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350 vs. 383

Rally Smith

Rally Smith

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I have a 89 K1500. Trying to decide to rebuild the old 350 and put vortec heads etc. on it or would I be better served with a 383. I have been tuning for a couple of years on my 95 K1500. So I'm know I'll be tuning regardless. Also I have a EBL installed in the Blazer already. It's mainly a fun driving/mountain rig. 15mpg would be nice but know it's probably not very likely.

Thanks for the help in advance.
 
Not going to argue with the newer stuff being better, but if you are dead set on the SBC, where are you wanting to get 15MPG? Should have no problem getting that on the freeway with TBI. Offroad (or stop and go traffic) you could probably put any gas engine in there you want and it will still run less than 15MPG.

Look at the "1985" in my sig. As far as I'm concerned that combination should be the epitome of gas MPG in one of these trucks, yet I don't do any better freeway than I did with a carb. More power and the driveability is way better, but comparing MPG alone it made little to no difference.

Have you done lean cruise in it? That may buy you a couple more MPG on the highway.
 
If you could get the parts cheap, it would make sense to do the 383. But to just go buy everything adds on at least several hundred dollars. In all engine build/rebuild scenarios these days it makes sense to look at used LS engines. That opens a new can of worms in terms of getting it running, but you also skip the whole engine build portion. Some have put carbs on LS engines because they fear the electronics, but if MPG is a concern, a full running LS engine is exactly what you want.
 
350

That being said, it is hard to argue with a GEN III small block.

Martin
 
Putting an LS in it isn't an option for me. I don't want to dump a ton of money and time into swapping over.
 
So for under $3k you can get an LS1 and the computer to run it? That will work with my transmission?
 
LS swaps can be done that are costly, and some can be done pretty cheap. Mine was much more on the costly side, mainly because I went through a shop and just purchased a "turn key" (:haha::rolleyes:) 6.0L swap with everything that I was supposed to need, delivered to me with no runs to the wrecking yard dealing with those toothless idiots that run those places.

My headers alone were $700, but a guy doesn't have to buy headers.

Starting with a 5.3 a guy can swap one in for fairly inexpensive. It also depends on how mechanically inclined a person is too. If you can't take apart an LS harness and read the pinout schematics, then tack on another $700 or so for a new or modified harness.
 
rjfguitar said:
LS swaps can be done that are costly, and some can be done pretty cheap. Mine was much more on the costly side, mainly because I went through a shop and just purchased a "turn key" (:haha::rolleyes:) 6.0L swap with everything that I was supposed to need, delivered to me with no runs to the wrecking yard dealing with those toothless idiots that run those places.

My headers alone were $700, but a guy doesn't have to buy headers.

Starting with a 5.3 a guy can swap one in for fairly inexpensive. It also depends on how mechanically inclined a person is too. If you can't take apart an LS harness and read the pinout schematics, then tack on another $700 or so for a new or modified harness.
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Lol at the toothless part because its so true.

I've been seeing 5.3s with around 100k on the clock for $500 all day long. Even stock youre essentially gaining 120ish hp and 110ish ftlbs of torque over the stock 350. slap on a few bolt ons and youre rockin pretty good. I've been researching the 383 kits for the 5.3 and the numbers are really impressive. Im thinking of heading that route myself.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Lol at the toothless part because its so true.

I've been seeing 5.3s with around 100k on the clock for $500 all day long. Even stock youre essentially gaining 120ish hp and 110ish ftlbs of torque over the stock 350. slap on a few bolt ons and youre rockin pretty good. I've been researching the 383 kits for the 5.3 and the numbers are really impressive. Im thinking of heading that route myself.
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After my last wrecking yard experience, I'm sick of those people. Went looking for a steering column and rear end for my F350 PSD and 3 different yards said they had both, and all 3 magically lost everything during the short drives to them. Half the time they have no clue what they have or don't have. If I ran my businesses like that I'd be bankrupt.

Anyway.... It really is a no brainer for the most part. To build a decent small block that makes 350+HP, a guy is looking at $3,000 or more, go with a 383 and it's closer to $4K, with decent heads too. 5.3 swap costs about the same and you have good power, good fuel mileage, and most importantly a smooth idling engine that is easy to keep cool and runs perfect 100% of the time. Yep, no brainer.
 
Im kinda old school, I like my smallblocks.

If needs to be bored a 383 is the way to go. Other wise can't beat a healthy 350.

I've got a vortec headed 383, unsure on hp. Around 400 or so. It's a great motor, roller cam makes a big difference. It has a fair sized cam in it, sure doesn't sound like it at idle though.

The ls stuff looks Tempting, just not my cup of tea yet.
 
I can supply a ready to run kit on a pallet minus transmission for 1.5 - 2 k. Price varies depending on engine and mileage. That would be a 5.3/6.0 with all ACC drive, converted harness and ecm.

My stuff is matched pull out parts not a little of this and a little of that with a crap car tune. The tune on the ecm is good enough to max the injector duty cycle at around 12.5 to 1 under full load. With the stock 24-26lb injector thats right about 375 horse. Don't believe me, follow the link in my sig. With the right intake, injectors and better valve spring we made 421 HP on a stock 6.0.

ON the 5.3 with our Baby Cam we made 411 hp and 400 lbft. Thats still a street able no lope cam that only has to rev to 6200. Max HP is made before redline. Max torque is made way before redline.

If you are TBI already then the fuel system is easy. Its not hard if you aren't but with a TBI system you can change the fuel pump in the tank on the cheap.
 
Team208Motorsports said:
I can supply a ready to run kit on a pallet minus transmission for 1.5 - 2 k. Price varies depending on engine and mileage. That would be a 5.3/6.0 with all ACC drive, converted harness and ecm.
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Sooooo.... badly wish I would have found you a year ago. That is a great price, I paid way too much for basically the same thing except mine came with an extra box full of f$&k ups and headaches.

Still need to pull my PCM, box it up, and send it to you. The more I drive it, the more I realize how F'd my tuning actually is.
 
rjfguitar said:
That is a great price, I paid way too much for basically the same thing except mine came with an extra box full of f$&k ups and headaches.
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Sorry, had to quote it...... :rolleyes:

I'll get you running right!! Give me a call tomorrow, with the right info I can just burn you an ecm and send it. Then you send me yours as a core.

Now back to the OP's thread. Honestly, if you build an old school engine that does what you want... You win. Hell, if you get what you want out of any build then its a win.

I ran a nice warm little 383 in my 74 3/4 ton for the past 5-6 years. I loved that engine, just ask BlazinZuk. It was no slouch and I had way more $$ in it that I ever would have swapping in a mild build LQ4 that would have done the same thing and been injected. Hind sight is 20/20 though. I thought about converting it to coil on plug multiport and running the gen 3 gm injection but, agian, I would have more in that than a modern engine.

If you like old school that's absolutely fine but think about how you want to feed it and how you want it to run. TBI will only support so much, carbs are great until they aren't and aftermarket self tune systems :dunno:. Be real with the expectations and the use, then put together the best plan for that. In the end thats what you will enjoy the most.
 
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