Looking at the Skip White 383 for my 75. Does anyone have any experience with this crate motor? Good, bad or ugly comments are all appreciated before I drop 6k on this.

 

I just got a load of parts from Skip White.

Chrome Alternator - Made in china but tested in the US. It came with a spec sheet showing output in different rpm ranges.

Chrome Electric fuel pump - Made in china but tested in the US. Came with 3/8" flare fittings installed, +regulator +pressure gauge. The regulator is a one in two out setup and works fine. The gauge is within 1% accuracy. I tested it at work during a boring night shift.

Aluminium crankshaft pulley - No manufacturing info. It was supposed to be the exact same diameter as a stock pulley. It is about 1/2" smaller so I had to get all new belts.

Chrome 3HP mini starter - Lifetime warranty. Only has one shaft shim and needed 2 for my fit. No issues turning over a 10.5:1 compression 383.

I am happy overall with Skip but ... there is alot of "Made in China" coming out of his shop. Online reviews and BBB complaints make me leary of buying any major assemblies from him. There are horror stories of valve guide not seated, bad fake Scat crankshafts, and roller lifters dropping needle bearings on start-up.


I wouldnt risk the 6k on it. Little things about his parts choices make me leery, ie head bolts instead of studs on a high hp engine.

 

I installed one on a 79 forum members car. Also put in a 700r4 from bow tie Overdrives. The motor started right up and ran fine. It has a ton of torque and plenty of power. I ran it for probably 50 miles and have given the car back to the forum member. I know he has driven it with no issues at all. The guys at Skip White were very easy to deal with. Bolts instead of studs is not an issue. Use ARP bolts and you will never have a problem. I can't say the longevity of the motor yet as this was just put in this fall. So far it has been very good.

 

I am glad that Gordon weighed in on this one since he installed the 383 in my '79. I did not get much opportunity to drive it before the snow arrived, but after 400+ miles I have been very pleased with the performance. Only a short time, but based upon my experience I would recommend it and in my opinion it is worth the investment. Whatever you decide, good luck and drive safely.

 

That's what I'm reading as well, possibility of knock off Chinese parts. Makes me a little nervous without talking to people with some personal experience.

 

Not that I have any affilation with Skip or GM, but I was going to drop 6K on a 383, I would get this.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Perf...54258/10002/-1

 

They list it as 450 HP, but the graph shows 425. I think they used the wrong graph. I do like the torque curve on it.

 

This could definitely be a viable option for me.

 

You should get mostly good opinions , he builds and sells a ton of the sbc dart block stroker motors , I mean hundreds and hundreds of them . I watched his company for 2 years before I decided to have a motor built by them

Go to you tube and watch his dyno tests, I just set into my car his stage 5 SBC 427. I am waiting on Holley 550-810 multi port fuel injection and a yoke for my 4l80E before I can fire her up ..

I had no issues with email replies or phone call replies , if you do contact them ask for AL he is very helpful..

 

I think I've decided against Skip Whites 383 due recent negative ebay reviews, an F rating with the BBB and multiple online complaints about using Chinese knock off parts. I liked the zz383 suggestion, does anybody else's have suggestions for a quality high HP small block?

 

CNC Motorsports is powering my car, AirBusPilot's, and a few other members with their engines.

 

You are referring to his ebay small part sales which do get some complaints , but don't confuse that with his motor sales. If you want a 59.00 HEI distributor complete with ecu cap and rotor well he has them LOL..

His motors have afr heads , dart blocks , scat rotating assemblies probe pistons .. Howards cam and lifters scorpion rockers . A good mix of parts .. Or you can ask for what ever you want Pauldana got a lot of his 427 build from whites and after checking it all he was impressed . Look at his hundred page topic on his build LOL ..

I even got the AFR Titan intake manifold , he stocks it .. How many engine builders can say they have that on hand ?

A GM crate is good also I had the ZZ4 and loved it .. But do not let the chineese part sales form your whole opinion like i said earlier he has hundreds of you tube videos of his builds and dyno runs .

We just put a ZZ383 in a 1989 corvette , GM replaced it because it was defective , the lifters where getting no oil , it sounded like a ill sewing machine .. It did take about 45 days to sort it out they did pay but the only point i am making is mistakes happen GM or others it is how you and they deal with it that makes it good or bad.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's not necessarily that he uses Chinese parts that worries me. I understand that many of the parts picked up at the local parts store are actually made outside the U.S. What worries me is that I'm reading complaints of knock offs being represented as being made in the U.S. This could mean a few different things, 1) Skip has a distributor that's shafting him and he doesn't realize it (very unlikely from somebody who's been in the business as long as Skip. 2) Skip is shafting his customers by falsely representing knock offs as U.S. made. Or 3) Some of his customers don't know what they're talking about despite some of them coming across as VERY educated on the matter (entirely possible). I'd actually like to ask Skip about some of the very specific complaints but don't quite know how without coming across as offensive.
There are enough specific complaints in this regard that it makes me very leary to hand over just over $6K. But that's why we're having this conversation, to help clarify concerns. I'd like to hear from somebody who's been running a Skip White Performance engine for a while to hear how it's held up.

 

I spoke directly to Al on exactly what you are bringing up . Lets make some sense of it , you buy a water pump for 19.95 chrome .. Who is going to say or think it is american made , or use the distributor I mentioned 59.95 with Cap , rotor and ECM ,, If someone thinks it is american made how knowledgeable can they be ? I talked about this topic to them it is not news to me what you found but I suspect like me your not finding anyone saying there 427 / 383 / 406/ 434 / ect blew up on them ..

I found 1 complaint related to a motor , it was a rear main leak according to the customer , If I remember right he wanted full retail shop rates to fix it .. White said no .

Even that ZZ383 we had issues with. GM did not pay full on retail they paid 68 per , we charge 85 per so you take it on the chin some no matter who you deal with. And they mandated we perform specific checks , prove we did them and send results to them. They then replaced the motor but the testing and phone tag tied up a week or 2 which now looking back is ok but who wants to tie up a lift for that long ? Again crap happens you deal with it ..

So I really have no other info to share , IMOP you can not go wrong with GM or white or blue print or CNC. Aside from GM these other 3 compete with white and in the end I think white does a very good job for a very fair price ,