383 Question

I am currently working on a new project with my younger brother and we are thinking about installing a 383 stroker into his 1971 Chevelle. My brother is very knowledgeable in the automotive field, but I have limited experience.

At this point we have started to do the research and we have drafted a list of parts that we plan to use.

He is really excited about building the engine, but after I saw the price of the listed parts, I wanted to do some more research. I found several places online that could build a 383 for less than the cost of the parts.

Here are my questions:
Have a lot of members built a 383 stroker engine? What’s the difficulty rating?
Have a lot of members purchased a 383 engine? If so, did the company allow you to customize the engine?
Does anyone know a good, reliable company to purchase the engine from? Preferably in the Northeast, but I will take suggestions from anywhere in the US.
How much should I expect to pay for this engine if I build it or if I buy it?
Is there anything else I should be aware of?
All other suggestions related to this topic are welcome.
Thanks,
Joe

I built mine. Its the little stuff that is a pain..if you start from scratch..
Would I do it again ? NOPE. I am still working out minor issues and I am not please with the power curve. I made it too much of a hot rod. Power comes in at 3500 rpm. Its a solid roller cam. I have considered selling it and dropping a GM crate in. (HT383)
Funny thing, I was gonna post a topic about how CHEAP used motors are. Seems like people are scared of what others have built.
One guy on here had a KILLER deal on the swap meet and no one is interested in it. Its all good stuff..
Next project gets one of the GM crate motors.. Hopefully the LS2 stuff will be easier to deal with by then. (its pretty easy now).

i have done both building it myself and bought one built...building it is pretty much par for any engine, i had the machine shop put the lower end together for me.
the company i bought mine from was fantastic about customizing to get what i wanted http://www.enginefactory.com/ talk to matt. he can answer allot of your questions and the web site has a ton of info too! stay away from the built motors on e-bay...and when you find a company/price that looks good post it here and see if people have had interaction with that company...

Here's a nice 500hp 383.... for a pricey $7,700

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevySmallBlockV8s/383-500.html

[This message has been edited by Sc0tt_again (edited March 18, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Sc0tt_again (edited March 18, 2005).]

Build it!
More for your money dissasemble a crate motor on paper price the parts, now what could you have done with the leftover money?

I think as much as you will spend you might as well have it built by a reputable builder and it's under warranty.

Here's a few idea's.
383 500HP $6,995 Turnkey motor
http://www.dallasexportsales.com/383500TK.htm

383 425HP $5250 Turnkey motor
http://www.dallasexportsales.com/383425TK.htm

These are the guys I was working with for a few months on a motor build (cheapest cost) and then I decided to buy a GM crate ZZ454. For the price VS the 383, you can get a 500HP off the crate big block crate motor without the Dist/Starter

[This message has been edited by Aceshigh (edited March 18, 2005).]

I would certainly buy a "crate"motor over building one. There are so many different components that you can use for this build up that the more people you ask(Just like this question!!!)the more different opinions you will get on cam selection,heads,intake manifolds etc.The well known companies like Edelbrock or G.M. have unlimited money for research and development of various engine combos(383/377/427) of small blocks and test them to the endth(spelling?)degree.They also have a warranty whuch later may come in handy. http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif

I had the same dilema when I did the BB in my car.I went with a crate motor for the simple fact that ALL parts are NEW. Yes they are a little more money but in the long run you can't beat them.There are many combos out there for a 383 because that's what I looked into first.By the time you do all the running & leg work, buy the parts, assemble etc., the crate motor is still a deal.You either put the money out in dribbles or at one time. That is what it boils down to. with the 383's getting more popular all you have to do is pick your poison.

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'79 Z28 ZZ454 4-speed 4.10 Black w/tan interior.Goodmark Cowl hood, 17" TT2's, Flowmasters.

I guess I trust myself good enough to build my own, "mild", "tow-truck", type motors.

I have about $3800 to $4000 in my mild, 550Hp at 5500rpm and 580T at 4500 rpm homemade 496" BB.

To me GOOD value for the money, but by NO stretch a "balls-out" hi-po motor either, imho...

And I now know I can buy complete rotating assemblies WAY down the line so I know I can duplicate it again for quite a bit less money!!

He, He!! OR spend the same money and get MORE POWER!!

pdq67

I think everyone should have a crack at building their own motor once. I really enjoyed it , and it gave me a huge boost in confedence. It really helps having good people around you to point you in the right direction. I'm happy I did,That being said,
I'll be buying my next 383. You just can't beat the Warranty, dyno papers to prove the numbers and did I mention the warranty http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif This is a hobby for me, I don't wrench for a living anymore, and I have a family. I would be pissed if I spent 3,000 to 5,000 in parts and gobs of personal time just to turn the key and scatter it, Or worst yet--not get the numbers you where looking for.

I had a long block professionally built (read warrented) with a solid bottom end aftermarket heads, balanced

I put the alternator, fuel pump, headers, distributor, carb and brackets. Everything else was done and they even painted it for me.

Price, out the door 3K. I tipped the owner of the shop (because I did not feel like he charged me enough for his time in clearancing and balancing the piece) and we have since become friends.

This may be another route for you. A cask crank, balanced bottom end with hyper u's and rods set me back $1100 of the 3 but the shop assured me that it would take nearly any (non bottle fed or charged) upgrades that I wanted to make later.

A turnkey motor would be a beautiful thing, I am not that knowlegable and still working out some issues. PLUS after I picked my motor up, and adding the price of a new Holley carb I am sure that I quickly spent another 1K on all the stuff to make it run.

My point is, if you can find a reputable shop, you can choose the components and have somebody else build something that they will stand behind for significantly less than some of the listed crate motor prices.

I guess that it is a matter of taste and vision. I WILL build my own engine next time as I have learned a lot about it and would have the watchful eye of my friend the machinist!!

Good luck, whatever route you go.
Brent

I payed a local guy to machine and assemble my motor about 8 years ago and after that all on my own but he let me watch and help and it was very helpful, I was very pleased with both the motor and the experience.

I have gotten alot of satisfaction out of building my own in the past. Especially the 400 small block I built for my last camaro ('78). The engine for my '81 I did the combo thing mentioned above. I had a stout 4 bolt main '72 350 truck block built to my specs and then I added all the rest. Machine shop bare block prep, parts, my time, no warranty, etc. would have cost me probably an extra $500 or so vs what I paid for a short block with a guarantee built to my specs.
Total cost for my mild 355 after ported 305H.O. heads, dist, intake and carb was about $1800. I don't think you can buy a complete engine with over 300hp for that.
Do what you feel comfortable with, but don't be afraid of building your own.

I built my last two 383's and clearancing the block and rods was the only thing that was somewhat difficult. I plan on another 383 build later this year also. Honestly it might be kinda dumb not to just go buy one since there are alot of reputable builders selling them at reasonable prices w/warranties but I have all these nice tools to aid in building engines. So why let them go to waste http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif Hearing an engine you built fire up for the first time is pretty awesome too.

If your not very experienced in engine building,, you have to ask yourself... "If I screw up, can I afford to loose the investiment in parts" and probably just as important,,, "how am I going to learn if I keep paying someone else to do it".
Building a stroker motor is no light task. You have to have PATIENTS and lots of them. I mean the whole thing was NOT supposed to fit together, and it usually doesn't. It's the builders job to ensure not only that clearances like piston to wall, crank/rod bearings, ring gaps, side clearance and end play, valve to piston clearance and all the 'normal' stuff is right,,, but now we throw rod to cam, piston to crank, rod bolt to block clearance issues. EACH rod and piston assembly has to be 'fit' to it's new home. And EACH will require a varied amount of clearancing and NO ONE can just jump in there and tell you 'where' and 'now much'. Each block has it's own little idiosyncrasies and clearance issues will vary from motor to motor. Heck one of the guys here (Damon as I remember) put a 383 together a few years ago and NEVER had to grind anything. The motor just fell together without all of the normal stress of wondering when the carbide bit was going to dig through a hole in the casting.

All I can say is if you don't go for it, you can't buy that pride of building your own motor from the bottom up. Is it too hard for the guy with limited experience?,, I don't think so. Is it too hard as a first engine build? Eaaahhh that ones a definate maybe. Is it too hard for someone who wants to rush through things and not check EVERY little detail? ABSOLUTELY!

The down side of buying a stroker (or any motor for that matter) is there are a lot of jerks, sloppy machinists, and scam artists out there. It's real easy to get burned if you don't have your hands in things and pay attention. I can build you a 383 short block for around $400. Hone any old junk block, used 400 cast crank turned down, used short 400 rods with fresh bolts, and cheap cast 350 pistons. It IS a 383 and you couldn't sue me. I could also spend 10 times that amount to build you a first class piece tolerant of 1000HP. KNOW what you buying and get a detailed list of the components. OR buy the components you want and pay a competant machine shop to fit things together. My machinist charges $125 to rough clearance a production casting for a 3.75" stroke. He charges $550 to assemble (and final clearance everything) on a race motor with your parts, + $225 for balancing.

Soooo this is definately a 'make your choices, pay your money, and live with the results' situation for sure.

------------------
Proud member of the "bright side"
Track toy (http://www.small-block-chevy.com/nova.htm)
Weekend Grocery getter (http://www.small-block-chevy.com/md_toy.htm)

I rebuilt my 1st motor when I was 17. I just had a little experience in autoshop and I used the invaluable book "How to Rebuild Your Small Block Chevy." That book is a MUST-READ!

I was proud driving around with my own rebuilt engine, but I was a little disappointed with the power results. It wasn't much faster than the stock motor I took apart.

In my opinion, everyone should rebuild an engine at least once, at least for the learning experience. I'm glad I did. But in the future, I will buy assembled short blocks and heads. They're a good deal when you add up the cost of parts and your time.

I would have to vote for building it yourself. Over the years I have built 10 or 12 stroker-de stroked engines and feel that doing it yourself will always be better in the end.There are lots of quality crate motors on the market,but remember that the people who assemble these engines are probably under a deadline on each engine and can't spend the time it takes to make everything perfect. I figure if I built the engine myself and there is a problem, I have no one to blame but myself.

Check the 383 kits that Speed-O-Motive (speedomotive.com) has. You can use one of their kits to build the engine yourself. That way you can have the fun and experience of building your own engine without the headache of having to invent the wheel.

On ebay there are several 100% favorable rated engine builders building 383(400 to 500+ HP.) Prices are 2800 up to 4900. about 3000 for 440HP. That's prob. what I'll do for my next motor. It's been fun, and its nearly done but still have a little more assembly to do befor I can drop it in the 78. Money spent has been a little less, but the labor (since I'm very deliberate)has been a lot. It would be a lot quicker to buy one ready to run. Depends on how time you have.

Fixin' a 77Z,78Z and a 80Z. I must be crazy!

Vegadan has been trying to unload a beautiful 383 in the swap meet section. If I was anywhere near him I would have grabbed it already. Check it out! You certainly could not build it for what he is asking for it!

<font face="Arial,Verdana" size="2">Originally posted by Cardinal:
Check the 383 kits that Speed-O-Motive (speedomotive.com) has. You can use one of their kits to build the engine yourself. That way you can have the fun and experience of building your own engine without the headache of having to invent the wheel.</font>

Lowend is the guy here that is the hookup over at Speedomotive. I called him for a bulletproof 383 stroker build, and he was fairly close to the cost of the first link I posted. I think with all 4340 components and AFR 195 heads he quoted me $7200. My plans were to build a supercharged motor though.

I was close to ordering it, then someone showed me the ZZ454 crate with 500HP and Alum heads for almost $2000 less and that 383 wasn't so appealing anymore. It depends on if you are supercharging, or turbocharging though. For the price, you really CANNOT beat the raw grunt of the Big Block which is cheaper I might add. The dark side bit me hard...........

[This message has been edited by Aceshigh (edited March 26, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Aceshigh (edited March 26, 2005).]

<font face="Arial,Verdana" size="2">Originally posted by Aceshigh:
Lowend is the guy here that is the hookup over at Speedomotive. </font>

Ohhhh when Brett sees that he's going to blow a cork, we worked for the SpeedMerchant in northern cali. Speed-o-motive,,,,,,, all I can say is buyer beware!!!!!!!!!! They have a poor reputation. All your getting from there is a box of parts. It's still up to YOU to decide if they really go together or not.

I just wanted to jump in here and say Speed-O-Motive sucks. One of their ads states something like..."are you tired of buying kits with cheap Chinese parts?" Well in the stroker kit I got, the only USA made parts were the bearings. We were also charged for brands of parts that we didn't receive and charged some shipping when the ad said it was free. After complaining, we were told that they would refund $500 and pay for us to have a local machine shop check the balance of my crankshaft (that, they got right). But, I have never received a penny from them and they ignore my emails. Guess, I'll never buy anything from them again!

Built it yourself. That said, be careful about it, don't rush it.

I had never been inside an engine before and I built my stroker by myself in the garage. Lots of double checking things online: torque settings, break-in procedures, assembly lubrication, etc. are all things to keep in mind. It also helped that I invested a bit of extra money to buy forged pistons, rods, and a steel crank.

The process took me about 2 months. I started from scratch with a 4-bolt main block i bought for like $100, (get one that hasnt been bored). Took it to a machine shop and gave it the complete prep service: hot tank, bore, hone, line hone, clearanced for the pushrods (Important if you're not buying pre-made stroker rods) , Had fresh bearings installed, freezeplugs, etc. (I got a sweet deal, but I think the work was worth about $400)

Then, i bought a complete stroker rotating assembly, (helped a lot as there was no risk of mis-matching parts). The kit came with pistons, rods, flexplate, balancer, bearings, rings, and a crank. The nicest part was that the crank and rods were factory clearanced for a 350 block. ($950)

After buying a carb, intake, cam, lifters, roller rockers, and aluminum heads: I probably spent about $3000. This includes everything needed to build the engine except for the front accessories and headers.

If you feel intimidated, good. Just make sure to double check your work and throw a few extra bucks in the right places so you can sleep at night. It will still end up much, much cheaper than having someone build it for you. Plus, you'll learn a lot.

Wow! Thread from 7 years ago...hope the o/p has made a decision by now, but good to re-advise him in case he's still scratching his head.

Wow! Thread from 7 years ago...hope the o/p has made a decision by now, but good to re-advise him in case he's still scratching his head.

LOL, I didn't even notice! The dude before me bumped it :screwup: