From That Stroker Without Even Trying. Also If You Have Any Sheet Metal To Replace Cuz Of Rust, Check Out All The Goodmark Products In The Back Of Your Summit Catalog, You Can Practically Build Another Car Out Of Those Repro Parts

I stay with the 383 as it will fit right in your car and give you a good kick in the seat

jarice1978, drop a 351 cleveland in that puppy!

If you are going to have to do a rebuild in either case, I'd go with the 454. Nothing like cubes.

Jarice1978, matt167, & mer53man, are correct in their advice, Unless you looking to race it, 350 or stroke to a 383 sounds good, and if you can get it to around 300 plus hp it will be all good with a little bite. And like the mer53man said, the most economical. And take it from me if you don't watch your buget, you will be saying buget whats that. Plus their is nothing like cubic inches!

Well, I think we are going to go with the 383 conversion. However, I have a few questions. My paps checked with the local machine shop and they said it would cost between $800 and $1000 to do the necessary modifications to the motor block. They also suggested spending a little more on a rebuild kit and crank that is already balanced and that would reduce the overall charge. Does this sound right?


I thought I read somewhere that if you get the right parts, you shouldn't have to modify the block by grinding any notches or anything else.


Also, I provided a link above that takes you to the 383 kit I was planning to purchase, however I am not sure if that is already balanced or not. Does anyone know where to find a kit like this?



Thanks gain for the info.


J

The obvious clue to tell you that it is NOT balanced is the
fact that the rods are not included in the kit.....

mike in tucson