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Those with 383's

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pismorat

1/2 ton status
Joined
Oct 29, 2002
Posts
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Location
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Hey, I am thinking of dropping a 383 into my truck. I'd start with a 350 and do all the work myself, but had a few questions. How much power can you get out of one (comparable to a 400)?, around how much does the block work cost?, can it be made strong, but still CA smog legal?, do you recommend it? Thanks.
 
my 383 is smog legal cause my blazer is a 73'. :D
 
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If you get an aftermarket crank kits , like Scat's , you will not need to line bore the block , you can buy them with 350 sized mains . Whole kits will have the right sized pistons and rods for a little more .

You will need to clearance the block at the oil pan rails for the crank throws , and in most cases you will need to grind the rod bolts so they won't hit the camshaft .

When it comes time I can afford one myself , I am probably buying a pre-built shortblock .

They can be made powerful , its in the heads/cam/intake/exhaust , just like adding power to anything .
 
Hey Paul do you have smog out your way in AZ? In Mojave county there isn't any.

Pismorat just be carefull what you do my stock K5 was getting hard to smog in Cali before we left to Havasu. You could always move out here! Lots of eye candy! :D

FYI seems alot of SMOG Post for Cali are this way.CLICKY
 
As far as passing smog inspection, a 383 can definitely pass a visual inspection as long as all emissions equipment is attached to it. Nobody can tell the difference between a 383 and a 350 just by looking at it. The tail pipe sniffer test is the one to be concerned about. If you keep the compression down to no more than 8.5:1 and a mild RV cam (say 240 degree advertised duration) it should be able to pass the tail pipe sniffer test.

Now that I have given some specific numbers on how to build the engine, I am sure someone is going to disagree with me, so ignite your flamethrowers. :grin:
 
no problem getting 400horsepower with 9.6:1 compression and camshaft with 224/230 I/E @ .050 and .477 .480 lift on a 110 C/L with Vortec intake and heads. check out page 24 of the Scoggins Dickey catalog 2004 edition at the bottom of the page.
 
pauly383k10 said:
If you get an aftermarket crank kits , like Scat's , you will not need to line bore the block , you can buy them with 350 sized mains . Whole kits will have the right sized pistons and rods for a little more .

You will need to clearance the block at the oil pan rails for the crank throws , and in most cases you will need to grind the rod bolts so they won't hit the camshaft .

When it comes time I can afford one myself , I am probably buying a pre-built shortblock .

They can be made powerful , its in the heads/cam/intake/exhaust , just like adding power to anything .
Click to expand...

I was thinking of a 383 myself but all of the block work and machining was kind of making me want to just stay with my 350. So are you saying that you can purchase a 383 kit and will be able to avoid any machining. If so I would be interested in that. Wanted to make sure I understood you correctly. Thanks
 
383 don't really require any more machining than anything else. When I did mine, one of the rods had to be ground just a little to clear (before balancing of course). To do things right, the block has to be align honed, line bored, and check the deck height (and correct if necessary), and probably some more stuff that I am forgetting. 30 year old pieces of cast iron that have seen 150,000 miles of use do not hold their original casting specs (not to mention that machine work has become much more accurate than it used to be). Also, I chose not to use a Scat or Eagle crank because I have heard numerous stories of poor quality with them (cranks not being straight, deteriorating very quickly, etc), and big surprise, the cheapest cranks you can buy (Scat and Eagle) are made in Korea. I went with a forged GM 400 crank that I got from Dyno Pro in Denver for $275 (including having 350 size bearing journals). Its up to you what you want to do, but if you don't machine your block you will probably have trouble with it not too far down the road. Also, many people successfully run Scat and Eagle stuff, but I was not willing to risk it for the slightly greater cost.
 
I built my block and it was a fun experience. I did find that sometimes you cannot use a factory 350 oil pan cause when I put mine together I thought I had a loose rod and come to find out it was the crank rubbing the side of the pan from the longer stroke boy was I scared!! All in all its fairly easy, you'll most likely need a .030 bore, clearance the bottom of the deck for the new crank as someone said sometimes you'll need to clearance a rod for the cam but I was lucky on that too. I bought a scat 383 kit and she purrs like a kitten. But I also got a forged crank for extra strenght!!
 
So can 383's be reliable? My last motor went 20,000...needless to say I want more! I'd like to go 100,000+ if I could. I mostly drive it off-road or on the freeways to go off-road. Thanks.
 
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