383 street/strip build

[Meep-Meep]

I had a couple of 383's that ran very well. No idea about HP but they put a B body into the mid 13's and high 12's.

Simple recipe:

Pocket ported iron heads, preferably 915 castings.
Flat top zero deck pistons (must use .040" comp head gaskets) and valve reliefs may be required.
The cams I used were either a 280 deg Isky ground on a 108 lobe separation or the DC .528 / 284 ground on a 112 lobe sep. Street hemi grind on a 110 works well too.
Torker intake and 700 CFM Holley.
3.55 - 4.10 gear.

 

[jess]

loveing all the info thanxs guys
numbers are what they are just numbers lol
like an old timmer told me a few yrs back when i had my trick flow 528 on the dyno
and i was bummed cause it only made 860 hp he said well are you raceing the dyno? funny thing is that season i bet the **** out of any big chief bbc pushing 1000+hp so who cares if mopar says my motor or anyother mopar motor only made 290hp or what ever mopars where fared back in the day for a reson and the hemi wasnt the only reason lol i just wanna build a good soild motor and some say the 383 is a bad choice and honsetly maybe a 440 would be a better choice but since the 383 is the underdog here it kinda makes me wanna do a 383 even more now

 

[fatecaptured]

Hey Rusty u quoted judas priest " You gotta nother thing comin" lol. I made reference to it being called "the Mopar Bible " only cause ive heard it called that more than once. Do I bet the farm on it? Hardly. Every book I've read on mopar engines compliments each other and also conflicts in some aspects. Once u change something in the engine " cam, pistons, heads" does the stock hp rating really have much bearing?
Hey go for the build Jess. I had a 383 in my coronet 12 years ago. That engine screamed! I laid a lot of rumber and got enough tickets with that set up. My mechanic that assembled my 440 said that the 383 would be his choice but i went with the popular belief " bigger is better". Either way, its a mopar and its a big block. What could be better than that?

 

[Hemirunner]

The biggest obstacle he's got is using the stock shortblock with the pistons down in the hole.

 

[fatecaptured]

Yeah. I agree. Not allot of companies offer 383 pistons.

 

[RustyRatRod]

The short stroke motor IS difficult to get compression in, no doubt, BUT it can be done. I am going with KB400 pistons with 516 heads at 80cc's. That will put compression right at 10.5. With the good quench and BIG *** solid flat tappet cam I'm gonna run, it'll be pump gas friendly. My dynamic compression ratio will be 7.779:1 which is on the low end of the spectrum since you can go as high as 8.5 dynamic. It'll twist like a 340, but have more bottom end grunt cause of the big bore. I ain't skeered. lol

 

[RustyRatRod]

The biggest obstacle he's got is using the stock shortblock with the pistons down in the hole.

KB400. Blueprint the block deck, then whack .024" more off. Instant zero deck height with awesome quench with a domed piston. Best of both worlds.

 

[jess]

well tearing the bottom end down is more than in wanted to do but isee it is nessary to get the numbers that i want
thanxs for the advice i will listen to it lol
should have a street frendly screamer

 

[RustyRatRod]

with my stock heads aprox what c/r would that put me at?

Which heads are they?

 

[RustyRatRod]

Assuming you have open chamber heads, if you get them to 85cc's, run Summit's copper head gaskets (4.380 bore at .043" thick) and zero deck height the block deck, with the KB400 piston, you'll have 9.895:1 compression. VERY doable with a healthy cam (250-260 @.050 duration). It'll be an *** kicker on the street on pump gas.

 

[jess]

pump gas *** kicker i like it lol
i did a quick look at comp products and it looks like i can get
everything i need but unless they are a supporter of this site
i would rather do busness with vendors on this site
i will search this site for some and if any 1 knows of any and wants to recomend them please let me know like i said befor i am new to mopars but not HP and building motors and good fourms and i know how important they are to hot rodding comnunity that is how i learned
the only issue i am having is the wife lol my last motor costed me over 25k to build i told her when i bought this car i wasnt gonna even touch the bottom end lol but it looks like it wont be a very spendy build
i just gotta controll myself lol i like to go balls out

 

[Inspector71]

Can I glom onto to this?

For my own personal tastes, I want to return a 383 to my 68 Charger which came with a 383. I plan on having it stroked (440 source says the stroker kit will give me 438 cubes and an easy 450 to 475 hp) with the aluminum heads, good cam, and good aluminum intake and carb. Does this sound doable? As to ever getting back the money I put into it? I don't care. This is what I want and I don't have plans to sell it anyway...especially at my age. Also the talk about hp ratings was interesting. I have several car mags that say Chrysler purposely underrated hp for its cars saying the 340 6 pack had a lot more than 290 hp and they rated the 426 Hemi between 550 and 600 hp...the street version. I am so far from knowledgeable on this subject I am reluctant to add my two cents at all but I appreciate those who have.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Hey Rusty u quoted judas priest " You gotta nother thing comin" lol. I made reference to it being called "the Mopar Bible " only cause ive heard it called that more than once. Do I bet the farm on it? Hardly. Every book I've read on mopar engines compliments each other and also conflicts in some aspects. Once u change something in the engine " cam, pistons, heads" does the stock hp rating really have much bearing?
Hey go for the build Jess. I had a 383 in my coronet 12 years ago. That engine screamed! I laid a lot of rumber and got enough tickets with that set up. My mechanic that assembled my 440 said that the 383 would be his choice but i went with the popular belief " bigger is better". Either way, its a mopar and its a big block. What could be better than that?

Right. Pretty much the point I been tryin to make the whole time. If you already HAVE a 383, build it. It's a goodun. Far as I'm concerned, they're in the same class as the 318 and the slant. One of the best engine Chrysler ever built.

 

[rev.ronnie]

I'm starting on a 383 this week that will be a 426" stroker using a 440 crank with a 383 main size. Those things bang the ground...

My other favorite combos to build are a 499" low deck made from a 400 block and a 426" small block made from a 340. Major sleeper advantage.

 

[Moparmatt72]

Its true you can't believe what books say Chrysler always underrated the hp for selling purposes

 

[rev.ronnie]

Its true you can't believe what books say Chrysler always underrated the hp for selling purposes

It seems like there are ten sides to that coin.

Some people claim the HP ratings were fudged higher to sell more cars and for advertising, and then somebody else seems to have some "inside info from yesteryear" that they were purposely underrated for insurance purposes.

Then there are the claims that the HP ratings were not taken at peak HP rpm levels..

Then there are the claims that they under rated them because of NASCAR, as if the sanctioning body would base sanctions using the manufacturers HP ratings, and not "on track" performance advantages as demonstrated in competition.

The winged cars got slapped with the 305" rule when it became obvious that they were going to break 200 mph...(and DID)..

Really, OEM ratings are just speculation, but fun to compare.

 

[Hemirunner]

I'm starting on a 383 this week that will be a 426" stroker using a 440 crank with a 383 main size. Those things bang the ground...

My other favorite combos to build are a 499" low deck made from a 400 block and a 426" small block made from a 340. Major sleeper advantage.

Both of those are good combo's. I used to line bore the 383 and 400 blocks to RB size for better bearing selection. The 470's are also a great combo to build as well.

 

[jess]

is it commonto have a steel crank in a 383 i will find out when i tear it down but that may be a month or so
another thing that i have been thinking about is the bore and stroke of the 383 i built a few big block fords 1 was a 532 4.440 bore with a 4.300 stroke
my last motor was a 528 4.500 bore with a 4.150 stroke the 528 ran alot better even thou it was a lil smaller cid it had better mid and hight rang power
i know some ppl like to have low end power but my personal prefernce is all about mid and high i dont mind a big stall and possibly a tras break in the furture wind it up and go like hell lol

 

[rev.ronnie]

Both of those are good combo's. I used to line bore the 383 and 400 blocks to RB size for better bearing selection. The 470's are also a great combo to build as well.

Speaking of line boring the B engines...don't you hate what Program Engineering did to the billet cap they make now? When you buy them for the RB engine, they sell you a cap that works for both B & RB engines so you have to bore the ever living hell out of them...they just cut the bearing tang deeper so they cover all the engines with one part number. Man, it takes forever...

I have never bored a 383/400 to the bigger bore. I usually build these combos for high rpm use and I like the slower bearing speeds with the small bore. I have always wondered if the crank is more rigid with the larger bearing though...the bearing selection is a bonus, I'll give you that.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Here is an article that may help you reach your goal, without all the guesswork.. No Aluminum Cylinder Heads involved, just stock Iron castings.. 455HP..

http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/mopp_0209_383_engine_restore/viewall.html

I am selling the same camshaft/matching lifter set with less than two hours run time, for $100 if your interested BTW. Swapped over to .590 Mechanical.