I plan on building a stroker 383 for my '88 Vette but i need some guidance. I plan on building the bottom end up w/ the stock block, using the stock aluminum heads, but port & polishing them, matching the intake ports to the heads. Now, I have no clue what cam to run, should I change the intake to the Stealth Ram, and should I go true daul exhaust. If their is anything else I should be paying attention to what is it. Any feedback is appreciated.
THANX
Vette88Racer

 

The stealth ram won't clear your hood without modifictions to either the hood or the stealth ram. Cam and intake choice will go hand in hand.

If you want very good low end and a strong mid RPM go with the Super Ram and the LPE219 cam. If you think the stroker will make up for some loss in low end torque you can go with the mini ram and a more aggressive cam for high reving power.

It's all a matter of what type of power you want the car to make. Is it an auto or a manual? That can affect cam and intake choice as well.

 

My C4 is an automatic. I know I need to beef that up also. What type of stall should I run. I know it depends HP and Torque. What should I expect out of a 383. I never dealt with a stroker motor before. I work for a Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer as an apprentice technician. I chose Ford for the job security if you know what I mean. Anywayz, if I ran the stock intake and heads fully ported and polished, what should I expect for HP/torque and what cam combo should i run. I figure it will limit the motors potential but for now thats what i might have to do. I plan on racing for points next year at Route 66 in Joliet. It will be a bracket car. I have a gold card for winning the championship this year so i get free admission to the races for me and the car. I want to car to run in the elevens if not faster. Now my best is a 13.95 bone stock. Thanx for your input.
Vette88Racer

 

There are a lot of things you can do to tweak the TPI intake a little bit, but it's still gonna run out of breath eventually. If you must use the TPI intake for now I would do all the work you can on it and spend the money on a really good set of heads and possibly a cam choice for whatever intake you may want in the future.

It would be less than optimal now, but if you plan on changing the intake later it would suck to have to go back and tear it apart again to put a cam in it to take advantage, etc. Essentially with a stock TPI setup on a 383 you can expect absolutey brutal low end torque, but it's gonna require even more air for any given RPM. As such where ever your TPI runs out of breath now, knock off maybe 500-1000 RPM's and it'll run out of breath there. It's really not a good setup for a stroker motor, but I understand we can't always buy everything we want, I'm in the same boat.

As for a torque converter and such, I'm really not qualified to offer an opinion since I drive a 6-spd.

If you don't mind me asking why a stroker motor? If you've got an exisiting motor that needs to be rebuilt then a stroker is a logical step. However if your 350 is still running or could do with a budget rebuild, you could probably spend the money you were going to spend on a stroker on an intake and make a better performing 350 than the 383, given the same budget.

Just some thoughts. Give us as much info as you can and we'll try to provide you with the best course of action. We can spend your money for you really quick :)

 

Don't build it, buy it. GM offers a 383.