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Dissecting a couple of dead 383s

Kern Dog said:
No kidding?
Maybe I’ll check with a welding shop to see what repairs like this would cost before I scrap the block.
If it can be saved for under a couple hundred it might be worth keeping.
I removed the valve covers.
Right side 2468:

View attachment 1747756

View attachment 1747757

Hmm… what happened there?
The left side shaft is in correctly.

View attachment 1747760

Here is a weird one:

View attachment 1747772

Look how far off center the rocker arm tips are over the valve stem ends.

View attachment 1747774

Now check out how much the exhaust valve stems sit above the spring retainers compared to the intakes.

View attachment 1747777

The retainers don’t look stock.

View attachment 1747778

I’ve never seen rocker arms so far off the center of the valve stems.
It definitely is a 1970 engine.

View attachment 1747779
Click to expand...
It's one of those 383 HEMI's we used to hear about.
:lol:


Advertise it on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000
:rofl:
 
A original Big Block A body doesn't use the drivers side motor tabs, it uses a mount that bolts to the two bosses on the front of the block above the oil pump.... And I've seen guys grind the tabs off entirely for extra clearance when running power steering..
 
khryslerkid said:
I'd like to have a dollar for every time I've posted this...
Moparts on the Web - Main Index
Click to expand...

This is what comes up from that link:

7AF8084C-9F73-4ADC-AB27-4E7CEABEAD16.jpeg


You must have a LOT of faith if you think I can make sense of that!

Someone took the time to shim the shafts…

A91C8145-7046-441D-87FF-2BF4CD4BCADC.jpeg


8934D8AA-FF27-42E1-8FF2-3053E64065F8.jpeg


But they didn’t notice this?

8B68AF3E-4249-421D-B6D1-67BA762932CF.jpeg


Just for fun I pulled the shaft and flopped the rockers.

5778E841-D15D-4C20-AF3C-90F08D58B99F.jpeg
 
More carnage.

267CB812-FF84-44D0-9BE3-18E00E4416C0.jpeg


The threaded holes in the block don’t matter when conversion mounts are used.

A193810B-D3E9-4455-86E6-440AE0B254BE.jpeg


Broken ear on the water pump housing too? What the heck happened ??
 
Kern Dog said:
A gracious and kind FBBO member posted a thread a short time ago, he had some Mopar stuff left over from when he had a 69 Road Runner. He was looking to send his stuff to a good home and I was glad to take it. Chris had 2 383 engines and a collection of car parts to clear out so @CoronetDarter and I went to collect the bounty on Thursday. Rich is considering a stroked 383 for his 68 Dart so one of these two engines may serve as a foundation for that. Once we got to unloading, I saw that one engine had broken ears to attach the motor mounts.

View attachment 1747600

View attachment 1747601

I’ve never seen these break off before.

View attachment 1747602

I wasn’t bothered by it. I wanted the engines for pushrods, rocker arms and shafts, fuel pump pushrods and other hardware. The other engine was a 2 barrel version and from a Monaco. It was relatively untouched. It still had the A/C compressor, exhaust manifolds, alternator, P/S pump and pulleys. It wouldn’t spin over with a breaker bar but no problem. Rich and I tore it down….

View attachment 1747603

THAT was the most difficult tear down that I have ever done. Nothing we could do would get the crank to rotate. Cylinders 3 and 7 had water inside at one time and rust scale had formed. #3 was at bottom dead center so the crank was all the way down… any movement meant pushing through the rust scale.

View attachment 1747604

I wish that I would have taken pictures but I didn’t until today.
Click to expand...
1730084263190.png
 
I just got the engines and a few other parts.
Please send me a PM if you have requests. I did not intend to make this a sales ad.
 
Kern Dog said:
I just got the engines and a few other parts.
Please send me a PM if you have requests. I did not intend to make this a sales ad.
Click to expand...
Without reading every single word above.....have you measured the length of the fuel pump push-rod yet? :)
 
Personally, I wouldn't want to weld all those ears back on. 383's aren't popular with bracket racers but if you knew someone wanting to race one he could cut all of those ears off and use a motor plate.
 
khryslerkid said:
They'll get broken off rolling around in a junkyard.
Click to expand...
The valve covers are not scratched up. The oil pan seems okay as well. Maybe it was in a car that was wrecked.
The idea of repairing the block is interesting. I can't imagine that it would be that cheap though. I got these two engines for free so I wouldn't mind spending a little money to make this work but it has to make sense. If the shop would want $300 to fix the block, that is more than I'd spend to buy another engine.
If this were a numbers matching engine or something rare, the cost of repairs would be easier to take.
This orange engine does look to have had some work done to it, the heads at least. It has me curious about how it is inside.
I got a 440 crank and other parts with these engines. The crank is supposed to be turned down to fit a 383/B block so at .030 over, it would be 431 inches. That is 43 cubes larger than a .030 over 383 like I have in this car:

000 G.JPG


Jigsaw though.....The 383 in it is the original engine. I've never had a performance car with the original engine. I've toyed with the idea of a stroked 5.7 Hemi...then I considered a stroked roller 360 so I could easily run an A-500 4 speed overdrive. I'm regressing though...I may stick with the 383 and maybe consider using that 440 crank to increase power with no drawbacks in terms of reliability.
 
Very similar to the original HP 383 for my car, it sat under a tree partially disassembled for years, I soaked it in molasses for a month and still had to beat the pistons out, only to find two cracked cylinders. I will be looking for a sleeve guy too.
 
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