Laws69cars

Hello everyone, I'm looking for opinions since I am no motor expert. I would like to know if this is a good set up.. It is a built short block so I would like to know the questions I should be asking before I make any kind of purchase.

First of all to let you know I have a 69 corvette automatic w/350 small block and a 400 trans. Pretty much all stock other then the new Edelbrock 650 cfm carb Edelbrock performer high rise intake and Hooker Headers I just recently installed.

There is a ad on Craigslist local to me selling this set up for $1200.


Eagle rotating assembly kit b13005e -040

Lunati voodoo cam .489/.505

Aluminum heads 64cc 2.02/1.60
Moroso oil pan with summit hp oil pump

Quiet gear driven timing

Here is the link of the ad

http://ventura.craigslist.org/pts/5645817712.html


Any help opinions ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!

cv67

Any more details on history, brand/part number on heads cam etc why hes selling it?

I take it the motor is used not fresh as parts would cost more than 1200
Know of a member whos out that way perhaps he can be persuaded to go look at it to make sure its legit..and really a 383.

Seller shouldnt have an issue pulling the pan and a rod/main cap or two so you can have a look. Could be a decent buy or a nightmare

MelWff

The cam would require a different torque converter and depending on your current rear end gears may need a change also. Your current carburetor is smaller than the recommended size.
http://www.lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1984&gid=287

The oil pan may or may not fit a Corvette frame.

Laws69cars

Here is his new ad he just recently re posted. I will definitely ask why he is selling and for part numbers and post back on here.


https://ventura.craigslist.org/pts/5644669650.html

Laws69cars

OK that's what I wanted to know because I really don't want to have to start changing gears and transmission. I guess a converter would not be to bad but thinking that would be my limit. If not rather just leave all stock for now. Thank you for the input

cv67

Wouldnt be so bad as the motor will be out anyway easy to put in
that cam should behave ok in a 383

64cc head flat tops probably 25 in the hole should be fine

augiedoggy

honestly a 650cfm carb would work fine on a 383 and still give to great performance.. You will loose a couple horse power at wide open throttle but still have way more than you have now and that easy to upgrade down the road if you wish. Its no worse than the power your giving up now with the regular performer vs the Rpm intake..
Also the stock 2000rpm converter will work OK with that cam (I know I have pretty much the same setup with my 1.6 rocker arms giving me about the same lift on my voodoo 262/268 cam one size smaller than the one above.) again a 2500-2800rpm converter would be ideal but the 2000 rpm stock converter does perform fine with plenty of power and no drivability issues... I would think that with a larger 383 (I have a 355) you would have even more torque at lower rpms and would need the higher stall converter less as far as I understand as the powerband should move down a bit with more displacement and "behave" better as mentioned above..

I'm kind of suprised no one here bought it from under you but as mentioned deals like this are often too good to be true... I bought a supposedly rebuilt longblock with only 7k on it only to find the bearings and crank were trashed... ended up rebuilding myself but it was still an amazing deal for $300 since I sold the comp cam and ended up using the flat top pistons, black and rods... I used the stock oilpan from my old motor myself since it had the windage try and I didnt trust the aluminum one to fit.

tektrans

64cc combustion chamber-you would need to find out what your compression ratio would be with that small of a chamber.

augiedoggy

I have 64cc heads and flat tops in my 355, I use .015 shim head gaskets and has a .039 quench I believe and like 6 or 7 cc head reliefs... the cam I have as well as that cam bleed off some of the compression to bring the dynamic compression down... because of this I run 91 octane with no issues at all and I have iron heads... with larger diameter 383 bores he will have more wiggle room.

I mention this because I was told it likely wouldnt work without race fuel by more than one member here and I researched it for months looking for others on other forums with a similiar setup before using a compression calculator with my cam specs and learning the dynamic would be in the sweet spot for regular fuel with help from Reelavair I think was his name here?

Cavu2u

Honestly, my 383 scares me a bit. I may have floored it once or twice, but never let it completely go up to speed. Last speeding ticket, actually any ticket, I earned was in '83 (wanna keep it that way.) And that was a trap at the bottom of a hill.
You wouldn't be disappointed with a 383 Laws. Your question of IS THIS the motor for you, always yields an ambiguous answer. But on the surface, this motor appears to be a bargain and a half! Example: That big oil pan won't fit; sell it easily for more than the price of one that does and keep the change.

I wouldn't wait a minute more on it, if I was looking for one.
Steve

Knerf

383 has the same bore as a 350 or 327

augiedoggy

Ah yes the stroke changes that what I get for commenting before my morning coffee... but my understanding was the a 383 is what you get with a .30 bored over 355 block and 400 crank so technically we are both wrong no? or maybe most of the 383's out there are not actually 383's since I thing most end up boring and reringing when going from the 350 crank to the 400..

tektrans

I'm not saying it wouldn't work-just making a point to the OP to be aware of cause it may need addressing.

cv67

Pan needs to come off
How many ads are out there saying 355 stroker, 383 whatever. Lots of bsers and half simply dont have a clue. Seen more than 1 guy buy a 383 only to find out it was a 305, 350 etc. If I didnt have such a tight sched Id go look at it for you Im an hour away.

OMF

Good advise from the previous posters....

If the guy is telling you a straight story and the thing is a 383 (a 385 actually with the .040 overbore) the biggest concern is compression ratio with that cam and 64cc heads.
I did a quick search for a dynamic compression calculator and came up with a best ratio of ....

- Static compression of 10.1
- .020" deck height,(guessing at this) any less than this and it goes from bad to worse.
-.051" thick (really thick) thickest head gasket I could find
-+7cc pistons
-64cc heads
Factor in that cam and your dynamic compression comes in at 9.37......
Thats too high for the street on pump gas, it should be around 8.5 dynamic.

Remember I'm making some assumptions here while figuring this out, and I used a deck height and head gasket that helps the numbers. Any less on the deck height or head gasket will make it less streetable on pump gas with that cam, and you will likely get lots of detonation with it.

The options are (from least to most costly), longer duration cam, different dished pistons or different heads with a larger combustion chamber. You can offset this cost by selling the original pieces.

If that engine is what it appears to be $1200 is a great price, I'd ask to see reciepts for the rotating assembly and the machine work...... Something to think about

augiedoggy

Are you sure you put the cam specs into the calculator correctly? The only reason I ask is I found thread after thread including ones where Harold UD had to correct people who where making incorrect assumptions based on incomplete info assuming things about the cam... I dont remember exactly what it was about the voodoo cams that made it tricky and I apologize for not remembering (something about the asymmetrical lobes?) but I do remember once I got this info correct my cam actually made the dynamic come in at the sweet spot range for pump gas.. I dont recall there being a big difference in design of the the next size up cam only that it made power in a band about 400 rpm higher than the one I have...

Again I have .019 deck height and .015 head gaskets with my .030 355 and the iron eagle 64cc heads with +7 relief pistons and with the next size smaller voodoo cam (262/268) but with 1.6 rocker arms and found even 89 runs without pinging although I always run 91 in it to be safe. if I remember correctly my static was also about 10:1 Would the stroke change the compression that much even though the bore and gasket makes the chamber bigger? many people in a similiar thread here told me it would not run without 100+ octane racing fuel and that couldnt be further from the truth. I built it myself and actually measured everything because I was considering thicker head gaskets to bring the compression down but then read the smaller quench helps more than it hurts with detonation and pinging.

even if he did end up having to swap out the cam he would still be looking at $200 tops and could recover most of that if he resold the old cam/lifters.. I would think there has to be a cam choice that would bleed off enough pressure.

Laws69cars

Thank you all for the input. I'm going to ask for receipts let's see what he has to say. That could help me identify parts and part numbers I hope.

99 Black Bird TA

I would ask to see the sonic test results for the block to make sure the cylinder walls aren't to thin if I was interested in that 383. Sometimes .040 is too much and gets the cylinder wall too thin. It happened with a 383 I had briefly.

diehrd

Dont cheap out, 1200.00 is way to little for a 383 . But its a perfect price if someone is looking to scam ya .

cv67

Can always ask who did the machine work and call them
If the pans off youll be able to see where the block was clearanced for the rods.
Without taking measurements hard to say if the cam would work, betting it will be just fine with 64cc and flat tops. Would use a larger converter esp if its a flat tappet. Wouldnt get too wrapped up over DCR;lots of "wrong combos" out there that run pretty strong
Doesnt give brand or size of heads?