I have my Beau to the point now where all the major things are done and its a nice cruiser. I am now looking ahead to this fall and winter for a project. I would like to build a 383 stroker myself even though I have no previous engine building experience other than the cam and head swap I done this year. I have access to a standard bore 350 block 4 bolt main. I thought I could get a Scat stroker rotating assembly reasonably priced and have the block cleaned checked and balanced.I figured I could do the clearancing needed myself.Now this is where I run into trouble because of inexperience. Picking the right parts to work. I want to end up with a strong 383 for the street that will work in my Beau. I think I have a couple of options but want some input. I have vortec heads, vortec performer rpm intake and centre bolt covers now. I assume I could reuse these heads and avoid the extra costs of new or maybe buy aftermarket vortec pattern heads. Another option would be to bite the bullet and get the heads that would work best and everything else required.
Any opinions on this or maybe some ideas for a stroker recipe? Any combos out there that I might be able to compare or even copy?

All input appreciated

Jerry

I recommend getting David Vizard's book "Max Performance SBC on a Budget" or something like that smile.gif . He covers amny of the questions you have and will answer questions you haven't thought of yet. He has some recipes for various size SBs including 383s.

Vortecs will work very well. You may need dish pistons to get the CR where the cam you decide to use wants it. 383's and small chambers can push the CR pretty high particularly if you decide to go with a smaller cam. And since this is a cruiser, I recommend staying on the smaller side. The car will be much more fun to drive. Torque is your friend :D .

ditto on the david vizard book.all of his books should be required reading for all performance enthusiasts!very informative!kudos to dave! graemlins/hurray.gif

same setup i have compression 10.8 to 1 flattops 93 gas. you wont be dissapointed,best money spent.

Parts depends on the power level.
The Scat 7/16 cap screw rods are supposed to have a lot of clearance so I'm told. My Lunati rods did. Still ran out of clearance on my UD cam at 106 ICL. Had to use 110 ICL.
From my current engine, I don't reccommend flat tops with the 62ish cc chamber unless your running at least a 280 @ .006 hyd or @ .020 solid. There are 12cc dish pistons out there for a 10-1 or so CR and a smaller cam. Better gears might help out on this but I don't plan on them anytime soon to find out.

Also, I suspect the Vortec heads start to choke a 383 above 5800 rpm or so. Need to change a few things on my car to verify this though. So a more the 280 or so cam will loose some bottom and still be limited on top. Unless you go real big on the duration like the super stock racers do to get the top end.

Ideally, a UD 276/284 and AFR or Canfield 195cc heads w/ FT pistons would be a great set up based on my current combo.

What exactly are you looking for? Gears, converter etc...

Thanks guys. Right now I have 10 bolt 8.2 rear with 3:73's and eaton posi behind a th350.I already have full 2 1/2" exhaust with hooker full length headers. This will probably be street driven 98% of the time with maybe a trip or 2 to the track for fun. I have power brakes so vacuum will be an issue with the end result. I will buy the book by D Vizard and check it out. I used his how to build a small block chevy book until now.
I think the HP bug has bit me and there is only 1 cure that I know of


Jerry

Jerry, Look at my combo in sig.Strong little motor.Times are with NO tuning at all.Old plugs,vac adv. hooked up,timing @10deg,and the air cleaner on.Still alot left on the table to tweek :D

MY VELLE (http://www.prestage.com/Member+Pages/1201.aspx)

Thanks onebad66. Is that daylight I see under that front wheel? graemlins/thumbsup.gif That may be a wee bit more than I was looking for but definately along the right track :D

Jerry