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I just recently bought a 1982 Crossfire that came with a 383 stroker crate engine. I was wanting to maximize the power of the engine so I’m looking for some guidance on anyone who has redone their C3 with a similar build!
If you have no information on the engine specs I would check the ignition timing. It appears to have a lot of aftermarket ignition components as well as port fuel injection. The other thing that engine needs is come colder air. C3s are notorious for high engine bay heat which can significantly reduce engine performance.
We would need to know considerably more about your build first. So far we know the cubic inch displacement and what we can see in one tiny pic. Which isn't much.
What cam?
what heads?
what pistons(for compression ratio)
I wouldn’t suggest doing modifications without knowing what you have first. For instance, slapping a larger cam shaft in a motor with dished pistons or smog era heads will only make it worse.
What cam?
what heads?
what pistons(for compression ratio)
I wouldn’t suggest doing modifications without knowing what you have first. For instance, slapping a larger cam shaft in a motor with dished pistons or smog era heads will only make it worse.
The guy I bought it from has no idea what was done on the car. He bought it from a guy who did all the restoration. So I guess I’m at a loss with what the car has and doesn’t have. All I know is it doesn’t have cats lol
Dallen welcome to the forum and congrats on a sharp 82. Can’t really answer your question about more power on limited knowledge of your motors internals.
My 82 PO installed a GM 350/385 crate motor that I’m very happy with at least for now.
Where did you get that black hood decal, that’s sharp.
So I guess I’m at a loss with what the car has and doesn’t have.
The heads can be easily identified by removing the valve covers or/and looking the front side of head. Blueprint engines places a serial number tag by the oil filter. The tag says Blueprint on it. Other crate engine manufacturers probably do the same.
The heads can be easily identified by removing the valve covers or/and looking the front side of head. Blueprint engines places a serial number tag by the oil filter. The tag says Blueprint on it. Other crate engine manufacturers probably do the same.
I’ll give that a look! Thank you! I don’t try and sound dumb on the forum but I’m trying to learn more about engine stuff since I’ve never worked on cars before..
I don’t want to throw a wrench in the works, but are you positive it’s a 383?
Do you know who manufactured the engine?
Did the prior owner provide any receipts?
Can you get the contact information for the owner who installed the engine?
If it’s slow off the line, do you know what gears are in the rear end and do you know what transmission it has in it?
You can dump a ton of money into an engine, but if it’s running gearing for highway cruising it will be a dog around town from light to light.
Everything needs to work together to obtain optimal performance and your gearing plays a very important part of where you want the power to work the best.
At this point, I would play with the timing and try to dial it in as this can make a big difference in the engines performance.
Get a copy of Lar’s Timing Papers to start.
Second, get rid of that tiny air cleaner because it could be costing you 10 or more hp.
It looks like a very nice car that was well cared for and someone put a lot of money into.
I don’t want to throw a wrench in the works, but are you positive it’s a 383?
Do you know who manufactured the engine?
Did the prior owner provide any receipts?
Can you get the contact information for the owner who installed the engine?
If it’s slow off the line, do you know what gears are in the rear end and do you know what transmission it has in it?
You can dump a ton of money into an engine, but if it’s running gearing for highway cruising it will be a dog around town from light to light.
Everything needs to work together to obtain optimal performance and your gearing plays a very important part of where you want the power to work the best.
At this point, I would play with the timing and try to dial it in as this can make a big difference in the engines performance.
Get a copy of Lar’s Timing Papers to start.
Second, get rid of that tiny air cleaner because it could be costing you 10 or more hp.
It looks like a very nice car that was well cared for and someone put a lot of money into.
It appears that Sun Devil Auto in Sun city is still in business. It was 17 years ago, but there’s a chance they might have some information on the engine. At least a manufacturer. Would be worth a shot.
That’s good!
It shows who built the engine.
Now Google the manufacturer and if they are still in business, you should be able to get all the specs and a list of parts for the engine so you have something to go from.
Post what you find out.
You can determine what rear end gearing on your own.
Safely raise both rear tires off the ground with chocks under the front tires and the transmission in neutral.
Mark the driveshaft with a 2” line or thin tape down the center.
Next rotate the rear tires in the forward direction one complete turn while you count the number of times the driveshaft rotates.
If the driveshaft rotates approximately 3 times, you have 3.08 rear end gears, 3.3 times and you have 3.36 gears, 3.5 times 3.55 gears, 3.7 times and you have 3.73 gears, 4 times and you have 4.11 gears etc…
That’s good!
It shows who built the engine.
Now Google the manufacturer and if they are still in business, you should be able to get all the specs and a list of parts for the engine so you have something to go from.
Post what you find out.
You can determine what rear end gearing on your own.
Safely raise both rear tires off the ground with chocks under the front tires and the transmission in neutral.
Mark the driveshaft with a 2” line or thin tape down the center.
Next rotate the rear tires in the forward direction one complete turn while you count the number of times the driveshaft rotates.
If the driveshaft rotates approximately 3 times, you have 3.08 rear end gears, 3.3 times and you have 3.36 gears, 3.5 times 3.55 gears, 3.7 times and you have 3.73 gears, 4 times and you have 4.11 gears etc…
thank you!! Gonna need a buddy to help me do this correctly but I’ll post the results.
Claimed 450hp is a decent amount of shove, if you feel its insufficient first thing I would do is get the car on a dyno and find out what the rear wheel horse power is. Then I would be giving thought as to what differential it has, did you have any information as to what drivetrain you have? Transmission/differential/trailing arms? Others will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that the '82 diff isn't the strongest so if you are going to apply more power often you may run into issues with the drivetrain.
Increasing Power/Performance
