Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - 383 Block Value??

found 383 short block 4-sale! guy is asking $750obo

here is his description:
383 small block Chevy stroker short block. I bought this short block two summers ago and it sat on the stand until Jan. 2008. I was told it was an internally balance cast Scat crank. The pistons are Keith Black cast alum two valve relief. The rods are new Scat stock style. The block is a 1979 four bolt main block (casting 0010) from a 1979 truck. The block has been cleaned, bored .30, checked for cracks and decked.




I love the power and performance, but I felt a vibration in it. I ran it for about a month or so, I would guess I put close to 1000 miles on it. I took the 383 out a couple of months ago now and I put a fresh 350 back in my Chevelle. I took the 383 down to the short block to see if the block has been clearanced enough. Well I discovered the crank has grinding marks on one of the counter weights by a hand grinder, as you can see by the pics. I can’t understand why some one would grind on the crank. Not a lot has been grinded, but I guess it is enough to throw it out of balance. I spoke to a local machine shop and they told me that I would have to have the rotating assembly rebalanced. The cost would be $275 thru $300 to do the job.
here are some pics

whts it worth???

You need to figure out if it externally or internally balanced, if you had a 350 damper and flexplate on a ext bal engone it it will cause serious vibration issues, as well as if was you run an ext bal damper&flexplate on an int balanced engine.

If you ran it wil a 350 damper and plate and got a vibration I would say its and ext bal engine. However the grinding could be where a piece of Mallory was welded in for int balancing. Take some close up pics of the rotating assembly and I'll see if I can help you out. Also show me the back side of the damper and the flexplate as well....

I had a guy bring me a Nova w/ a 427 (int bal) that had a very bad vibtration and I chased it down to him intalling a 454 (ext bal) flexplate on it. Changed the plate and and it ran smoooth and reved clean, however I told him not expect it to love too long as he might have rattled the bearings out of it from the mistake.....

guy told me it was internally balanced. i was told tht the rotating assmbley would need to be balanced.
i just need the blocj itself, gunna order the 383stroker build kit from enginekits.com

Also its had to say whats it worth, to one guy its worth $500 and to another it may be worth $1500. I'd either freshen and balance it or put it on craigslist and sell it just as you bought it but try to be as honest as possible. It looks fine and I'd say you just had the wrong setup for damper/flexplate which created the vibration....

I'd reuse it just pay for the machine work and get a good set of pistons, then you'll be just fine and the bottom end will be fairly solid unless you intend to make an allout race deal?

i never bought it. i was thinking about buying it! someone else has it listed on craigslist

$400-600 complete would be max in my opinion, the block is nothing more than a stock 350 block 010 with Higher Nickel content.....

New cost is about
$220 rods
$230 crank
$175 pistons

is it worth buying this block and building on it? (so i can still drive my Nova wit the sbc350 in it untill i build my 383?)

i would not pay that much, i see 383 cranks go for 100 bucks on craigslist and arould 140 on ebay brand new. i wouldnt go over 450 for it. i got my 400 bare virgine block for 75 bucks.

You cant buy a 3.75" stroke scat crank on eBay for $140 sorry but your wrong the cast ones are at minimum $179+ the ride unless its a stoke stroke 350 version and those are usally blems. It just needs rings, bearings and maybe a hone to be new again, you can even leave the Hyperucraptic pistons(assuming the skirts are good) as long as your not planning on using a nitrous hit over 150hp. I doubt it needs rebalancing, just the proper setup ie damper/flexplate will cure the problem as its a common mistake.

Show me a $140 SCAT crankshaft on eBay please?

sorry overkill, i must have mis read the "scat" crank. your correct cast scats are around 180ish.

but there are some eagle cranks for 150.00

No worries, those are usally blems also but they tend not to tell you that when you buy them. Then they ding you on shipping due to them being heavy boat anchors LOL!

$75 bucks is a good price on a 400 block though!