Hi everyone, Im new to this site, my name is Steve. I own a 83 z28 I know its not 2nd gen but hopefully you guys dont mind. Ive been seeking other help but im looking for some fresh eyes to give me a hand. Here is the 383 combo I plan on building:

Chev 383
Eagle H beam connecting rods
Eagle 3.75 crank
TRW 10.63:1 flat top pistons
afr 190cc with 64 cc chambers ported 2.02/1.6 valves
Comp Cams hydraulic roller, with 235/242° of duration @ 0.050 in. of lift, and 0.555/0.576 in. of lift (Corrected valve lift with 1.6:1 rockers is 0.592/0.614 in.)
Comp cams 1.6 rockers
edlebrock victor intake
holley 4165 800cfm with choke horn milled off
Maybe a small shot of nitrous on top of that {50?}
If it matters to anyone it will also have a windage tray and aluminum valve covers.

The goal is 500-550hp leaning more towards 550 if possible. Itll be hooked up to a 700r4 with 2500-3000 stall {hopefully that stall will do it} then id like to get the highest gears possible right now ive got 3.73 posi but i was looking at 3.36's or something like that, my friend is trying to convince me on... 3.08's? I believe thats what it was whatever is in his 67 chevelle. If anyone knows of any more "economical" heads than the afr's id like to hear about them. Im looking for bare aluminum heads capable of 500-550 hp with some hand porting. Im looking to make top end speed out of my camaro, Ill take it to the 1/4 mile every now and then but im not worried about times it would be purely for fun.

Also my current 350 I believe has upgraded 5.7 inch rods and 0.030 flat top pistons {im not positive it came with the car}. Would I be able to use these instead of the eagles and the trw's? I was told something about the 350 pistons not being able to work because of the piston pin hole?

I also just read on this forum about the possibility of a 3.875" crank and 0.030 over creating a 396, I am very intrested. Im trying to make the most power out of a 350 block as I can. I thought the 383 would have been fun but the business of a 396 has spiked my interest! Is this a very streetable engine? By the way my car is going to be 90% street. Any over heating problems or anything I may want to take into consideration? How much work is all the clearanceing compared to a 383? Thanks any extra info you may have for me is greatly appreciated!

Thanks Steve

Ok I just read a thread a bit furthur down, it seems as if most people here dont reccomend trying for big horsepower on a gm 4 bolt block. The block I planned on using was a 4 bolt out of a 86 {I think} chevy short box truck. I also read about filling the water jackets, would this help me? Would it make my motor overheat easily? I also read about the crank moving could this be stopped by useing high end bearings and getting the block remained? Its just that if I have to buy a new block ill have to spend a bunch of my budget and have to wait and if im gonna buy a block I want the LSx so that will make me wait even longer. Then Ill want to bore it out and put in a huge crank then ill have to wait even longer! This isnt looking good lol. I think in terms of the block we'll forget about the downfalls of the stock block right now and think about the rest of the combo.

Thanks Steve

Im with you stevey Im in the same boat buddy! With nearly the same combo only 195 afrs and a sollid roller. It seems that no matter what or where you read there is somthing out there telling you to spend more money.

It seems that there are two types of engine builds these days the one's absolutly buy the cheapest stuff avail (hyper pistons ect) and the ones that build 454 small blocks using the best money can buy!
And then there are guys like us(ok so there 3 types of builds) trying to find the middle ground some how and no matter what we will ALWAYS be frowned upon by a few of the guys who have the best. Wich is not there fault by no means I dont blame them I would buy the same things if I could but I am where I am in life and between the House payment's and the Bill's I try and fit in as much as i can.

For some of us we just cant have the Billet splayed 4 bolt motown block!
what I say is not ment to step on anyones toe's just somthing I have always observed not just in this sport but in Anything people are involved in.

So I say buy the best YOU can aford! Learn as much as you possible can!
And put it together as well as it can be put together for your $
And then you have done all that you personaly can do with your resorces.

Nothing I say is directed towards anyone so please dont think it is!

Thanks 64Boxcar. Yea maybe someday I will have one of those fancy blocks but until then Im young and this build is stretching my budget as it is. I hope you can find your way with your build. Im actually really interested in possibly building a 396 now that I saw it. I thought the 383 was the biggest displacement I could make a 350. 396 is the biggest I plan on trying to make it, then comes some performance stuff. That should make my 550 goal a bit more attainable, if the block goes so be it I rolled the dice and I lost. Thanks for your encouragment! Good Luck!

Steve

This was discussed about all of last week... Streetable and a 550hp small block just don't quite go together. But hey it all really depends on what your willing to put up with in street mannerisms.

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81250

LOL yeah BIG mine is far from pro-toring street machine but then again I never intended a daily driver just somthing to hot rod a bit and race ocasionaly. Thats about all my car ever was anyway.

Stevey I may be wrong or could have been a misprint but i think i saw adverstisment for a stroker kit to turn a 350 block into 40? 7,8,9 I will see if i can find the link!

Go look up RPM Machine its on there sight I would drop the link but Im not on here enough to know how yet LOL! Its a 408 this is a combo i would like to see some numbers on. How compadable it is with a stock block I dunno thats alot of stroke. About a few months ago there was a mag artical where 3 of the Mag guys took a budget and could build what ever they wanted from a 350 they built a 355,383and a 396 now this is Mag hoopla so cant belive everything they say. But it my intrest you try Chev hi perf it may have been them I bought the mag for the read. from what i remeber the 396 had more tq less Hp I wasnt overly impressed by what they done with it. The 383 still seemed to be the best bang for the buck! I think my scat kit from Ameduri was 1039 Ballanced with SRP forgings 4340 6 inch(bushed 2 very nice) Ibeams and the 9000's series crank a nice kit for what Im doing for the $

Yea Im not too worried about it being really streetable as my car isnt really considered streetable right now its a built up 350 with a stock converter and 3.73's and it really doesnt like moving unless its nice and warm and even then it wants you to push the gas always. Thanks 64boxcar, I think Ill either continue with my 383 plan or I might look into trying to make some big numbers with the 396. Youd think 550hp on a 396 would be a bit more streetable as you wouldnt have to have as big a cam you wouldnt think. Hmmm Im gonna have to look into this a bit more, but like I said "streetable" to me just means that I can jump in it and it will drive down the street no matter how much coaxing or inconvinence it may cause. It cant get much worse than my current setup. Also if I change it over to a 5spd it will be a bit easier as Ill have a clutch to play with too.

Thanks Steve

So I say buy the best YOU can aford! Learn as much as you possible can!
And put it together as well as it can be put together for your $
And then you have done all that you personaly can do with your resorces.



That is very well put.

Steve don't get all hung up on numbers. You build a combination that you feel will make the power your looking for,, or a combination that desktopdyno says will be 650HP,,, it's just a number. Unless it's been on a real engine dyno,,, you won't believe how many so-called 500 and 600 HP motors out there that wouldn't make 475 "as installed". Even at that,, not all dyno's are created equal. Some are generous and some are conservative, some are computer controlled and very repeatable, some are manually controlled and with the human inconsistancy the curve may be WAY out to lunch. So back to what 64boxcar said. Do the best you can with your recourses and hope for the best.

So now comes the real test of your personal opinion of 'streetable'. We can easily put together a 383 package with the heads you have to make that number. But are you going to be happy with a $9 a gallon, C-12 guzzeling animal??? Your looking for a LOT out of a 4" bore block. It's going to take a pretty serious build to make 550. In that comes a lot more cam than you have, more cam means more compression to support it, more compression means more octane, more octane means you need more $'s for fuel just to drive it once the animal is unleashed.

I built a 383 for my truck years ago. Made an honest 590HP. I had a BLAST cruising the Walmart parking lot setting off car alarms as I idled through the lot. But let me give you a brief scenario.

Wife asks me to run to the store for a loaf of bread. (woohoo I have a reason to drive the truck)
Start the thing and let it warm up for 3-5 minutes:
A gentle cruise 3 miles through town,, laughing at every ricer wanting to race me along the way:
Pull in to the mall parking lot so I have MAXIMUM exposure to the parking lot. Idle nice and easy from one end of the lot to the other,, just havina a blast setting off car alarms two isles each side (40's through 3" stainless exhaust RINGS!!)
Park, run into the store and grab a $1.49 loaf of bread.
The cruise home has to involve some short bursts of the throttle, so it's a mile and a half out of the way to find a lonely stretch of road.
Push the motor up against the convertor at a stop sign,, lay into it and simply blow the tires off (Hoosier QT pros 33x22.50-15's,, 17" of DOT slick)
Sitting against the rev limiter in 1 and 2nd gear is stupid, so you roll out of it,, a few jabs at the throttle in high gear just for fun,,, then it's just a slow cruise home.

Results:
Loaf of bread delivered in about 30-45 minutes.

Cost:
$1.49 bread
2% of the tread off the $600 rear tires, $12
3.5 gallons of C-12,,, $24.90 (at 1998 prices)

Now agreed, the grin factor may have been worth every penny, but there comes a point where you have to ask yourself how much fun this really is??

Looks to me like you are building enough torque with the package you listed to shread most any trans or street tire you can think of. I'd suggest you do exactly as 64boxcar said,, proceed.

I would make a few small changes in your combination if those parts aren't already in your hands. Eagle cranks are a solid piece, but there has been plenty of chatter about the final finish and sizing. I have a 4" stroke Eagle in my backup motor that is HORRIBLE. I'd take a look at Scat forged, Cola, Crower,, anything but Eagle cranks.
TRW pistons are notoriously heavy. With big power comes big rpm's. I'd take a look at SRP for a nice 383 piston at a very reasonable price.

The AFR heads come with a 2.05 (RR) or 2.08 (CNC ports) intake valve. If your are really 99% street, have a set of AFR 195 built with the 2.05" intake valve. If your headed to the track, and eventually looking for something more serious than a hydraulic roller,, go to the 2.08.

but,,, that's just my 2cents

WOW! Thanks MarvD! You have said a very enlightening piece. See to me what you just said about your truck, that is fun lol. Im not to worried about gas etc as my girlfriend has a very high mpg rabbit so I kinda off set that lol. It all evens out a bit then lol. When you say about it possibly not making the power im looking for its actually a upgraded knock off of a dyno proven engine. I will provide the link below. The engine made 525hp at 5800 and 535tq at 4200. The difference being mine will have higher compression, slightly bigger heads, a different intake, a 800 cfm holley and eagle connecting rods and I thought eagle crank. I was thinking about trying to lighten up the rotating assembly a bit like I said that combo wasnt in stone. Having said that I will look into your suggestion, I had also been looking at keith black pistons. Sorry I was mistaken about the valves. If this dyno proven combo is true and I have stepped it up mildly {barely lol} then I shouldnt have to have the higher compression, bigger cam or more octane. Honestly even if it doesnt make that much I just want to build it and learn and have some fun. But ultimately that is my goal.

About the track I may go once or twice a year but thats just about it the rest will be crusing on the highway and maybe some stop light to stop light fun etc. I really appreciate your input! Any other tips you may have Id love to hear! Im thinking about making a cnc mill so if I wait a bit I may look into having some fun and making my own heads and valves and stuff. Obviously Id try out a few sets on my old 305 first {thats my test bed and where I learn that way if i screw up oh well lol}. Thanks alot!

Steve
PS: some day I hope to be able to cnc my own valves, pistons, rockers, heads, cranks and possibly rods and cams. Some day Id love to have my test bed 305 completely cnc'd by me!

forgot the link here it is, combo #71

http://ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos10.html

Thanks Steve

Thanks for the Quoted complement Marv! I try to not act like a idiot or pee anyone off most of the time!
If you want to see a real car stevey check out Marv's 64 Boxcar! (chevyII)
Awsome Trailer!

I saw the car MarvD is basically my idol hahahahaha.

Steve

forgot the link here it is, combo #71

http://ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos10.html

Thanks Steve

Don't believe everything you read! Just my $.02.

I understand that. Like I said Id just like to get as close to my goal as I can and have fun. If the combo doesnt happen to quite do it Im sure Ill still have enough power to have lotsa fun.

Thanks Steve