gruveb

On average how much more does it cost to build a 383 than a 350. I'm supposing the cost of a crank and machine work right?

How much, on average, could one expect to pay to a machine shop?

Anything else that might be extra with a 383 over a 350?

Just trying to gather some information.

ede

most all SBC parts cost the same, cranks, rods, machine work, whatever doesn't make much differance what they go into.

ctandc

With the popularity of a 383 stroker so high nowadays, the cost isn't really a factor.

Check www.enginekits.com They sell a nice, complete stroker pacakge.

But roughly here's the differences...

383 cast crank 2 piece rear main seal NEW $170-$250

Use the same rods. Pistons are not more expensive than comaparable 350 pistons.


You may have to grind the rod bolts to clear a big circle camshaft, and every now and then, the bottom of the block on the pan rail MAY need clearance for the crank throws...this isn't that common on 383's from what I've seen....


You'd need to use a 400 SBC harmonic balancer and flywheel, both can be had at a modest cost.



HTH

gruveb

I hadn't thought about the balancer, but that's not all that bad.

I know a crank will cost about $300.00 or so, and pretty much everything I can re-use or replace as needed. The beauty of SBC's!

Mostly, what I was concerned with was the amount of work that will be needed at a machine shop.

e-man

Check out http://www.flatlanderracing.com/index.html I bought my crank for $200.

ZZ28ZZ

You can buy a die grinder pretty cheap ($20-$30) and do the clearance work yourself. My 383 took 2 trips to the machine shop for vatting. Once to clean it up and bore it, and again to clean out the particles caused by the clearance work.

If your using a high-lift cam and it's not a "small base circle" cam, you may have to get special rods ($350-$500) unless your using the 5.56" 400 rods, then you might me OK.
I tried grinding stock 5.7" rods (to clear a high lift LPE cam) but didn't feel comfortable with the amount of meat taken off the #1 rod.

I'm saving up now for some forged Eagle rods. They don't use nuts on the rod bolts and have built-in clearance right where you need it.

BTW- don't buy a pre-balanced kit unless you sure you won't need to grind on the rods. Don't ask me how I know that..

gruveb

Decisions decisions. After re-reviewing my original goals I'm really thinking that picking up a rebuilt 350 from a local shop here ($900 w/ warranty) and replacing the heads and cam might be the way I'll go.

My original goals for the engine were to be reliable, zero to 60 in under 6 seconds (closer to 5 the better), and be in the 13's.

I don't know how I could get much cheaper than that, unless something just fell in my lap you know.