Well, after some deliberation I finally said heck with it, I'm going for it. In about 2 weeks I will be headed to the shipping dock to bring home my 383 stroker 440hp/475tq :cool: I decided to go with this engine from AR Racing after GrandSportC3's nice luck with a similar engine from them and from the advice and opinions of many of you on the forum. I think I'm either the 3rd or 4th forum member to buy from these guys in the last month or so. I was looking for something very streetable, affordable, but something that will keep my toosh in the back of the seat. For a while I considered going with a BB but decided against it because of all the other changes...springs, acessories, cooling, etc. I think this engine will be a nice combination of small block weight and driveabilty and big block power.

BGrice - We're going to have to get together sometime soon after we both receive our engines. Have you gotten yours yet?

Man, I can't wait. Now I've just got to decide on an ignition system. The more I read here, the more I get confused. I really like the MSD Pro Billet and the Crane HI-6R box but I'm not sure they will work with each other. I may just have to go with the MSD Digital 6. My BFG T/A's are getting pretty thin and after a few spirited runs with the new beast I may upgrade to some BFG drag radials or Nitto drag radials. Anyone have any preferences there? I've got 15x8 TQ thruster II's.

Thanks everybody for your advice and all your help I've received from you. :seeya

Edit - Whoops, those little faces don't work in the title! :lol:


[Modified by tshort, 12:27 AM 12/12/2002]

 

Sounds great!! I'll be getting the Crane HI-6 unit in a couple weeks, along with the LX92 coil and a couple other things. I'll let you know how it runs for sure. And the crane unit will work with the MSD Pro Billet without any problems, you may just need an adapter. So if you can wait for a couple, i can give you some feedback....that may be too much to ask, so IM gkull, he has a HI-6R :cheers:

 

you forgot the most important part! How much? :D

 

From the specs of the 383/440HP engine - it seems to be a big tourque engine - which should be very streetable.. (with automatic - I would still put a 2400 stall converter in... The tranny will be exposed anyway and installing the converter will be easy... I hope that you have the same luck as I did.. (I actually hope that it wasn't luck).. Yesterday - I drove my 68 all day and the engine just runs sooooooo awsome - even for regular cruising...

I personally went with one of the most inexpensive HEI distributors and MSD 6AL box and I'm very satisfied with the setup.. The whole setup only cost me $350 (PROFORM 50000 Volt HEI - $160 + MSD6AL = $190).... My setup would be good enough for 7500 RPM.... I will never rev that high to find out if it will be good for more than that...
I have the BFG Drag Radials (275/60R15) and I already got 1.6x's 60' times with them... so - they are pretty good. I have no experience with Nittos - but I heared that the BFG's grip better...
:seeya :seeya :seeya

:cheers:

Olivier

 

Ben - The total was $3510 shipped. That included from oilpan to polished intake and from 400 flywheel to balancer (no pulleys). I'm pretty happy with the price. Now I've just got to find some good deals on eBay or here for the rest of the parts to complete the installation. :crazy:

Olivier - No need for a torque converter, I've got a 4-speed. And as far as just using a cheaper HEI, do you know who has one with the tach drive? I've been bidding on a complete unit with MSD distributor and ignition on eBay but someone keeps outbidding me on it :mad .

 

Forgot that you had a 4-speed.. Somebody else with a automatic e-mailed me yesterday - asking about my engine too..

The PROFORM HEI doesn't have a tach drive and all the aftermarket tach drive distributors are very expensive... On my 68' I have a electric Autometer tach - so I didn't need a distributor..
What I did on my 69 Vert (sold) as the cheapest alternative was:

1) Getting the PROFORM HEI 5000 Volt distributor
2) Getting a used electric tach from a 75 Vette (bolts right in where tha tach drive tach sits now) for $100 from http://www.contemporarycorvette.com

Total cost was $159 + $100 for the tach = $259... still $100 cheaper than most high performance tach drive distributors...

:cheers:

Olivier


[Modified by GrandSportC3, 9:03 AM 12/12/2002]

 

Congratulations tshort!! I think thats the engine I got! Is that the one with the edlebrock heads? Mine should be in early next week. Keep us updated on your ignition system, I will have to cross that hurdle soon. :cheers:

 

Crane has really nice weather proof jacks. To put in any kind of dist with it you just have to cut strip and pin the wires for the Crane jacks. I took my time and was done with the hole saw through the fire wall and custom mounts in a couple of hours.

I first tested it at 3500 rpm. set the dials fired it up and eased up on the rpm till about 3000 and then floored it. Beautiful sound and it didn't gain any rpm

 

I forgot to ask you what's the run down on the motor you bought? :confused:

 

gkull - Well, it's got a lot of different symptoms. May be as simple as worn out crank bearings and out of adjusted lifters. I think the rings are bad too. The oil pressure doesn't like to hold very well and it burns a lot of oil. After I drive it on the highway and come back down to street speeds it has a tremendous lack of power and makes a thugging/ticking/knocking sound....kind of like an exhaust leak. There is a definite tick in the engine that I've never been able to remove. I pulled the lifters and rods and they all looked good. Re-tightened them and the tick still comes in. One of the studs in the head that holds the valve cover is also broken. Not the stud, there is a small chunk broken where the stud used to be. I've tried numerous times, and had a shop try to fix it with no avail. It also has a high pressure oil leak (gets on engine but doesn't drip when sitting still) that I think may be from the heads...not sure. And it has already been rebuilt and bored over so I didn't see it being worth it to rebuild plus buy new heads. I think it could be put back together nicely but I've wanted to increase the power for a while so I decided to just jump in with both feet. Plus, the car has only a few months left on the note so I just extended the note for the new engine. So no blow to my Christmas fund right now.......well, some the extra parts are starting to add up! :eek:

 

Bwhaaahaahaa :lol: , gkull, I thought you said what's the deal on the run down motor? :lol:
Here's a link to the new motor, check it out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1873713717

 

Wow! i was about to comment on how many badass 383s i saw on ebay that were pretty cheap. thats a great price for that much power. :cheers:

 

Yes the e-bay motor sounds much nicer than your present run down motor! ;) It ought to be like night a day difference.

 

Travis- which heads and intake are on there? All of you guys who are ordering from AR are making me want to join in too! Forget the ZZ4.

 

Matt - quote "forget about the zz4"....my sentiments exactly. I even considered the zz430 but they even seem slightly wimpy compared to these. And WAY cheaper. It has CNC ported Edelbrock aluminum heads and a polished dual plane low profile intake. Looks like the RPM. I think it's a repro of the RPM possibly.
I had been leaning toward the GM ZZ4 because of their warranty but if you get into the warranty it doesn't hardly do you any good. It only covers parts that are defective. So if you spin a bearing and the rod goes thru the block they will replace the bearing....whoopdy doo...and not even cover labor. The way I see it is once you get away from anything stock nobody is dumb enough to give a full warranty cause 90% of the buyers are going to race or at least run it pretty hard which voids any warranty anyways. But the ZZ4 is still a nice replacement, much better than stock.

We should have a CorvetteForum AR Racing keychain or something :lol: :lol:


[Modified by tshort, 2:41 PM 12/12/2002]

 

Get your tach drive distributor converted to HEI, http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com
from their website
General Motors Corvette FI and/or tach drive
This conversion is remote module mount only, and does not permanently alter the distributor.
Full HEI conversion — $175.00
MSD trigger conversion — $135.00

 

Will either motor pass emissions? :cry

 

Probably not but I don't have to go through emissions :D

 

Whats the best condition to pull a motor? With or without oil drained? What about storing it? With or with out oil?
And I assume that pulling it with the tranny attached won't be a problem?

Sux cause I just changed the oil in the old engine along with filter and I don't use cheap oil either. :mad If I would have only known :rolleyes:

 

My mechanic pulled the old engine with the oil in it.. I also didn't drain the oil until I sold the old engine...

:cheers:

Olivier