A spun Rod bearing in #8 has put my car on the trailer... I have been bouncing around in the decision making process in the last few weeks.

Basics, I want alot of bang for the buck. I will be rebuilding a two bolt main LT-1 block to put into my 94 coupe MN6.

The car is a Sunday afternoon driver and will go to the track for a run or two down the track 2-3 times a year. I would like to be able to run close with my buddies standard Z-51 C-6.

I am thinking about a Stroker 383 using my existing LT-4 Hot cam and reinforcing the bottom to a four bolt main aka a "splayed" four bolt. Exhaust will feature a set of Hooker Super Comp Headers and B&B 3" exhaust.

I am looking for advice on

1. Components? ( I do have a local guy building it up and I will buy parts.)

2. Should I buy a balanced assembly? ( I do have a guy a few hours away that will balance it, he is a person some of the local racers use.)

3. What injectors will I need? 30 pound?

4. Any other direction and solid advice. (From the really experience folks only, please.)

5. Any suggestions as to parts suppliers is welcome. Like all of you I want good stuff at a good price.!!!

 

I have not built LT1 stuff, but you sound like you are on the right track. Check with RichS. He can make an LT1 or 4 run.

 

Custom balancing is a must. My camaro red lines at 8000 RPM. Micro polish the crank, and use special nuts, and bolts. In those stressed area's. I used SPS rod bolts, and nuts on mine, and some ARP. I don't know much about LT1's, but I do know the way to get horse power, the old school way. (anybody for some compression)?

 

You do not need 4-bolt mains in a 383 to run very low 13's or even 12's. That is nice, but you do not need a high revving engine to accomplish your goal.

I had such an engine in my '87 Pontiac GTA: TPIS 52mm TB, large tube runners, big mouth, Trick flow Twisted Flow street heads, very mild RV cam, 9.6:1 compression, 383, tube headers, 1500 stall, 3.27:1, car weighed 3600 lbs with driver and ran 13.35's at 104 all day, w/1.76 60-footers. Engine was simply focused on low RPM torque: shifted at 4600rpms. I believe the 383 really took advantage of these mods. Torque rules

200 less pounds as in our C4's and a tad more cam or converter and you are there. You already have superior heads, cam and induction than I had.

Oh, and I used my stock L98 injectors. Balancing is very important. That is usually done by your builder (not a hard job) locally. A good street porting would also be a good thing. Have fun!

 

Great start, but I would be sure the cam wasn't damaged by oil starvation.

You can shop at summit racing, or let the local get the stuff to your spec. If you trust the guy, I would take his advise.

Get it balanced... I have heard of folks getting a balanced assembly, that isn't.

No way. 26lb, tops.

The better the guts, the more durable it will be.

[/quote]
Jegs, Summit... There are few on the left menu, too.

 

Bogus,

Thanks for the advice. What do you think of Eagle stuff? Rods Pistons etc...

 

I really don't know... I wanna say Jegs sells it, but I don't know for sure... just check the sites and see what you find.

 

Here is the stats on JUST one of the engines I've built. I've bored my own blocks, I do all of my heads, in fact I do everything, but align bore, deck, and balance. But what would I know??? This camaro below, will pull the front wheels...


The engine: balanced & blueprinted, forged steel crank micro polished. 9 quart chrome oil pan, high volume oil pump which is blueprinted, and polished for smooth oil flow, corvette windage tray under crank (adds 11 horsepower), connecting rods have been shot peened, and magnifluxed for cracks, also rods have been resized, and fitted with SPS rod bolts, and nuts, beams have been polished, pistons are trw 12.5:1 compression, the block is bored 30 over' rings were individually end gaped to proper clearance, the rings are chrome, the cylinder heads are 202's ported and polished, intake valves are swirl plished, Push rods are trw chromemolly, cylinder heads have screw in studs, and guide plates, The block has been stess relieved, and the lifter vally polished very shiny for oil flow, cloyes true double roller timing chain and gears, the timing chain cover is chrome, I can't remember the cam, because I changed it to a more mello hydralic for street use. It had a crane 500 lift 310 duration cam. It would tach 8000 safely, though I never took it there. The intake manifold is an aluminum holley, fitted to the intake is a holley pro-jection fuel enjection system. It can be adjusted inside the car for idle, midrange, and high end. It had a holley strip dominator manifold. I removed it in lue of the dual plenum holly manifold. In the winter the carb would freeze to a block of ice. Hard to drive on the street so I fixed that problem. The Idle with the big cam was radical hard to keep running at stop lights. the engine is a chevy 327 out of a 67 camaro. Also in the engine, I installed Z28 valve srings, the installed height is right on. the heads have been cc'ed to 80cc's for even firing. The block has been decked and aline bored. Engine has roughly 7,000 miles on it. The rear end is an original GM 4:56 posi (very rare). The car has front and rear spoilers, and a double sun roof. The interior is Diamond tuck crush valore partially disassembled for painting. The carpet is new, installed is a B&M Mega shifter (rachet shifter). All gauges are digital, the dash is oak, also installed is a driving computer.
the tires are goodrich radail ta's (nearly new). The rear tires are 50 series, and the fronts are 70's.

 

Pretty darned impressive! But I am working on a LT1. I am looking for info like , Are the "Eagle" components" from summit a quality brand? Where did you buy the rotating assembly in your cars? I am looking for specific recommendations.

 

Youll get mixed reactions between Scat and Eagle. Supposedly Scat has the better finish work, I used one of their 4340 cranks ($525) Personally the only problems Ive ever heard of with Eagle are the SIR (?) stock replacement type rods, they have a reputaion thats not so great.
C.A.T. makes some lo-buck 5140 parts that arent bad...

Whatever you wind up with, have the machining double checked NO MATTER WHAT! I went through 3 rotating assemblies on a shortblock kit from P.A.W. years ago til I got one I was satisfied with.

I bet Jburnett would have some good input on this thread.

 

What caused you to spin the #8 bearing ??

 

Ya, I see what you are saying. I'm just not up on the ecm equipped units like I am the old school stuff. I guess I just trying to belong... Besides, you are looking for streetablity. You'll get it...

 

That is a good question. I got on it pretty hard but did not redline it. I hit the exit ramp and heard a "whumpity - Whump" from under the hood and then here I am looking for engine parts... I was having fun that day too! Dang shame that it happened the nicest time of the year for driving.

I have heard for a long time now, just not prior to buying the car. That the rod bearing tended to spin! It was just my time.

 

No Problem Steel,

Hope I did not come across as being cross or cranky Get it, Cranky! It gets a little frustrating trying to figure this rebuild out... I read and researched last night until my head hurt!

 

I have a forged 434 Eagle rotating assembly &forged 12.8 comp SRP pistons It was then balanced at machine shop here when motor was put together but still use a 8" fluid damper & external balanced flexplate. I have 400 block with Milodon 4 bolt splayed caps.everything from Summit. around $3500 + machine work. It seems Summit is one of the few places now that will stand behind their products.

 

Eagle forged components are fine, they are not top of the line, but they are pretty far from the bottom too. As long as you don't plan on spinning 7300RPM+ they'll do without issues.

Definitly get a balanced assembly, this is a MUST!!

For a 383 a 30# injector will do fine, you could also run the LT4 28.8# injectors as well. I ran for SVO 30# injectors when I did heads and cam on my 350 bottom end LT4, I am now running 42# injectors in my 383. It all comes down to the tuning, ask your tuner what he would like to see for injectors. I was going to use 36# injectors in my 383 until my tuner requested I go with 42# injectors.

I'm glad to see you're going with splayed caps, I would also recommend getting ARP rod bolts as well, it's a pretty in-expensive upgrade, but a worth-while one to keep the bottom end together. Also, I would recommend Clevite 77-H bearings for the rod and main bearings.

The LT4 hot cam might be a bit small for a 383, though it'll work just fine. If you don't have to worry much about emissions you may want to consider a slightly larger cam, it doesn't have to be a monster by any means though. The Comp Cam CC306 cam is a great one for a 383 and should still be able to pass emissions with the right tune. Considering the engine is out of the car this is the best time to swap the cam out! A lot of people here would buy your HotCam I'm sure, which would almost pay for the CC306 cam...just something to think about.

How about the oil pan? Have you thought about the possibility of getting a slightly larger pan, like a Canton? Not a neccessity, but noce to have especially if you plan on tracking the car at all.

Also, the LT1 stock timing set is pretty weak, I'd look into getting a stronger Cloyes unit. I'd recommend the LT HD unit, but after seeing some of the problems people have been having with them here (and the price) I don't know if I can recommend it anymore...even though I used one in my LT4 for about 30K miles with zero issues. It just seems a bit hit-and-miss right now.

That should be enough to keep you and your wallet busy for now!