383 Stroker kit

[phat46]

I'm thinking of build ing a 383 SBC stroker this winter. I see lots of kits on E Bay that look like they have good parts for a good price. Does anyone have any experience with these kits? Any recomendations?

[phat rat]

Whose kit? Did you know that most are made overseas? I bought an Eagle stroker kit a couple of months ago for my 454 but not on Ebay. Guy putting the motor together for me, very knowledgeable about motors, said it was a good one. But he did have to hand fit the bearings because of the large radius on the journals. They should have had the bearings right to fit the oversize radius, but it will be stronger because of that radius

[kb426]

This is just my opinion. The best strokers in the low end market are Scat. Eagle would be after that. Depending on how picky you are about machining tolerance, you may be happy or not with the Eagle. Anything less than these might be too cheap.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I would suggest a kit from a major supplier company like Jegs or Summit.

There are persistent complaints of crank shafts being out of specs.  My Scat crank I bought years ago was out far enough my engine guy sent it out and had the new crank ground to .010 - ,010 under size to acheive the correct clearances on the bearings

[tomslik]

well, the 383's if had the "pleasure" to drive haven't impressed me at all.
just as well build a 400....unless ya ain't got a good 400 block, i guess..
just sayin'....

[Crosley.In.AZ]

well, the 383's if had the "pleasure" to drive haven't impressed me at all.
just as well build a 400....unless ya ain't got a good 400 block, i guess..
just sayin'....

hmmm,  my 383 cid engines have run  like stink. Good aluminum heads on each one..

The ZZ4 crate engine I had never impressed me till I installed a 780 cfm Holley carb,  still did not  feel as strong as the 383

[phat46]

The kits I see on E Bay claim to have new in box parts. Some are Scat cranks, some are Eagle. One kit that includes the damper and and flex plate for a couple hundred dollars less than the kit from Summit that doesn't have the damper or flexplate. The seller also has a 100% positive feedback rating.
I'm not building a killer race motor, I just have a good 350 block I'd like to build up and I thought I might as well go stroker for just a little more money that a stock 350 build.

[Carnut]

Gee, I've always had good luck with all my 383's, Heh Heh, course they are from a different OEM.

[chimp koose]

If a stock 5.7 rod is used with a turned down 400 crank you will have a problem with about 3 rods contacting cam lobes. The stroker kits should have clearance worked out but ask just to be sure. I have never done a 383 ,I have built a few 400s though. The bigger bore helps them breathe better than a 350 with the same head. They will make the same or more power at a lower rpm which is better for a street car. If you want to really cam them right they need to have a tighter lobe separation angle than the 350.

[phat46]

If a stock 5.7 rod is used with a turned down 400 crank you will have a problem with about 3 rods contacting cam lobes. The stroker kits should have clearance worked out but ask just to be sure. I have never done a 383 ,I have built a few 400s though. The bigger bore helps them breathe better than a 350 with the same head. They will make the same or more power at a lower rpm which is better for a street car. If you want to really cam them right they need to have a tighter lobe separation angle than the 350.

The cam/head combos I have looked at have the small circle base cam for the stroker motors to clear the rods. I wouldn't mind building a 400, my nephew built one a few years back that went into  several different bodies and ran REALLY strong, it was bored to 406 c.u., but  I have the 350 block, a "good" 010 two bolt block I can get drilled for splayed main cap bolts if I ever get the urge (and money) to build a strong blower/nitrous motor.    

[wayne petty]

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=stroker


a bit more  reading... quite a bit...

http://www.hotrod.com/sch/02/383/articles/index.html?SearchSource=SourceInterlinkMedia

this second search is covers all their magazines... ones you have never even heard of... or try this one...  there is so much information...

http://www.hotrod.com/sch/02/stroker/articles/index.html?SearchSource=SourceInterlinkMedia


one thing... when you get to the 10th page of articles,  be sure to click next.. there are quite a few more pages  on either search...


happy reading..

[rumrumm]

SCAT is best; Eagle second best. Any of them can have issues so it is best to have any kit checked by a machinist and rebalanced if necessary before using them. Anyone contemplating building a 383 should check out the thread below. It is one of the best I have seen about building a small block stroker.

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/131229/

[phat rat]

SCAT is best; Eagle second best. Any of them can have issues so it is best to have any kit checked by a machinist and rebalanced if necessary before using them. Anyone contemplating building a 383 should check out the thread below. It is one of the best I have seen about building a small block stroker.

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/131229/

Mines been rebalanced.  The guy putting it together used to build engines for NASCAR and offshore boat racing but has retired now. He is VERY meticulous in checking everything out, clearances, ring gap, spring pressures, you name it he checks it, he takes nothing for granted. If it's not right he finds out why and corrects it.

[rumrumm]

Now that is the kind of guy I'd want to build my engines.

[phat46]

Wow, that's a lot of reading guys, I'm going to try to absorb as much as i can before making a choice, thanks.