350 to 383

I have a 1997 350 thats been a lil "under the weather" lately and even before i had thought of either building it up or swapping it for another engine. To the best intrest of mine, due to lack of willingness to spend much money on it, i want to keep my engine and upgrade it. I had been talkin to Slowprocess and some other guys in the silvy forum and they had mentioned, 6.0L, LT1, or 383 stroker. the one most interesting to me is the 383, is my understanding correct in that to turn my 350 in to a 383 stroker what i need to do is get a stroker cam, lifters, push-rods, and timing chain? i just want to see my truck be around 300-350hp and run 15.0-15.5 in the quarter. So is that all i need to build a 383 out of my engine and if not what all is involved in doing so? at this point that is what i want to do cuz i see a 6.0 as being too expensive, and i know nohting about an LT1. Any input will be appreciated.

wait wait wait....is it a stroker CAMshaft i would need, or a stroker CRANKshaft? feel kinda dumb but what the difference between a cam and crank?

Hey sorry about the triple post and all but i just got a camshaft and crankshaft mixed up...anywho, what all do i need to turn my 350 into a 383 stroker?

350 to 383 stroker = 400 crank and connecting rods. Be sure you use a 400 flexplate that has been balanced for that crank or it could end up a costly mess. A trans shop here did not know that my brother had a 383 stroker and put a 350 flexplate on it and long story short it snapped the crank 2nd main bearing journal in from the rear and shot it back tearing the starter off the motor. #3 connecting rod was twisted 90 degrees and bent 90 degrees, and that was just a few of the things that went bang.

So your sayin just the crank, rods, and different flexplate? that all sounds way too easy...

and if thats what i do it wont blow my heads off due to higher compression or any other nasty side effect like that...

oh and btw , my brothers 383 was getting approx 450hp. He also had a huge cam in it too and if i remember correctly 10.5 :1 compression. He had head work done as well as porting/polishing, dual exhaust, and a carb that may as well have been a 5 gallon pail on top considering the amount of fuel it would go though at times lol. So i am not sure if going to that extent would be considered the cheap way.

I dunno about all that but i would prolly go for a cam and well as several other internal engine upgrades (post in silvy forum). Any ideas on cost for crank, rods, flexplate? looking to get the most power for the least amount of money, within reason.

i have a 1990 c-1500 with a 350 and making it a 383 sounds like something i would like to do... as long as thats all you have to do....if you dont have to mess with anything else ... does any one know of any one who sells a kit or maybe a web site that has detailed instructions that i could print off

i have a 1990 c-1500 with a 350 and making it a 383 sounds like something i would like to do... as long as thats all you have to do....if you dont have to mess with anything else ... does any one know of any one who sells a kit or maybe a web site that has detailed instructions that i could print off

Summit racing offers a kit for around a $1000. expensive, but comes with pistons, rods and crank. And pretty much everything else you would need. Seems like a good deal to me but I am no expert when it comes to major engine upgrades of that sort.

Go to Yahoo or Google...Put "scat rotating assembly" in the search box...and shop for the best deal...comes with crank, rods & pistons...add a balancer & flex plate and voila! 383

can you use the original dome and throttle body of a FI truck on a 383, and still work right?

one thing i did forget to mention , i do believe that you need to bore out the block approx .30, 350 bored .30 = 380 + (possibly the extra stroke gets you the extra 3 maybe) 383 . Just a thought , but i do know that my brothers was bored .30 over.

hmm...the kit thing sounds good but the boring of my block...that kinda hinders me away from that thought. The way i see it around $1500 or how ever much it would take to do this job right with a few extras, is still gonna be a good bit cheaper than gettin another engine.

hey i was talking to a buddy of mine who used to race and he said you only get like 20 horses from stroking it. $1000 for 20hp????? i dont know

I just look at these kits in summit and jegs and there is no mention of necessary boring. the flexplate that comes with is a 153 tooth, so i dunno if thats what comes out of a 400 but i dont think they would sell the wrong thing. The kits im seeing are $900-1700 so i would consider that in my willingness to spend limit. The only thing that concerns me is when i open up my engine im gonna find some 'problems' due to its age that also need to be fixed. kits in summit are $1750 and $1045 in jegs for the exact same things...hmmm

As i said , i was uncertain if the block needed to be bored or not to be considered a 383 stroker. Most likely it was just done for some extra hp <shrugs>

here a really good page of kits to choose from, private company in california so dunno if i would trust it. http://www.speedomotive.com/CHEVY%20STROKER%20CRANK%20KITS.htm

A 383 is a 3.75 inch stroke with a 4.030 inch bore (so it is bored .030 over). The block also has to be clearanced for the longer stroke.

The other issue that you will have is reprogramming the computer for the 383. If you don't reprogram, it will not run right. It can be done but it may require dyno testing to get the tuning right.

//2000CAYukon

so basically, the chances of a 383 working well in a fi truck are slim? without cpu problems, that is.

You should really check out the Camaro forum and do a search for 383 strokers or start another thread, theres a ton of info on them in there. There is a kit from PowerHouse I think they're called that sells the whole internal assembly for a 383 for $450ish, but you really need to balance it which is only another $150ish. Anywho i wont go on forever just check out the Camaro forum and that will answer any questions you have on em.

I did what you said and consulted the guys in the camaro section and they have been saying that a stroker kit isnt worth it and that it would be better to get a cam kit, headers, intake manifold, and port/polish the heads. i just have a hard time believing that will get the same amount of power as a stroker kit, but they say so.

like i said.... stroking it will only give you 20 horse.

...20? in the camaro forum they said about gettin me to 400hp with a stroker kit and i email a kit site and they said depending on the kit i could get from 50-150hp. and i doubt a $1500 kit only gets you 20hp. but im gonna go with a cam kit, intake, hypertech III, and a rocker arm set.

hey i was talking to a buddy of mine who used to race and he said you only get like 20 horses from stroking it. $1000 for 20hp????? i dont know

Stroking counts most for torque. But there is no substitution for cubic inches!! :evillol:

Sorry to burst your bubble guys but making a stroker is not just a kit thing .400 crank rods flex plate & harmonic balancer must be used .You must bore the block & the journals must be relieved for clearance for the extra stroke! To make serious hp you will need 12.5 or more comp pistons !Do you think your stock heads are goin to breath deeply enuf .NO not even close.This is a guess but about 600 to do the block & 1500 for the rotating stuff about 1500 for the heads oh yeh and high quality pistons !!!!! about 500 mabey more .A 4 bolt block is highly rec for this app also.You probly could make your factory parts work but you will get about half the hp of a REAL stoker moter.

I'm building a 383 for my truck right now. I will be into it for about $2500 when I'm done. A 383 vs. my stock 350 will be about 160hp gain and 150 ft lbs of torque. That's 380 horses and 400 lbs of torque. At 10.5:1 compression.
The guy who said it's worth 20hp is stoned. Everyone seems to be making it sound like a big deal but it's not that much different, than if you were to rebuild your motor back to a 350. For instance, when you redo a motor you will be taking it to a machine shop anyway, to have it cleaned, prepped and probably bored, dpending on the wear in your cylinders. It doesn't cost extra to bore it .030 over, if they are boring it anyway. The machinist charged me $230 total to get my engine ready for assy. Shop around for machinists, I had quotes from $200 all the way up to $700 for the same work. As far as "clearancing" your block for the 400 crank...I used a dremel tool in my garage. No biggie. The most important things you will need are a custom chip, and a bigger throttle body to feed the beast.
The difference between a 383 and a 350 is only the crank. It's just a bored out 350 with a crankshaft out of a 400ci engine. Pistons, rods, cam, heads, etc... are all 350 parts.
Go for it and good luck!

the guy who said its only worth 20hp isn't stoned, well, maybe he is, but he's still right. without sinking a bunch of quid on your heads, you'll likely only see a mild difference from what you have right now. but what do i know, i'm stoned.

i was also thinking about putting together a stroker, but i also have first offer on the original engine from my truck that the rebuild shop has. its punched .40 with all new internals. kinda leaning that way now. could have my engine back for about $1300 can.

For the price of rebuildong your old heads, you can buy a pair of vortec heads ($530 at jegs) Vortecs are good to 400hp+ with the right cam.
What's really important is the torque a 383 produces. A standard cab 4x4 short bed weighs in at 4600 pounds. That's a lot of weight to pull. The torque is what will launch your truck off the line or pull a 6000 lb boat.

"The torque is what will launch your truck off the line or pull a 6000 lb boat."

or tear apart that loveable 700r4. lol

Yeah! No kidding.

Well guess i should update my own thread...Firstly my truck weighs a hell of lot more than 4600lbs. im thinkin around 6000lb. and for all you guys who ask if i went to the scales yet, no i havent needed to. Secondly my trans is a 4L60e and is in need of a lil work. Further more, not interested in the stroker kit any longer due to excessive cost. I spoke previously about a cam kit, turns out that the correct kit to work with a computerized engine costs $790!!! so that is being put on hold, possibly indefinatly. Im gonna go for bolts on like a throttle body spacer and intake, then a hypertech PPIII flex a lite fans and underdrive pullies. After all that i wanna get new exhuast from headers to tailpipes. If i do all that i will be easliy over 300hp and should see 15's.

For what I just read somewhere *bad memory* your 4l60e will not hold anythign above 300hp for very long if you plan on dragging it and pushing it hard, even if you don't push it hard it still won't be able to hold it. The guy who wrote the article also beefed up an 4l60e and it still couldn't hold the power. He had to go grab a 4l80e off of a 2500HD, he upgraded the shift kit while he was at it *why not since its out already* and now it can hold it, without beefing up. If I remember right this was Parish *the owner of the turbo'd blue chevy truck* I can find a link if nessecary, so wether you 383 stroker or do some cam upgrades and such, 300hp + = blown tranny in a few weeks. Just for you to consider.

Yeh i know all about jim's truck, but he was running way way above 300hp, around 497 i believe while he still had the 6.0 and 4L60e. But anyway i do want to get a rebuild and a shift kit for mine or as you said acquire a 4L80e but i actually think it would be a lot cheaper to get a slightly used 4L80e than rebuild my tranny. doubtful this is something of a main concern cuz the truck isnt knew and things wont last forever anyway.

one thing i did forget to mention , i do believe that you need to bore out the block approx .30, 350 bored .30 = 380 + (possibly the extra stroke gets you the extra 3 maybe) 383 . Just a thought , but i do know that my brothers was bored .30 over.


you would have to bore the block to like.040 b/c .30 over makes it a 355

You only need to bore it .030 because the 400 crank has a longer stroke, thus the name stroker motor. This adds up to more volume in the cylinder. More volume = More cubic inches. The piston will travel deeper into the cylinder on the intake and power stroke.