im looking to pull the original motor out of my 78 L82, and would like to replace it with a new small block 350,383,400. would like to stay between 400-425 HP. i have been looking on the internet and man is there a bunch of them out there. thinking i would like to go with a turn-key motor since i do not want to use any of my original components,and they dyno run them and tune them so you will have the specs on it.
so i decided to put it to the forum on your suggestions based on experience (good or bad) either yours,friends, word of mouth.
i will take all suggestions,average them out and go from there. thanks in advance for all your suggestions
so if you have experience with somebody chime in.

Kevin

 

I would suggest a GM crate motor, and some new speed parts to top it off.

 

thanks DB. i have looked into there motors.
one vote for GM crate engines.

 

thats it? only one person on this forum has any experience with crate engines?
come on guys, lets here it. don't hold back.

 

I bought a $4000 383 stroker crate motor about 3 years ago. Build quality sucked, the motor leaked, overheated, the rings never seated, it smoked like a ****, was underpowered (claimed at 440hp....yeah right...mor like 350hp), and eventually ended up with a cracked block after less than 2000 miles. Some of the claimed parts were misrepresented...blah blah blah. I talked to the shop a couple of times (hard to talk to anyone who could answer questions), but in the end I bit the bullet and tore the motor apart myself


I just finished building my new motor. Some of the parts were reused from the crate (crank rods pistons) everything else was built by me. Way more satisfaction, and the motor is now running perfectly. (i am in the process of making a new thread about the build).

I won't be buying any more crate motors I now know how to build my own

 

I went through the process a couple of months ago... looking for a turnkey motor for my 68 vert.

I had targeted a few suppliers based on the few responses I got from this site....Derebery, TandLengines, Enginefactory.com.

I also considered Shafiroff, for a true big block in a small block package.
Check out their 434 Ultrastreet range

Best price was from Derebery, Best price with forged components was T&Lengines, and they also could do 408 strokers.
Response times to queries from TandLengines made me hesitant.

Shafiroff was getting too pricey for my app... even though exchange rate is good.. There are moments when I think maybe I should have gone for a 434.... not many here in Oz. Would definitely have woken up my vert.. as well as all the locals

But I decided to go for a proven 383....
As enginefactory have an Australian agent, I decided to go with them.
Very professional outfit.... not the cheapest, but for my situation, it gave me best peace of mind.

I initially chose the 460hp package..... but then changed my mind on some components after build had started...
no issues with the builder.... they really do want to provide great customer satisfaction.
I went with their 475hp 383 package, with a tach drive dizzy and alloy finned rocker covers, and the entire engine painted chev orange.



Motor has been built (on schedule) and has been hot tested for 40 minutes to run in valve train and check for leaks (water, vacuum, oil) and had carby tuned and timing set, and packed for shipping. It should arrive in Oz in a few weeks.

I'll let you know what it's like when it's in the car.

 

Yet another example that this can be one of those "if you want it done right, do it yourself" things. Sure, there are some quality crate engines out there, but caveat emptor...

 

thanks for the info,and please keep us posted. i have had quite a few refferals to engine factory,and have printed off a lot of there info.

 

Got a HP383 from M&R engines. No problems.http://www.mandrengines.com/

 

maybe if i had posted a thread about wanting to install a new stereo or lights i would have gotten a better response.

 

the Gm crate engines seems to having problems,i would have a good machine shop rebuild yours,heads intake cam and you'll make 420 hp fairly easy,had alittle compression to yours,i would go 10 or 10.5 on the street and still be pg friendly.

 

I know some good engine builders around Kc if your intersted,

 

GM crate motor, stay away from fleabay crate engines the failure rate is too high

 

IMO, a local machine shop with good volume to afford decent machines to work with....I did that 10 years ago here in Jax Fl.....lower end at one busy shop....heads next door at a head shop (NO NOT THAT TYPE)....CYLINDER heads....

 

If your short block is good then look into a top end kit that comes with heads, intake and cam like Edelbrock, Dart or Trickflow offer, the L82 is a good base for power but the heads and intake leave something to desired; you can get 400 hp for about $2k reusing your shortblock

 

Kevin, IMHO, if you had titled your thread "Crate engines?" insead of "Engine builders?" you probably would have attracted more responses from the crate engine customers you sought. I'd try again...

 

Had very good luck with MAS in Ellsworth, WI.

I know there are a couple of others out there with one of Mikes engines.

Here's their website.

http://masperformance.com/cratemotors.htm