Looking for 383 build ideas

[Lowes]

Hey Everyone,

I'm in the very early stages of planning out my 383 build. This 383 will be going in a 1970 RR. I'm looking for Ideas for a 383 build that can eat up some imports! I have been looking into some of the 440 source stroker kits and they are sounding good. Please give me some Ideas what you guys have done in the past and what you would stay away from. The engine is date correct but not the one from the car if that makes a difference of opinion. Would like the end product to produce 550hp plus. Let me know your builds with the pros and cons. Anything helps!

 

[Car Nut]

Six Pack Performance sells a nice six pack set for 383's.

 

[727]

If you go any bigger than the 438 kit you're going to need to think about getting ported or aftermarket heads. Will you be running a 727 or 833? If your going for a stroker 438" I like the .484 lift mopar purple cam with a 727 and 3.55 gears. Try to stay around 9.5 compression ratio. Very streetable but may be shy of you're projected HP. Don't get so focused on a hp number. That may take some of the enjoyment out of actually driving the car. If you are sticking with a standard 383 stroke I suggest contacting Hughes and tell them what you expect the car to do. They will steer you in the right direction. Be sure to use their valve springs and other suggested parts.
Two thing to remember. Don't over cam and don't over carb the rest should come easy.

727

 

[383man]

What kind of budget to you have and how fast in 1/4 mile et's are you looking to go ? Ron

 

[Mocajava]

I was looking at the Muscle Motors 383 build which did a stroker to 450 CI and almost 600/600 tq vs HP. This was in an article of Mopar Muscle February of 2016 as a give-away motor for Chrysler Nationals. Supposedly a build that Muscle Motors has been doing for almost 20 years with good success and based on a stroker rotating assembly that they have designed through Molnar Technologies. I was sold on the build but had to change my plans due to economy in the oil patch. You might want to look at it as an option but there are some things to be aware of with this set up. The pistons and rods are a one off that is built specifically for the crank fit and Muscle Motors recipe, proprietory so to speak. Meaning if you broke a piston or rod, you go back to Muscle Motors for a replacement, not to be found as an off the shelf from other vendors. Another aspect is the cranks, they are forged in China but the machining is done there also for Molnar, unlike the big names who do there finish machining and QC in the US. I am not saying anything negative about this "recipe" as it seems to work well for them for almost 20 years. I did talk to them at MM and they seemed knowledgeable, very confident and well priced for what you get, just passing along what my machine shop/builder told me after doing his research of them. By the way, the 450 is the median of their 383 builds and the 496 is their largest. It is all about how much you want to spend, right? Good luck.

 

[Lowes]

Excellent info, It will be a 727 and I'm by no means set on a stroker. When it is all said and done I would like to see it run in the low 13's or 12's.

 

[Longroof]

There are several examples of pretty mild stock stroke 440's that run 12's in the 12 second combination thread in the racers forum.

No need for a big inch motor for that goal.

 

[HT413]

I'm a budget minded guy, so first I say this - what good parts do you have and what is your budget? Reason is this - if you have a good crank and rods, go with it. If you need a crank and rods or yours need to be worked, then smart money might go for a stroker kit.

 

[Lowes]

I'm in the process of fine tuning my budget and would like to be able to have the engine complete for 10,000 range. The more I can save with smart decisions on the engine the more I can put into the rest of the car. The crank and rods that I have are in nice shape and could certainly be used.

 

[YY1]

I ran a date correct HP 383 block, standard bore, standard stroke in a 70 Super Bee.

Advertised as 9.5:1 with factory pistons (which I reused).

Factory 906 heads with just a fresh 3 angle valve job and some hand lapping (along with knurled guides and clearance work for the recommended MP springs).

727 with mild tweaks (waffle clutch disks, valve body passage drilled out).

Stock converter, 3.55 rear.

284/484 Mopar cam, degreed as per instructions.

Torker intake, Hooker headers, full 2.5 dual H pipe exhaust.

It was just a touch on the hairy side for a daily driver street car, but that's what I wanted back then.

Lots of folks told me-

1- that's too much cam for a "low compression motor"...

2- that's too much cam and gears for a stock converter...

The biggest issue I had was finding the right carb and fuel curve.

I ended up with a Franken-Holley 650 with 750 secondary parts.

My goal was 13.00 but it never made it to the track.

It did run with other cars on the street that ran low 13's and even high 12's on the strip, so I considered it a success.

 

[Lowes]

That is really great info, thanks

 

[Longroof]

Lowes, what is the goal for the car? Street/Strip with several trips to the track per year? Just a fun cruiser that runs good and does a great burnout?
How much highway miles? = what gear ratio?

I always like to have some basic parameters on a build. We know you want a high 12 to low a
13 second car.. There are lots of ways to get there some cost more some are less daily driver friendly..

You can build a 383 to get you in the 12's, if you want 550 horsepower in a mild mannered cruiser the 383 won't do that well..

 

[Lowes]

This car is going to be my go out and have some fun car/ let off some steam. A summer cruiser that is comfortable on the streets and able to cruise down the highway. Some of the trips I hope to take it on will involve several hours of highway miles so it will have to be geared accordingly. I do have intentions of taking it to the 2 local events per year and running it down the track but nothing serious! Needs to be able to hold its own with the new 392 challengers. What are your thoughts on that?

Fun summer cruiser that can lay some rubber on a regular bases!!

 

[mopar 3 B]

Turbo charger and steel pistons.

 

[SlinktRR]

This car is going to be my go out and have some fun car/ let off some steam. A summer cruiser that is comfortable on the streets and able to cruise down the highway. Some of the trips I hope to take it on will involve several hours of highway miles so it will have to be geared accordingly. I do have intentions of taking it to the 2 local events per year and running it down the track but nothing serious! Needs to be able to hold its own with the new 392 challengers. What are your thoughts on that?

Fun summer cruiser that can lay some rubber on a regular bases!!

Those goals are kind of at odds. My RR 383 is in the process of becoming the spare engine. It has a 484 purple cam, stock rebuild, makes 350bhp. It is reliable, and screams up to 6500rpm. Commuted with it to work and it actually gave me decent mpg. The cam is meh low end but it runs so well up top I dont want to touch it. I really like it and will be putting it into my next mopar project, something lighter with a manual trans.

But it will not keep up with a new scat pack challenger with highway gears and no overdrive, forget it. You need a stroker or a t56 trans with deep gears to do that. Maybe a gearvendors with 4.10's? Passon 5 speed? You will want to look at an overdrive of some sort. Lots to think about and I considered them all. I am going big cubes and leaving the rest the way my car came from the factory.

 

[383man]

I ran a very mild 383 in a Dart back in the early 2000's. Its a 72 Dart and I used a 1968 block for the 383. It had stock bore and pistons but of course I rebuilt it. I ran 452 heads that had a little pocket porting and were shaved about .060 so I could come up with 9.5 comp. I used all stock valvetrain with Comp single valve springs and I used the older MP .484 cam on a 104 centerline. Ran the Performer RPM intake with a 750 Holley DP. Stock electronic dist that I recurved and had the MP orange ign box. CPPA headers and 2-1/2 exh. It was a 727 with a Turbo Action 3000 tight stall and reverse manual valve body. Had 3.91 gears in it and weighed 3575 lbs with me in it. The suspension was all stock other then the Superstock 002 & 003 leaf springs. The car ran a best of 12.31 @ 110 with an average et of 12.50's in the summer. It was a nice running simple low budget combo. Ron

 

[YY1]

If want to even think about "hanging with" newer cars (even v6 mustangs)...and extended highway time- you'll need a 3.9x rear gear and an O/D.

That doesn't even address the several hundred HP deficiency...

Remember most engine build recopies use GROSS HP numbers, and all newer car HP numbers are NET.

You've got a 20% +_ disadvantage right off the bat.

- - - Updated - - -

The 3.55 gears I had weren't too bad on the highway (except for MPG).

I had some friends with 3.91/3.92 and they always complained on long trips.

But again, with most newer perf cars coming with 3.92....you're at a disadvantage again before wrench one is turned.

 

[Lowes]

Ahh yes, I can see where this is going. Makes good sense. I better know exactly what I hope to achieve with this build before I start into it. And gearing is clearly important.

Now I'm going to toss in a kicker, I have a 440 out of a old motor home that will need to be rebuilt. The car is a factory 383 and that is why I'm leaning towards the 383. But, would it be a smarter move to go with the 440? Given what I'm looking to do with it.

 

[Longroof]

Ahh yes, I can see where this is going. Makes good sense. I better know exactly what I hope to achieve with this build before I start into it. And gearing is clearly important.

Now I'm going to toss in a kicker, I have a 440 out of a old motor home that will need to be rebuilt. The car is a factory 383 and that is why I'm leaning towards the 383. But, would it be a smarter move to go with the 440? Given what I'm looking to do with it.

For your goals of highway cruising and high 12's to low 13's will require lots of torque. A 440 with a good set of aluminum cylinder heads will make it a lot easier. I think you can reach your goals pretty reasonably if you are willing to go with a 3.55 gear and a slight stall converter. And be willing to run drag radials or slicks at the track.

 

[69clone]

440 won't take as much work to get there but it will be more thirsty! I'd take a look at the Racing forum on here and look at the 12 second combo thread. Here's the link http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?25225-Post-your-12-second-combos