engine rebuild
Thread Starter
Navigator
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9
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engine rebuild
I plan on rebuilding my 89 l98 over winter if not sooner.. what is a good ebuild to do i plan on adding a cam but not sure if i want a 383 stroker or just a 355?? what is the pros and cons? and who is running what this s hust a street car i dont race but i like horsepower
so any help would be nice..
so any help would be nice..
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 855
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I'm surprised no one has chimed in yet. Biggest factor is budget. building a stroker doesn't cost much more but it does cost more. The extra torque will provide good SOTP performance gains. I wish I would have stroked my engine when I did my re-build, but I was on too tight of a budget.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,107
Likes: 171
From: Dublin CA
I am interested in replies also. I see too many threads titled PROBLEM WITH MY 383...It just seems that the 383 stroked has some problems with longivity. It perhaps is the builder doing things they are not qualified or the owner not maintaining.
The last engine I built was a 350 .40 over and it lasted over 20 years, including 2 years of a teenage son. It had a mild off road cam with everything balanced. My current 85 has stock cam and pistons and the mods below. I really think that a good 355 with a 211 cam to pass smog would last longer than most 383's and put out some HP and torque.
Jump in guys and give us your experience.
Large Impressive Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,811
Likes: 71
From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
I am interested in replies also. I see too many threads titled PROBLEM WITH MY 383...It just seems that the 383 stroked has some problems with longivity. It perhaps is the builder doing things they are not qualified or the owner not maintaining.
The last engine I built was a 350 .40 over and it lasted over 20 years, including 2 years of a teenage son. It had a mild off road cam with everything balanced. My current 85 has stock cam and pistons and the mods below. I really think that a good 355 with a 211 cam to pass smog would last longer than most 383's and put out some HP and torque.
Jump in guys and give us your experience.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,642
Likes: 5
From: One day you're a Comet...the next day you're dust... Arkansas
I plan on rebuilding my 89 l98 over winter if not sooner.. what is a good ebuild to do i plan on adding a cam but not sure if i want a 383 stroker or just a 355?? what is the pros and cons? and who is running what this s hust a street car i dont race but i like horsepower so any help would be nice..
so any help would be nice..You can do a good 3 angle valve job and maybe some light head porting if you want. Your stock heads are pretty good. I would add a nice cam and full roller rockers. You will pick up some performance. It's also a good time to do headers if you want. Long tubes will work best, something like Hedman Elites.
With just the changes I mentioned you should pick up over 60 CHP. You will need a new chip if you do the cam.
Large Impressive Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,811
Likes: 71
From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
Now though, any HP gains aside, let's compare the torque gains of this, compared to the same mods with a stroker bottom end. Or as I like to say, horsepower sounds impressive, but torque makes it impressive.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,642
Likes: 5
From: One day you're a Comet...the next day you're dust... Arkansas
Large Impressive Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 65,811
Likes: 71
From: Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07
I understand, but with stock quality (cast) stroker kits starting in the $700 range, it really comes down to just a lot of bang for the buck. This includes crank, rods, pistons plus the rings and bearings. I found my parts, all of them forged, w/ a 3.80" 4340 crank, 6" featherweight H-beams and lightweight inverted-dome pistons for only $1700 and change. This included custom Clevite bearings for the radiused crank and Total Seal file-fit rings.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 560
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From: Hamilton New Jersey
To get the most out of it larger injectors and a custom prom would defently be in your future if you plan on staying injected. Along the same lines to get the most power out of it you'd most likely want to upgrade to something like a holley stealth ram or something along those lines.. for TONs of info on this swap check out www.thirdgen.org as many people over there have done the same thing.. just don't tellem its for a vette.
Go for the stroker=big torque