Thread: dunno which motor to put in my malibu...

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Originally posted by FMXhellraiser
Yeah not sure who told you about that 383 thing but I hear a ton of good things about 383's. My friend has one and never had any problems with his. As long as your crank is machined right and everything is up to specs and built good you shouldn't have any problems.
But I still think you should just keep the 355 and do what Stu Cool said. Also you never really specified what kind of power you are looking for? You wan't more of a bottom end kind or what?

well yea im looking for that bottom end power.. but every now and then i do wanna be able to run out the track..

Yeah then gearing is the best thing to do at first. I know this isn't the same as a car but it works the same way but when I race motocross and people ask me what I think the best modification I can do to their bike to make bottom end better or anything I always tell them to gear it differenty like bigg sprocket in the back or such. Same will go with a car of course. Don't get nothing like 4.56 if your running on the highway and things like that a lot. But yeah an OD tranny would be sweet. I am trying to figure out if I wan't a 700R4 OD tranny or just a 400.

a 4.10 ratio would be the limit for street gears but even then, depending on trans ratio, you'd be doing 3500 RPM @ 60 MPH but is still fairly drivable.

FMX, how about putting a Muncie M22 Close ratio 4spd in your car instead of a automatic?. If your big blocking, the 700R4 may go bad eventully if the engine puts out enough torque and hp, it is not the best choice for a big block.

Matt,

It takes a pretty small tire to hit 3500 RPM @60 MPH - 22.5" to be exact.

With a normal size tire (28"), 60 mph = 2952 RPM.

the formula is: RPM = (336 x gear ratio x mph) / tire dia.

Also, I'm curious where your info on 700/R4s comes from.

If your big blocking, the 700R4 may go bad eventully if the engine puts out enough torque and hp, it is not the best choice for a big block.

It's possible, and not horribly expensive, to build a 700/R4 to handle 600 HP. It's all in the setup and the cooling system. You can get one to handle 450 HP for a little over a grand, which will handle most street driven big blocks. A 630 HP unit goes for about $1300. The converter is extra, of course.

And that .70 overdrive ratio gives you a little over 2000 RPM @ 60 MPH with 28" tires and 4.10 gears. Go to 3.73's, and you drop to 1875 RPM.

Further, in first gear, a 700/R4 with 3.73 gears is equivalent in final drive ratio to a Muncie with 5.18's.

Henry, what would you reccommend if I wan't this car for a street/strip car. I will only drive it on the weekends and once in a while but mostly at the strip. Automatic or manual? Also should I look into just getting a already built up tranny from Summit or something?
Any info is greatly appreciated. Oh also what gears as well do you think would be good for good low end hard launches and all? Like I said, this car won't be an everyday drive or nothing, just something to cruise in once in a while and take to the hot rod meets around here and the rest of the time at the strip.

3.73's would be a more street drivable gear ratio but the 4.10 would remain fairly good street ratio but would gain a little better ET at the track

FMX,

To be honest with you, I can't tell from post to post what the heck you want to do with this car. Are you building a street rod, a cruiser, a rat rod, a drag car? I've seen every one of these options in the last couple of weeks, and every one of them takes a different setup. People give you a combo to do one thing, and three days later, you're off on another track and want another ton of information on how to do something else. I'm willing to help, but man, you're wearing me out.

Now it's mostly for the strip? There's not enough information in your post to tell you much of anything. There are drag cars . . . and then there are drag cars. Class racer, bracket racer? How fast? 11's? 12's? 13's?. Do you REALLY want to go out less than a dozen times a year and spend the rest of the time fixing parts and trying to get it running consistently?

Henrey, I got that info off Trucks, they were building copperhead, the 1967 Chevy c10 powered by 572 620 horse street engine Stacey said it would be nice for a 700r4 overdrive but the trans woulden't take it because they were weak, they put an overdrive unit on a 400. I'd trust you first though, seems as though sometimes, shows like that want you to buy the billion dollar peices they use on the show and they say the lower dollar peices won't work when, often they will.

Henry, I don't wan't it to be a rat rod now. I just wanted to see some idea's of what this car would look like rat rodded but not worth it to me. Now I don't wan't a full out drag car here. Just something like I said that will be cruised around and taken to the strip about every other weekend or so to the local tracks. I would like to run in low 12's or 11's, that would be nice but I think you may get what I mean now. Sorry about all the stuff I post all over but mostly I am just trying to find out about the brakes, chassis, rear end, etc. I already know how I wan't the car to look and sit so that's out of the way, I know what size tires I will put on now and that's out of the way and almost got the money for that.

FMX, while I admire your eagerness and exuberience on your build, you got to realize that before you start a build you have to have it planned out. You can't start buying parts here and there until you know exactly what you need to build what you want. Otherwise you are going to end up buying a lot of stuff (if you change your plan in mid stream) that you don't need and believe me you are going to end selling them for a substantial loose.

Set down, write up your plan for the car, figure what you need and buy only that. You have to have a goal or it's never going to get done. Just a word from the "been there, done that" generation.

Thanks for the tip there Fordman. I have done that actually. Only thing that I have not planned out yet is the brakes and how I am going to tub this thing out and suspension. I need to get my front end taken care of and then the rear end. I know most of the stuff I wan't now but need more info on the rear, etc. One more quick question before I forget, my upper ball joint on the car is rivetted in instead of pressed in so does that mean I need a whole upper arm instead or what would I do if I drilled them out and took the old ones out, how would the new one's stay held in?

Originally posted by FMXhellraiser
One more quick question before I forget, my upper ball joint on the car is rivetted in instead of pressed in so does that mean I need a whole upper arm instead or what would I do if I drilled them out and took the old ones out, how would the new one's stay held in?

No, you cut the rivets and then the new ball joints bolt in using high grade bolts that come with them. To order the new joints you need to know approximately what car the front end came out of. I remember you said it wasn't original. In the old days, we used to chisel the heads off, then warm rivets up with a torch and drive them out with a hammer and punch. Now adays it's a lot easier with air tools. Air chisel the heads off and air punch the rivets out. Quick, easy and efficient.

so the 700/r4 and the 3.73 gear setup is whats is pretty much need to be able to drive the car and get some power down at the track.. now as far as the engine is concerned im goin with a 383..i just found out that my block is a 2 bolt block..and since its bored .30 ova already, i dont wanna have issues with overheating if it has to be bored more..

So NOW ladies and gents.. if i want a reliable 383 motor should, can i keep my stock 350 heads.. and buy a short block to save a lil cash right off. and get better heads later.. or is that a no go.. and should i buy a engine rebuild kit, or just take it to a shop and have em do it? any suggestion of sites that em for a good price.. to tell the truth right now as this point in time i have 1800..and im tryna get my car to run soon..

Malibu,

An assembled short block is going to run you $1,800 - $2,000. A stroker kit would run $600 - $900, then you've got some machine shop costs to add on top of that. If I were going to a stroker, I would buy a reputable stroker kit, have the block machined to fit, and do the assembly myself. However, if you chose to go that way, you need to make sure the block can be bored out to .060 BEFORE you buy the kit - otherwise, you're going to be looking for another block.

However, think about this. An upgraded cam and some good heads would make a massive improvement in your 355 for a lot less money. Something like a Performer RPM intake, cam and head combo. If you've got a good intake manifold, the cam and head combo would work. Edelbrock 7102 cam & kit ($188) and 60719 heads ($489 Each). Good from 1500 - 6500 RPM.

If you want to add more rump-rump (2500 - 6500 RPM) and less street driveability, the Torker II package - same heads, different cam (#5002 - $178) and Torker II single plane manifold (#5001 - $96).

There are choices . . . and there are choices.