383 build up

hi people,new guy here.i have a 71 chevelle with a mild 355 at the moment and am considering building a 383 for it over the winter.i'd like to hear your thoughts on the combo i'm contemplating.


late model 1 pc rear main seal 350 block w/arp main and head studs

scat 383 rotating assembly w/cast crank,i-beam rods and forged pistons

9.8:1 comp w/64cc chambers and total seal rings

comp cams thumper hyd roller cam and lifters

gear drive(for accuracy and a little noise)

regular volume oil pump w/cromo drive shaft

moroso road race oil pan(plan to autocross the crap out of it)

iron vortec style heads maybe engine quest performance castings.anyone tried them?

hardened pushrods and screw-in studs and guide plates

comp cams aluminum rockers(1.5:1 ratio)

edelbrock rpm air-gap intake

holley 770 cfm avenger carb

msd billet ready to run distributor,coil and wires w/ngk plugs

i have flowtech afterburner headers and like them,but am considering 1 3/4"primary headers instead.also have 2 1/2" dual exhaust w/dynomax super turbo mufflers now,but thinking flowtech warlock mufflers w/electric cutouts just to scare the hondas a bit at the track.

so,whattya think?the car has a turbo 350 with a shift kit and a 2500 rpm stall and 3:36:1 gears now,but i have a saginaw 4spd sitting on the garage floor(a 5 or 6 spd would be better of course)i'm thinking of putting in.i'm looking forward to your feedback guys,so don't be shy.  

Your combo sounds good, except for your Thumper cam choice, not my fav for making power.
Your Saginaw will not handle the torque of a 383 for very long.
WHY, beause the Sagiaw has 4 forward gears and reverse in the main case. This mean the gears are narrow and much weaker than a Muncie or Borg Warner Super T-10,,, these tranmissions have only the 4 forward gears in the main case, with reverse in the extension housing. This allows for wider, stronger gears. These boxes will handle your 383 power, with no problem.
 
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Professional hi-performance engine builder
Horsepower sells Engines and torque wins races.

thanks for the input guys.the thumper cam isn't written in stone,it was that one or the extreme energy xr282hr hyd roller.i've seen good things with the extreme energy cams so that's the one i picked out.i'm hoping for about 425hp and a nice flat torque curve for the street and occasional track use.sound reasonable?the saginaw's also just an option i got for cheap(traded an old sled for it).got the bellhousing too,supposed to be from a 65 el camino.maybe i'll just sell it.anything to feed the small budget y'know.  

Hey man, i'm new to this forum, but I saw your question and thought i'd reply.  I have a 69' chevelle that weighs 3540lb with driver with a mild 383 in it and am running in the 7.70 range with 26" tall DOT tires in the eight mile.  I think you'll be satisfied with the 383.  The only thing I think you'll want to consider is to change that carb. to a smaller double pumper I never thought the vacuum secondary carbs were worth anything and that is a little big with the size torque converter you have.  Also you might want to consider a larger exhause system with the larger size headers you have on it.  I'm only running cheap 1 5/8 tube headers with a 3" inch piping and it seems to provide great torque.  Sounds like a great combo and good luck with it.  

The larger exhaust will only help the top end power band. Is that the idea??..  
skyeking

It depends what he wants out of it but if you put those 1 3/4 headers with a large exhaust, then yeah it would be top end but if he puts on 1 5/8 headers with large exhaust he should maintain good torque at the lower rpms.  It would make no sense to put large headers and small exhaust that would definitley not be efficient at scavenging the exhaust at all, whether your looking for top end or low end power.  Everything must match and work in harmony, if you go big on one go big on the other, atleast thats my experience and what i've found that works for me.  

thanks for your opinion dude.my '71 weighs about the same as yours and it moves ok with the 355 so i'm excited to see what the 383 will do.i'm running a 600cfm 1850 holley converted to center hung bowls and a "soft" secondary spring and it has lots of snap out of the hole,so i thought maybe the 770cfm would work with the bigger engine.a 650cfm double pumper might be a possibilty though.i'm not too concerned with ultimate top end power as much as good torque from the bottom through the midrange.if i want more on the top maybe i'll slap it with a 100-150hp shot at the strip.then i'll probably really need the 3" exhaust.  

Those heavy cars like ours likes more torque, so I think you'll be real happy with the 383.  If you need any info on mine or anything that can help just let me know, I mixed and matched a lot of parts to get mine running faster, so maybe I can help ya without you spending a lot of wasted money.  Thats the great thing about these forums, find out what really works so you don't have to spend a ton of cash.  Good luck to ya.  

sounds good,i will.thanks.  

Check out this thread. A young gun did a real nice street 383 with great results. He posted everyting as he went along-

Got all the 383 parts in
http://forums.chevyhiperformance.com/70/8308974/general-discussion/got-all-the-383-parts-in/index.html











 
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a couple thoughts for ya,tri-y headers,an accusump oil accumulator,a snow water/methanol injector system,burn 87 octane fuel and save money.  

Your Carb choice will be fine... I had a 383 with a Comp XE284 Cam, air gap, Dart Pro1 200cc heads and a Demon 750... the out of box Demons flow more than the out of box Holleys, and I had NO Problem with torque down low... in a 4000 Lbs Vehicle. I did have 3.73 Gears... What do you have for Gears?  

this post is almost 6 months old.  

Yup,,, newcomers raising the dead,,, but that's OK Joe, no biggie

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder