350 to a 383

ok well i bought a old 72 p/u chevy c-10 with the 350 4 bolt main which i ended up getting to run.
ANYWAYS i wanna get it bored and stroked to a 383 ...which i found a place to do it and i was told a
13:1 CR would definatly help with power and torque its just what parts or building tips should i know
before i make it a higher compression.
o and the place thats doing the machining is opel engineering.
it will cost about $1400 for all this: is it worth it?
High Performance / Blueprint Machine Package
http://www.opelengineering.com/?page=services
o and i wanna buy a engine balanace pack for a $120
anyways thanks for checkin this out and let me kno if its worth it..later.

You got to decide what gas you are planning on burn. If you want 13:1 Compression you'll will need to run racing gas. Or you bearings won't last long on pump gas.

You realize that your $1400 gets you only machine work on the block, don't you??? You still need crank, rods, pistons, cam, lifters, head assemblies, etc.....you're going to spend $3000 or more before being done.

As for 13:1 for a street motor in a truck.....I'll let the other guys answer this one......

Step back and think about your goals for this truck. Is it a daily driver? Street driven (any amount)? Do you haul things in it? Is it worth more than $5000 before you start?

Whoever told you 13 to 1 was fine should be crossed off of your "Advisors List." Anything more than 9 to 1 to maybe 10 to 1 is way out of line on a street engine. At first when I read your post, I thought you might be pulling our legs a little, but assuming you are serious, you are heading in totally the wrong direction on this one.

As mentioned, you are going to have $ 3000 minimum in it, and if you actually elect to go with such high compression you won't even be able to drive it

383's have become very popular combos in 350 blocks, but those 33 cubes don't come super cheap.

Don

can I suggest a GM part number 12499101? This is a BRAND NEW 383 engine assembly that includes fast burn heads, an intake, cam....the entire enchilada. It sells for about $4100 from your friendly Chebby dealer or from Scoggin-Dickey or from Sallee Chevrolet. The thing is 340 hp and 435 ft lbs of torque with 9.1 to 1 compression. This is an excellent street engine for your truck (and for my jeep or truck for that matter). It has a warranty from GM

mike in tucson

Are you sure you did not misunderstand that 13:1 business? Their website looks like it is a reputable business. Since you are in Illinois, you could also check with Abrahams Machine Shop in Davenport, IA. They built my 383 short block a few years ago, and they have an excellent reputation.

ok well RUMMRUMM i kno it wont be an absolute street legal car and i kno its not a every day driver! with a 13:1 compression i was told around o say 110 octane would do the trick. and yes i already checked with my rod shop down the road which sells "rocket" brand fuel from 100-118 octane. and yes i know that 13:1 is a lott on the motor but all i want the motor to be is n/a. and as for ROBOT who responded: of course i know that parts arent included! if you click on the link in the inital message it showed you every thing that was offered at that price! i may be a little slow but im not dumb! :) please check it out maybe youll see somthing i prolly need. anyways its a rough way to start a project with the stuff i would like to have done. one question lastly ....
if i run higher compression it makes more power correct? and what parts would you suggest for the ratio? although its a vague question keep in mind that i would like to have the engine remain naturally aspriated. anyways thanks for lookin.

oo and i forgot to mention its not for my truck!!(my fault) theres a small place in algonquin that sells older cars and trucks . this guy is asking $2200 for a 72' nova with tubbed wells and a lifted ford 9in rear. really clean. its just an idea.

you can trust the words of wisdom these gentlemen are telling you, 13-1 on the street is not even close to being an everyday street car, plan on 1 or 2 days a month and very short trips at best. if you try and putt around it will load up, so you have to crack the throttle open from time to time. they are built to run best wide open. ive got close to 13-1 in a big block, last saturday i drove 28 miles and used almost 7 gallons of 110 sunoco @ 7.20 a gallon. now lets do the math here, $ 50.40 to go to a car show and back home. now i have to go and run the valves after 25 miles, and change the oil after 50 to 75 miles, 7 qts of 20w50 and a 7.00 filter, not to mention the reliability issues of a build like this on the street is horrible. but man it is a blast to drive!

Assuming this is going to be a drag strip car, you would need to O-ring the block, convert to steel main caps, use a light weight forged crankshaft, H-beam rods, a high quality forged piston (e.g., JE, Ross, etc.) with full floating pins, a single plane manifold with a Holley carburetor, solid roller cam, stud girtle. Because a 13:1 compression engine is going to put a lot of stress on an engine, you are going to have to build it appropriately. Like the commercial states, "You can pay me now, or pay me later." Good luck!

kool rummrumm i figured id be paying the whole time with this project! i understand about the parts you were telling me but i gotta ask... the main caps you said i need to convert, aren't they already steel? is is there a different machining process you are talkin about? i knew i was gonna need new ones because they are old a worn... o well later

Stock main caps are iron, like a block. Steel is much stronger. Splayed main caps are even better, but you have to convert a 2 bolt block for that. I wouldn't worry about that, however.

I have a 383 builded up and it has 10 5 to 1 comp. Flat tops bored 30 over with a hot cam and it runs fine on 93 octane. It does a little better with a oct booster added.. It dyno at 513 hp and 498 toruqe. It is not a daily driver due to gas mileage and the cam. It is a 41 chevy Hot rod for cruise night. Theres no way you can run 13 to 1 on pump gas and as a daily driver. It would make a good car for the strip but thats about it.And yes speed and hp cost.:)

hey man all i gotta say is at least some one here has faith on 383's!

yeah no ones got faith in my motors :LOL: :LOL: :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rumrumm

Assuming this is going to be a drag strip car, you would need to O-ring the block, convert to steel main caps, use a light weight forged crankshaft, H-beam rods, a high quality forged piston (e.g., JE, Ross, etc.) with full floating pins, a single plane manifold with a Holley carburetor, solid roller cam, stud girtle. Because a 13:1 compression engine is going to put a lot of stress on an engine, you are going to have to build it appropriately. Like the commercial states, "You can pay me now, or pay me later." Good luck!

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At 13 to 1 a good Fel Pro head 1003 gasket is just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

yeah no ones got faith in my motors :LOL: :LOL: :eek:

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I would have more faith in them if I built them myself.:LOL:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

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Well,I thought it was funny.:LOL:

hey the only thing on this engine im not doing is the machine work.... the rest i do......i think doing the work yourself is good b/c you know what crap will break and what you can do like beat the crap outta the engine and know itll last!

From Kitz statistics 101 -

If you were 99% proficient in the following 10 activities -
meaning 99 times out of 100 times you get each one exactly right independently.

block machining
crank install
piston ring installation
piston to rod assembly
rods to crank assembly
cam install
timing assembly
valve install
heads to block
manifold to heads

There is still a 9.6% probability that something in the assembly will fail.
That is - the probability of a successful entire build is 90.4%.

Statistically a good chance of success but 1 in 10 will have a problem of some sort.

youve messed up a few cars inn you day huh?? i mean if u kno the percetage of error down to the tenth of a percent...that means you must have done somthing wrong!!... any stories on how you messed up on anything... anyone?

my very first build, in shop class. I dinged the crank. Went through a couple sets of bearings figuring it out. got the crank polished, and all was well.

Next major prob was in building a ford 302. Got the distributor rotation backwards. OK, not a major problem, but it dam sure stopped my engine from running.

Next : crank ding was in an olds engine, I was building for a bud in the army. I caught that early, didn't destroy the bearing. just took some 400 grit to the ding, ( and the bearing ) worked it smoth, and the engine ran fine. It wasn't performance or anything special. He got plenty of miles out of that mille, so I obviously did ok.

Next major problem was in the 'chicken bone'. This was one of two 74 C10s I bought to make one good one and sell. It was a 350 which gave me no end of trouble. ( called chicken bone cause it was full of Churches' chicken boxes with bones ) SOMEHOW the dam fuel pump push rod bore got dinged up. NO idea how. It would run fine till it warmed up, then the push rod would sieze up. That would have been easy enough to diagnose except that the distributor also had a problem: the pickup coil lost its locator tit and would rock back and forth on its axis. The wires cracked where the left the distributor, and would intermittently short causing misfire. Diagnosing these two conditions simutaneously was a royal bEAtch. I STILL have extra fuel pumps from the trouble shooting process. ( and the engine has a pressure guage now ).

Had another ford 302 which I didn't build, only 'refreshed'. Dam thing ran like a top, but I tore it down to take a look. The bearings were on the outside edge of acceptability ( plastiguage ) so I installed a high volume oil pump. Dam thing had Quaker State build up like you wouldn't believe.. cleaned that gunk out. Learned a real good lesson: I had always cleaned and re-used oil pump pick ups rather than buy new ones. But this time, during cleaning, I accidentally depressed the screen. Popped it out and figured it would be ok. Well, I was wrong. Once the screen in the pickup depresses, you gotta replace it cause it will pop in during normal run. This 'popping in' is a feature designed by the engineers. When it pops in, it reveals the opening in the center, and allows oil to pass ( assuming the screen is plugged ). Anyway, I missed a piece of the nylon timing gear and it got caught in the oil pump. Caused the distributor shear pin to .. shear. major bummer. Had to pull the engine back out to fix.

Out of about 20 or so engines I have built, those are the only major probs that come to mind.