ME Leigh

Ok i did a search and didn't find much. What are the chances that i will run into cam clearance problems with a powerhouse 383 stroker kit. It has stock 5.7 rods with arp bolts. I will be using a XR274R-12 solid roller cam. I'd really hate to buy the kit and then have to buy a small base circle cam. Would a different kit work better like the flatlanderracing kit with SCAT 9000 Steel Crank w/ 3.750 Stroke (1 pc. + 2pc. rear seals) Crankshaft
and SCAT Forged 4340"I" Beam Rod 5.7-6.0.

Thanks

RB83L69

You definitely will have clearance problems.

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Buy the cheeepest thing that claims to be the thing you want, expect a few minor issues here and there.

ME Leigh

I know the block will have to clearanced, i amd wondering about the cam.

ME Leigh

Ok i did some research and found that it is necessary to clearance grind the #2 and #6 rod bolts.

(Lesson #1 Always use stroker rods to make a 383. If the stock type (5.7") rods are used, you must trim the top of the rod bolt and some of the rod shoulder to make it clear the CAM on rods #2 and #6. To balance the engine, I did all of mine the same. You must provide at least 0.040" clearance between the cam and the rod bolt top, at the top of the rod travel on # 2 and #6. If this is not done correct, the motor will not turn over when the cam is installed. You are also limited to the amount of lift in a stock configuration cam, about 0.645" lift is all you can get.

badgta

iTrader: (4)

even with sact 4340 i beams with the cap screw and a small base circle cam i still had to clearence mine.. ain't that a bitch?

but it's running now so i'm happy

ME Leigh

What did you have to do to get clearance?

ZZ28ZZ

I bought the Powerhouse 383 kit.
Pistons hit the counterbalancer.
Had to shave the counterweights a little.

#1,#2, #5, #6 rods needed clearance for a LPE74211 cam.
#1 was the worst. Messed up 2 factory-type rods, then gave up.

Went with Eagle h-beam rods and they clear the cam no problem.
They are however a little longer on the bottom end, so I'll probably be grinding on the block again.

Dirt Track Thunder was selling the Eagle h-beams on Ebay for $350.

badgta

iTrader: (4)

i had to grind mine in the same place as a regular rod..... it was a comp 282 hr cam with a 1.050 base circle and only .510in and .520 exhaust.....

they weren't clearence for stroker rods and the kit was balanced so i couldn't have sent them back.......

flatlander has scat rods for stroker motors for 279... real nice with floating pins and 7/16 arp cap screws.......

i also was told my pistons would hit the counter weights on the scat 9000 series crank.. they are speedpro l2491f30's and the had .100 from the bottom of the piston to the counter weight.... they cleared fine, but numerous people said they had probs with them.. i guess i lucked out... but i made up for it with the cam probs... the real messed up thing is i could have made the same hp with a 355 lol!!!! that would have saved alot of time and money......

ME Leigh

So i guess it will have cam clearance problems. Well crap i guess i might not be building a 383 then.

Polecat

Don't give up...Have a shop that has done 383's do the rod clearancing for you...it will pay off in the long run.
I bought a Speed-O-Motive kit, and it was already clearanced for the cam..all I had to do was notch the block.

www.speedomotive.com

TunedPort 335

Don't give up, its not too bad if you got some patience.

I bought the PowerHouse 335 Stroker Kit. I had to grind the tops of my rod bolts and I only have 480/480 lift.

Powerhouse called for a minimum of .020 clearance, so I ground them to .030 clearance just to be safe.

ME Leigh

Did you use the kit with 5.565" stroker rods. I really don't want to run rods that short, but!?!

Momar

Yeah, thats the one thing that gets me is the short rods. I would want at least 5.7 and maybe something like the 6.0 if possible. Do the shorter rods help keep you from having to clearance as much?

Ben

TunedPort 335

Nope they are 5.7 I beam rods with ARP bolts.

I had to grind a little off each bolt to make enough clearance. The #6 rod was THE worst, if I turned the motor by the flywheel... it would hit the cam and stop turning.

I checked all my other rods and they only had .012 clearance!! At this point I was a little pissed but hey, I had to do what I had to do

So I used a Dremel tool and ground a little off each head of the bolt until every rod had .030 clearance from the cam.

Momar

Do you have any times with that 335? I am kind of interested in what one of these could run.

Ben

ME Leigh

How much did you have to grind off? Does it look like it would weaken the bolts much?

TunedPort 335

Ahhh the age old question about the 335 stroker

Unfortunately, No I don't have any times with it yet. I will have dyno numbers come springtime, and track times come mid summer. The motor isn't broken in yet...

But from what I can tell just messing around with it, it feels pretty powerful. Lots of torque!

Momar

Thats cool.

Ben

TunedPort 335

Good question. I called PowerHouse about doing this before I started grinding.. they said the bolts would be fine.

To me it looks like they were right, the bolts are definitely still strong.

I ground off little by little, just using my eye. I then put one piston/rod in at a time and measured the clearance with a feeler gauge. If there wasn't enough clearance, then I took it out and ground a little more off.

Time consuming yes, but it's better than having your motor blow up in the end

Kingtal0n

im using eagle crank 3.75" eagle SIR 6" rods and SRP 9.2:1 pistons....


I cant wait to see how much grinding Im going to have to do. Oh boy.

ME Leigh

Where does the cam interference usually occur, on the base of the cam or on a lobe? I might be able to figure it out if i think about how an engine works, but i'd like to know what you guys have found.

The XR274R-12 specs:

274/280
.564/.570
IVO 29
IVC 65
EVO 76
EVC 24
LCA 112
LSA 108

Momar

I dont know but I would guess the base because everyone always talks about getting a small base circle cam.

Ben

Kingtal0n

the lobes...

the small base circle just moves the lobes in closer to the center of the cam.. you use pushrods to make up for the difference.

the base is just the round part the lobes sit on... the lobes are the furthest out parts...

even with a small base circle cam high lift cams can still touch engine parts... it all depends on the combo...

cp87GTA

I'm using a cat crank, eagle sir rods, speedpro pistons, and a 314hr .600 comp cam in mine. Had to cut .060 off of the top sides of the rods. I would buy a better rod if I had it to do over again. There are several to choose from. My brother is doing a 6" rod 406, going to try the prowler pro mod rod in that engine. Hopefully using the cap screw type rod bolts, we can keep from grinding on the rods. I have talked to several dirt trackers here, they just laughed when I was conserned about the grinding on the rod sides. We'll find out if it'll stay together in the spring.

Kingtal0n

<b>eagle sir rods</b>

whats wrong with those? i thought they were nice.

Polecat

they are...don't worry, they will hold up to 550-600 applications...tried and true.....

cp87GTA

Nothing really, they are nice rods. I just didn't like grinding .060 off of the top/sides to clear the cam. And, my brother doesn't want to grind his rods at all. This is my first stroker engine, kind of worried about the grinding. It'll still be on my mind when we drop the hammer on it.

383 rocket bird

I was kind of worried about grinding the rods on my 383 stroker but my engine builder said not to worry. He builds sprint car engines and assured me there wouldn't be a problem. However, if you do have to grind your rods make sure you get rid of the stress risers.

ctandc

This might be kind of late.......but...


This is a common issue with strokers.....BUT.....

I found this out by ACCIDENT. I was helping a buddy put together a 383 awhile back.. he ordered ARP bolts for the 5.7" rods, and by MISTAKE, they sent him the rod bolts for a 4.3 Chev V-6. Turns out the head of the bolts is already clearanced!! And the 4.3 is just a 350 minus 2 cylinders. So we called ARP , told him what we were doing, and he said sure......they would work no problem. So he send us the extra 2 rod bolts...for free even


HTH