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Stroke the 355 to a 383 or not?

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Discussion starter · #21 ·
Mikes78

That's exactly what I'm looking for really a tire burning street car you couldn't have said it better :) if I can hop it on the freeway cool but I mainly just cruise It around town and enjoy the feeling and sound and that's really what I'm looking for. What was the rpm at with your setup with the 4.56 gear roughly, because I just ran across a 4.56 setup for a really good deal and I'm considering going with that over the 3.73.
 
#22 ·
You would be amazed at what gears and a GOOD custom converter would do for that car with the 355. Call up precision industries or another custom converter company for a recommendation (and be prepared for sticker shock). There is a world of difference between a "shelf" converter and something built for your combo. I had a PI 9.5" converter in my daily driven 5.0 mustang and it was the best mod I made to that car.


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#23 ·
Hi, its been a couple years but at 55-60 I think it was a tad over 3000ish rpm. I had a 3k stall freakshow converter too. I know your combo is a little mismatched and the cam is old technology like previously mentioned, but the gear swap will make a night and day difference. Good Luck!
 
#26 ·
Bad69chevelle said:
So you say hit the track then go from there?
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Thats what I was telling you in your other thread. you need to hit the track or hit a chassis dyno to know what you have before you start changing the engine.

Steve R said:
At some point you want to hit the track. My personal opinion is the first step in a performance build is to establish what you want the car to run. After that you can determine what horsepower level, converter, gear ratio, suspension modifications, etc., to reach that goal. Even if you shoot for a certain horespower and reach your goal, what good does it do if the rest of the car up to the task of transmitting the power to the ground in an efficient manner.

Read through some of the posts about first trips to the track. It is common for someone's car to run a couple of seconds slower than anticipated. Some will work at optimizing their combination to make it work, often resulting in ET's close to what they thought it would run. Others will just blow the results off and blame track prep, or say their car works better on the street.

Steve R
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X2

Bad69chevelle said:
Mikes78

What would be the most mis matched part of the combo in your opinion, that could make the motor better matched with a upgrade?
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GEARS. You need gears, plain and simple. your engine would love 4.56`s but your going to need to wind it up a little, at least 6500rpms.

your a little bit all over the place on gears though. first you dont want too much because you want to be able to hit the freeway and now your considering 4.56`s. I dont think its too much but you need to get a plan and stick to it and get it done. The odds of you hitting the perfect combo on the first shot is pretty slim. There is parts changing and tuning in your future.
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
Ya I know I'm kinda all over the place, I originally wanted to be able to still have the occasional freeway ride I'm used to, but my main goal over all Is a smoking street car and if the bigger gears like a 4.11 or 4.56 are gonna get me that much closer to my goal and be that much better over the 3.73 that's what I would want. That's kinda why I've switched my decision around the car spends 99 percent of the time around town, cruising and hot dogging around :) which leaves little need for worrying about that other 1 percent of the time I hop on the freeway so really if I'm gonna spend good money doing the rear end why not just go big, unless a 4.56 is to much gear altogether and will hurt me?
 
#28 ·
Good opinions in this thread but the problem your going to have here is alot of them which might make you second guess yourself. Ive worked with a fella that was building a car and bounced all over in his mind, to the point he sold the car because he was so confused and frustrated. I can tell you this, any 350 will like some gear and rpm to get a heavy car moving. This opinion is based on what you want, an around town bruiser/ stop light to stop light fun car. If it were me, Id change gear first(because you have to anyway) then tune what you have and make sure your converter is flashing up to at least 3k. If its not get a looser one. Second Id change cam, call Chris Straub although for this application thats like drinking fine wine in a paper cup lol. Any newer design off the shelf grind will be better than what you have. Third Id probably change the heads or heads and cam at the same time and then thats when you could use Chris Straub as he will know what the best sized/brand head and cam combo would work best for you. As for gear, for me, I find it very easy to change them and would still use the 4.56 with the 350. If and when you ever change to a 383 or even a bbc, maybe at that point go to a 4.10 or so.
 
#29 ·
With this cam
http://www.cranecams.com/product/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=24191
ported Sportsman ll heads, 1.6 roller rockers and RPM intake in a 383 kit similar to what your looking at, I made 462 hp @ 6000 and 470 tq at 4200 rpm (or there abouts). This is the engine in my Camaro. It's s a very streetable engine with tons of torque. Almost too mild for me. A 383 is defintley the way to go if your looking at a rebuild. Of course, I needed more power so I tunnel ramed it, but thats a whole nuther story:D
Steve
 
#30 ·
Gears and suspension. You could make all the power in the world but if you can't plant it, the ricers are gonna eat ya up. I have a 383, 2200 stall th400, 4.10 and 27" tires. 3000rpm is about 50-55. Speedo doesn't work... Make sure you have some good rpm or you'll top out at 100mph with those 4.56. At 7200rpm I'm barely at 130
 
#32 ·
Keep in mind mike, with your 350 combo, if you ran it at the track and it hooked, your looking at a high to mid 12 ish at around 103-108mph and with a efficient converter, trap rpm will be around 6k with your 4.56 gears. Very do-able and fun as hell on the street considering your not looking for a purpose built drag car.
 
#33 ·
Instead of doing a 383 use that money for an over drive transmission and 3.73 gears. The car will feel great off the line and driveable on the highway.

It will be far more usable.
 
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#35 ·
Hollow65 said:
Gears and suspension. You could make all the power in the world but if you can't plant it, the ricers are gonna eat ya up. I have a 383, 2200 stall th400, 4.10 and 27" tires. 3000rpm is about 50-55. Speedo doesn't work... Make sure you have some good rpm or you'll top out at 100mph with those 4.56. At 7200rpm I'm barely at 130
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I think I can honestly say that from a stop I'm no faster then when the engine made 400 hp. I just lay more rubber down...but it is a lot of fun:yes:
 
#36 ·
As for gears, once you go over 4.11, you'll have to change your posi carrier to a 4 series.
 
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#39 ·
You have this thread and another one on gears. You need to make your mind up of which way you want to go. You will get tired of steep gears and slow highway driving pretty fast (pun intended). Having said that, a 383 will give you the torque and power you need for that acceleration rush with the gears you have now. I had 3.08's in my Camaro and it pulled forever. That was with a 4 speed. I switched to 4:10s and a TKO and that gave me the best of both worlds. If you're going to stick with a 1:1 trans then a taller gear and a bigger engine is the best comprise, at least IMHO.
 
#40 ·
Maybe 383 and 3.45-3.55? The torque oughta pull ya through.
I have 4.10 but I'm stricktly stoplight to stoplight. It's in a truck and my aero dynamics are that of a brick. Lights em off at 60 on the highway and that makes me grin.
 
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