my 383 in the 67 is starting to develope a rattle at idle.
Its in the block not the valve train, temp ect does not change it I suspect a skirt or pin.
Anyway its been a good engine for several years.
its a 1965 and has the 516 heads this 383 use's no oil to speak of other than the rattle a good tight engine.
now heres the question for you guys, I have a 1976 400 out of a old cordoba running when pulled , no noise but no history on oil use ect. , I know they are weak on compression 8.1 if your lucky.
Im not doing a stroker just a rebuild prob 30 or 40 over and a crank kit .
so I am going to buy pistons ethire way
I want aprox 350 to 375 hp out of one of these engines
what one to use for the rebuild ? is my question.
can a guy get pistons to bump the 400 up to 9.1 ect without having to start milling everything ?
I want to keep this simple , stock bottom end and heads and just bump up the HP with bolt ons, cam , headers intake , carb ect.
also wondering about useing the 516 closed chamber heads on the 400 but adding the hard seats and larger exhaust valves.
Thanks for any advice.
The 400 has 452 heads, which are on par with the 906s. Use those on the 383. The seats are already hardened, and has the standard valve sizes found on all the magnum/hp motors. I like the 383 better then the 400, if for nothing else, it will rev quicker. Use the best rings / bearings, deck hone the block, balance the assembly, and with a good cam and exhaust, you will love this setup. Bob
The only draw back to the 400 is the cast crank but they're good enough for a street motor. The 400 has the same stroke as a 383 but has a huge bore (4.35 stock = better breathing. You shouldn't have any trouble getting 10.1 pistons for it. I'd use the 452's like 2fast says because of the hardened seats. The 516 heads work good on a 383 but I would'nt use 'em anything bigger. A good cam to use is a COMP 280H, advanced 4 degrees (centerline) with a 2500 stall converter - it will knock your socks off.
Thanks for the input Bob, I didnt really know much about the newer heads {452s }
I really hate to open up the 383 its been a great old motor for several years but that rattle that has me worried , I didnt want to let it go and trash the block.
I hope the 383 crank looks good and can just be checked over and polished.
Thanks , Dan
thanks for the cam and bore / stroke advice theman440.
I was planning on going with a comp cams stick but was not sure on what specs. I was going to call them and give them the low down on what I had for parts and gears ect and check with their tech guys.
I have a B engine preformer rpm intake, electronic ignition set up & a set of B body headman headers.
I have been useing a 600 edelbrock but will be moving to a 750 ethire another edelbrock or a vaccum secondary holley.
I have a 8.75 3:23 sure grip in the old girl and 727 with stock convertor right now.
you probably won't notice much difference between the 383 vs. 400 as they are the same stroke. but as its already been said no matter which one you use, use the heads off of the 400. I`ve heard cast cranks are good up to 500hp. I built a 400 for my dart a while back here is my build- KB hypereutectic pistons +.030 @0 deck, 82cc edelbrock heads cut to 72cc's, performer rpm intake, 750 holley street HP, comp cams XE274 cam. I think the motor runs really good, I have no idea on the HP though maybe 400?
Thanks 65rbdodge, your 400 sounds like about what I am after , minus the edelbrock heads.
the 0 deck I understand is the piston top being dead even with the top deck of the block.
is that done with the choice of piston like your KBs through pin placement in the piston or do you have to mill the block down to get that ?
I will get my pistons after the machine shop tells me what I will need as far as bore size, then take them in so they can be fitted to the block and get the rotateing assembly balanced.
One more question if you guys dont mind.. does doing a gasket match port job on the heads and intake help much ?
I can prob pull that one off on my own but I know better than to start messing around cutting inside the bowls ect.
I would just end up trashing a set of heads. But the gasket match deal I would try out if it will help the engine.
Thanks again.
IMO port matching the intake to the heads is an easy way gain HP. Never pass up "easy" horsepower. Ideally you can order your pistons to be a few thousands "down in the hole" then have the block decked to "zero" Or close to zero while squaring up the block.
I have ported a number of heads myself, and agree that port matching is a worthwhile endeavour. Ma Mopar used to offer templates for bowl porting, but if you are not practiced in using cutters, it can be real easy to nick the seat area. You are also looking at 40 plus hours to do a full port job by hand, but the results can make quite the difference from a set of stock heads. I wouldn't worry about the exhaust ports at this stage either. just match the intake ports, and blend inward as far as you are comfortable with.