Small Block & Big Block Chevy Specific - 383 guys: step in

I've recently decided against going BBC for my '94 and have now planned on building a 383 from a '79 350 I have. It is a 2 bolt block casting 3970010. There is also a "350" stamping on the passenger side. The engine is from a Police Edition Impala Station Wagon and was 4 bbl automatic that I owned years ago after buying it from the original owner (so I know this engine's history). It's been sitting (disassembled) for over 5 years now, so it will definitely need some work before I can start putting it back together. My question is, I'm trying to find a good, modestly priced; rotating assembly for this engine and I've been on MANY sites i.e. jegs, summit, enginekits.com, strokerkits.com, larrysperformance.com, and a few others. I've also found some good 383 FAQ sites with plenty of info on cam & crank specs/clearances and whatnot.

Does anyone know of a good resource to where I can get the best bang for my buck?

Thanks in advance.

I got the last few from Dyno-Flo.com they were very helpful and the kits were very complete.

Good luck!

I went with the powerhouse kit. The only complaint i had with it was the gaskets were very cheap, i ended up replacing everyone of them. And after all of the upgrades to make it stronger, it was just as expensive as some of the others out there, not to mention the wasted gaskets. Hope this helps in your decision.

Where would you buy from if you were to do it again? Any estimates of what you guys have spent for your machine work?

Havent searched many other places, so somebody else will have to help you there. But i paid $275 for all my machine work including:

cleaning, deck, bore, hone, block notched, freeze plugs and installation, cam bearings and installation

That sounds like a really good deal. I have to go back over the spread sheet I got from Fowler (http://www.fowlerengines.com/) (nearest machine shop) and get the ball rolling.

Could try Speed-o-motive. www.speedomotive.com

Havent searched many other places, so somebody else will have to help you there. But i paid $275 for all my machine work including:

cleaning, deck, bore, hone, block notched, freeze plugs and installation, cam bearings and installation
wow thats a great deal! i paid over 600 for mine including having the block decked..

I'm trying to look up information for the pair of heads I have for this engine, but am not finding very much info. If anyone could help out that would be great.

The casting number is 482824 and they're from a '79 350 cu in SBC. Not sure if they're worth having reworked or just buying some Vortec style heads.

just get some vortecs and have them machined for use with screw in rocker studs and machined for bigger spring seats and conventional valve seals with some 2.0 valves and a bit of bowl work, polish the chamber and ur good to go
upgrade to beehive ls6 valve springs
i use the parts from enginekits.com and machine and balance as i see fit
for the rotating assembly
i get the pistons,rods,bearings,rings and balance to my spec
i believe enginkits.com will balance the crank using the crank with the components u buy from them for a fee,externally balanced i think

I'm trying to look up information for the pair of heads I have for this engine, but am not finding very much info. If anyone could help out that would be great.

The casting number is 482824 and they're from a '79 350 cu in SBC. Not sure if they're worth having reworked or just buying some Vortec style heads.

i have some 462624 heads off of my 77 350 i made into a 383..i had them redone by machine shop but since bought some afr's heads..so these have been sitting on the bench for about a year.. these cost me 300 to have redone. they have about 15 minutes of run time if your intrested email me at macburg@adelphia.net ill work something out with ya.

"Reworking" heads is a waste of time. You will spend $300 on 1979 crap heads and you could have had some nice aftermarket vortecs for $200 more. Aftermarket heads are the way to go, if you want to make any power IMO.

i agree i think after market heads are the way to go also...i wish i had learned that before i had these heads done lol... so like i said they worked good when i tested the engine and they are just sitting here i would make some kinda deal for them.

You can buy aftermarket aluminum heads for 800-1200 that flow very good numbers. It makes no since to use stock cast heads unless they are LS type heads. If the engine will be N/A you need the best head you can afford.

Rotating assembly is something that you want to do one time. Buy forged and be done with it. It will handle future mods with no problems. Buy cast and decide to run nitrous or boost and you will always worry what is going to happen...... and when it does it will be bad!

For the same money as the large port vortecs, you could buy a set of Dart iron eagles complete. Just a thought.

I would recomend contacting PAW and ordering a catlog form them. Its as big as a phone book, if not thicker, they have every thing you could want form blocks to rotating assembly's its about 5 bucks and takes about two weeks to ship but well worth it.

I would recomend contacting PAW and ordering a catlog form them. Its as big as a phone book, if not thicker, they have every thing you could want form blocks to rotating assembly's its about 5 bucks and takes about two weeks to ship but well worth it.

I've already got one of those from '06, but I've read that they typically use secondary parts. Don't quote me on that though.

You can after market aluminum SBC heads for about $500 each you would have almost that much in a set of iron heads and they wouldn't perform as well and they would be heavier.

On the rotating assembly you could go to speed-o-motive as suggested or you can get an Eagle assembly. They are both gonna be Chinese castings that are machined in the states (I know it sucks) thats how the price is so low. I used an Eagle assembly in my 383ci Fuelie I built the shop who did the macine work said they hate where they are made but they've had good luck with them If you can't step up to the big dog stuff it's a better option than a machined crank that is 30 years old.

Hey Tim, I'm in Columbus, iny chance I know you from a local board under another name? I had my block work done at Col-Weld..wasn't that happy with the cleaning but the machine work was good. Bored, plate honed, zero decked.They don't do balancing so they suggested Fast Racing in Groveport. Fast could've done everything and saved me alot of time, but I didn't know. I paid a coupl hundred for the machine wirk and I think 175 for the balancing. I have a Scat cast steel crank, Scat 4340 I-beam rods and KB pistons. They had to take a ton of weight out of the crank to get the balance right because the recip parts were so light. I have had people tell me that the eagle crank usually need alot of mallory to get them heay enough to get them balanced.
My best advice though is go to Jegs and get David Vizards "how to build a max performance sbc on a budget" book, it's invaluable.

if u dont hve ur pistons/rings yet, i hve a never used set to unload=)

Hey Tim, I'm in Columbus, iny chance I know you from a local board under another name? I had my block work done at Col-Weld..wasn't that happy with the cleaning but the machine work was good. Bored, plate honed, zero decked.They don't do balancing so they suggested Fast Racing in Groveport. Fast could've done everything and saved me alot of time, but I didn't know. I paid a coupl hundred for the machine wirk and I think 175 for the balancing. I have a Scat cast steel crank, Scat 4340 I-beam rods and KB pistons. They had to take a ton of weight out of the crank to get the balance right because the recip parts were so light. I have had people tell me that the eagle crank usually need alot of mallory to get them heay enough to get them balanced.
My best advice though is go to Jegs and get David Vizards "how to build a max performance sbc on a budget" book, it's invaluable.

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'm on a few sites...OhioRides.org, COFBA...both under the username: Not_A_Z28

I'll definately look into those locations.

I would recomend contacting PAW and ordering a catlog form them. Its as big as a phone book, if not thicker, they have every thing you could want form blocks to rotating assembly's its about 5 bucks and takes about two weeks to ship but well worth it.

Dont listen to this guy hes full of shit! Look he only has 3 post :jest: Hey kittt kiss my :moon: