possibly getting a running 350 for free. Stroke to 383? What to do!?

[LT1 Kayker]

This guy from a junkyard near here is friends with my uncle that I baught my 89 C1500 from a little over a year back, and I also do a lot of construction work for his company so my uncle and I are pretty good buddies. Anyways his friend at the yard heard of my troubles on this 305 with almost 300K hard driven work miles on it and said he will give me a 350 he has with 170K on it that runs for free. It needs work but it runs. (probably better than the 305 in the truck right now even)

Well im just wondering what I should do with it. For sure im going to get some junkyard Vortech heads for it, and since it needs some work and everything...I was pondering stroking it to a 383 while im at it and just getting a balanced set deal. I have seen some around for $900ish bucks. New cam, 5.7" rods, pistons, crank, cam, and so on so I don't have to grind and screw everything up and such, and I also wouldn't have to worry about the 350 parts that came with it. Electronics and exhaust systems I can do so no worry about that. Theres more im leaving out I know, what else should there be done?

What is your opinions on this? Should I just leave it a 350 and rebuild it, or stroke it to 383 with a complete "inside block" system thats balanced and everything? Im really excited about this so any opinions or info would be great, thanks.

[skipr]

First thing I would do is check if it's a 4 bolt main 350. If so, you got an excellent block to work with. I would keep the same stroke and bore, you can get pletty of power from a small block 350cid. It's all about making the engine breath better.....bigger valves,higher lift, longer duration, opened up ports, larger exhaust.....etc. Larger volume intake + faster exhausting = more power/torque. Plus stroker engines tend to have less RPM redline, but with more torque.

[giltyler]

383 is like getting free hp from your rebuild.
If my 350 gets rebuilt it will get the 383 kit

[AKWE-gt]

Originally Posted by LT1 Kayker

This guy from a junkyard near here is friends with my uncle that I baught my 89 C1500 from a little over a year back, and I also do a lot of construction work for his company so my uncle and I are pretty good buddies. Anyways his friend at the yard heard of my troubles on this 305 with almost 300K hard driven work miles on it and said he will give me a 350 he has with 170K on it that runs for free. It needs work but it runs. (probably better than the 305 in the truck right now even)

Well im just wondering what I should do with it. For sure im going to get some junkyard Vortech heads for it, and since it needs some work and everything...I was pondering stroking it to a 383 while im at it and just getting a balanced set deal. I have seen some around for $900ish bucks. New cam, 5.7" rods, pistons, crank, cam, and so on so I don't have to grind and screw everything up and such, and I also wouldn't have to worry about the 350 parts that came with it. Electronics and exhaust systems I can do so no worry about that. Theres more im leaving out I know, what else should there be done?

What is your opinions on this? Should I just leave it a 350 and rebuild it, or stroke it to 383 with a complete "inside block" system thats balanced and everything? Im really excited about this so any opinions or info would be great, thanks.

i like the 383 engine build up but the thing that would concern me is the rest of the drivetrain. if your giving your engine a big boost in power and you have the old tranny, torque converter and rearend behind it then i could see parts breaking.
what kind of engine do you want and what is your budget?

[LT1 Kayker]

Yeah he said it's a 4 bolt. The whole reason for me pondering the 383 stroke is that I would be replacing the entire rotating assembly, cam, heads, all the valves, springs, rockers and such on the heads, and so on anyways. The bore and stroking I can get done for about $200 at a shop i've heard, and all the 383 parts aren't that much more expensive than the parts for a total rebuild of the 350 itself. I can re-use all the ignition and misc. parts from my 305 or just keep what came on the 350 if it's better than what I have in on the 305 right now.

The engine is going to be planted into my truck within a year im planning/hoping, so a lower redline and more torque is nothing to complain about . On that subject, would I need new mounting brackets for the 383, or will the ones from the 305 thats in it now work, since the 305 and 350 have the same external block size?

Im thinking all the 383's gaskets, timing chain, PROM, rotating assembly, cam, and heads will be about $3,000, and thats a high estimate. I added all the stuff up and it worked out to be around $1,500, but im just being realistic and expecting everything to not go perfect. Thats about all im ganna need right? I know im leaving some stuff out but thats all the major things I can think of.

Any suggestions or ideas on heads? I heard that the Vortec heads are the way to go on a 350, but what about a 383? Is there a favorite or would Vortec heads work awesome on it too?

Im planning a reasonably large cam with big lift and such. It doesn't need to be emissions legal since theres no testing here anymore. Would I need to upgrade the valves or springs due to the larger 383 assembly with the bigger pistons and rods and all, or would the stock Vortec valves and springs and rockers and all be good enough? What should I be expecting other than a lot of work and a MAXIMUM acumulation of $3,000 for it over the course of a few months? Im hoping it to be more around $1,500 though. Anything any of you guys can add would help tremendously. Cam size, heads, what assembly, (has to be balanced of course, I heard that PowerHouse sells good ones pretty cheap.) forged or aluminum, and all that good stuff. Thanks a ton! And sorry for being so long and in depth with my brain haha. This is ganna be awesome thanks!

[LT1 Kayker]

I don't know about the valvetrain and all, but its a automatic 4 speed O/D. My uncle put Posi-Trac in the rear a while ago, but I don't know if the rearend is 10 or 12 bolt or what. It has an aftermarket differential cover but no idea whats in there.

Im not going to be drag racing in it or anything, mostly just for hauling and work with daily transportation. Would a rev limiter possibly help the rear live for a while if you don't think it's strong enough or something along those lines? Im not too worried about it though, everything back there has 300K or more on it as it is, so blowing those and getting a better rear end and tranny would just be natural progression IMO.

[broughy84]

if that is a 700r4, which i believe it is, be carefull with that much power. they are known to slip and their longevity leave a bit to be desired. I'm on my 3rd.

[skipr]

Someone correct me if i'm wrong. But isn't a 383 the same bore as a 350 but with a larger crank stroke? Where a 400 is a maxed out bore on the small block?

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by skipr

Someone correct me if i'm wrong. But isn't a 383 the same bore as a 350 but with a larger crank stroke? Where a 400 is a maxed out bore on the small block?

You can bore a 400, up to .060 I believe. I know .030 makes it a 406, and .040 makes it a 408, and maybe .060 make it a 412 or 414.


About the 383 vs. 350 deal. The stroker will give you alot of torque, like mentioned, but i have no experience with one. What I would do, is makea 355 out of your 350 (bore it .030), and then do all of the stuff you mentioend (cam, pistons, etc.).

[Rbraczyk]

Its only about 140 more lb feet of torque, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the wear and tear on your other parts. But what shape is your tranny in?

[giltyler]

If you go with a large lift cam make sure your valve springs will not bind.Also get a good set of roller tip
rocker arms

[kenny-1907]

A 383 is a 350 with 400 crank and connecting rods...... MAKE SURE YOU USE THE 400 FLEX PLATE AS WELL..... it is balanced for the 400 crank......make a long story short.....tranny shop installed a 350 flex plate on my brothers 383 stroker..bored .030 over approx 450 hp.....eventually destroyed the engine.....broke the crank 2nd bearing in( steel one too) , slammed the #3 piston into the valve...#5 connecting rod was bent and twisted 90 degrees and the piston was mush. it also shot the crank back and tore the starter off the engine as well.... it let go about 5500 rpm. All this was caused by what we found out later was the 350 flexplate cause it was not properly balanced for the 400 crank causing a slight vibration which of course we tried to find/fix , even changed the harmonic balancer. Never thought about the flexplate.

[chevytrucks92]

Originally Posted by kenny-1907

A 383 is a 350 with 400 crank and connecting rods...... MAKE SURE YOU USE THE 400 FLEX PLATE AS WELL..... it is balanced for the 400 crank......make a long story short.....tranny shop installed a 350 flex plate on my brothers 383 stroker..bored .030 over approx 450 hp.....eventually destroyed the engine.....broke the crank 2nd bearing in( steel one too) , slammed the #3 piston into the valve...#5 connecting rod was bent and twisted 90 degrees and the piston was mush. it also shot the crank back and tore the starter off the engine as well.... it let go about 5500 rpm. All this was caused by what we found out later was the 350 flexplate cause it was not properly balanced for the 400 crank causing a slight vibration which of course we tried to find/fix , even changed the harmonic balancer. Never thought about the flexplate.

I got a similar story to that. We had a 406 built for the race car in my sig., and the shop told us he internally balanced the crank like a 350. Well, we put our 350 balancer and flywheel on the 406. As it turns out, the 406 was not balanced internally, and long story short, it spun every main bearing AND cracked the block in the lifter valley due to the severe vibration.

It was a pretty expensive screw up on the shops part (they furnished the parts). Had to get a new steel crank, all new bearings, and of course, a new block.

[giltyler]

Have the machine shop ballance the entire rotating assybly $150.00 at most shops.flexplate,crank,harmonic,rods,and pistons.
I did this on my 454 and never had any trouble.

[skipr]

Originally Posted by giltyler

Have the machine shop ballance the entire rotating assybly $150.00 at most shops.flexplate,crank,harmonic,rods,and pistons.
I did this on my 454 and never had any trouble.

I have a 454 in my other truck. I love chevy big blocks, so much torque the whole truck lifts up on one side (in rotation with engine) when I rev it at a stop.