As most of you already know, I destroyed my 3 month old 383 because of my stupid idiot mistake of not welding the stupid oil pump pickup on and trusting the press in fit that came from the factory. So here's my new proposal. Should be ready before next year.

87+ 4 bolt main 350 roller motor from a low mileage Chevy 1500 truck - free from my uncle's auto scrap yard

Required block boring, cleaning, clearancing, testing and notching from my friendly machine shop - My dad knows them so its also free.

HardBlok block water jacket filler, 1/5th fill required because of the all the notching required in the oil pan area. - $100

3.875" crank - 4340 forged stroker kit from Eagle. Comes with the crank, rods, .030" oversized pistons, rings, etc... - $1,500

OEM style water pump - $150

OEM style oil pump - $20 Yeah I'm gonna weld that fecking pickup on!!!!!

Heat treated Comp Cams pushrods - $120

1.6 Roller Rocker arms from Comp Cams. - $200

Reuse CC306 cam with a freshened set of hydraulic roller lifters - $0 Cam amazingly sustained ZERO damage!!!

Reuse undamaged Dart Iron Eagle 200cc heads from old 383 - $0

Fresh set of Autolite spark plugs - <$20

Reuse Miniram from old 383 - $0

Reuse stock ignition system - $0

Cloyes double timing chain $30

SBC new bearing kit - <$20

SFI 8" fluid damper - $100

Felpro SBC gasket kit - $50

Moreso 7 qt oil pan - $100

My own assembly labor at my leisure - $0

Any other misc. part I forgot - $50

NOT RELATED TO ENGINE BUILD:

Dana 44 from low mileage 92 six-speed Vette w/3.45 gears, or hopefully another ratio - $3,000

Will still be running my built 700R4 with the full reverse manual valve body
(P R N 1 2 3 4), this time with a new PI 3200 rpm stall converter and ditch my old TCI ASAP. That new converter should be about $800.

So for just shooting for under $2,500 only on the motor, I'm planning on building this motor all by myself soon and expect it to have more ummmmph than the old 383 and expect a 450 hp to the wheels, hopefully over that in ft-lbs of torque. And I'll DEFINITELY quadruple check my work so my new baby won't fail me again!

Motor in a nutshell:
Miniram 396 stroker with 200cc iron heads, 10:1 static compression ratio, CC306 cammed monster, built all by myself for $2,500!!!

I hope that cam will idle like almost factory since the displacement is a few ccs bigger. Anyone have a 396 stroker with that cam? Thanks for reading.

 

See you in another year when you blow that motor up.

 

Why is this engine going to blow up?? What exactly is going to blow up? I am sure he learned about welding or bolting pick up tubes in the oil pump. I don't think he will see 450 rwhp, but should run pretty good for not alot of money. I don't get the negative skeptism???

 

I know if I ever wanted even bigger inches, I'd get a .030" over 400 Dart block from somewhere, the correct pistons, and a 4" crank with the correct main journal sizes suited for most 400 Chevys, I could probably build a nice 434. That would offset me by about $1500 though, but still a self-built 434 for about $4,000 would be kinda neat to tell people. Maybe I'll do that in a few years when I'm more experienced.

 

Do youself a favor, DO NOT BUY OEM OIL PUMP. Go with a melling select or better. There are major reliability issues with standard pump in a high performance engine.

 

I've never had a pickup fall off, but have heard of it so in the last 5 years or so I usually tack weld them on too, but don't get too crazy.

Overall sounds good.

I use the M55HV. have heard of problems with them recently, though I still have a few on the shelf that were made 4 years ago.


-- Joe

 

I know I've been hearing the ruckus about some Melling oil pump failures as well. Any equivalent alternate that SHOULDN'T fail and shatter to pieces? :

 

Sounds like a good plan. I doubt you will see 450RWHP but the engine should run well and have good power.

 

I'd like to see at least 400 rwhp and oodles of torque. My 383 made 390 rwhp with the same compression ratio, same cam, and same iron heads.

 

Sounds good to me and sorry again for the blow up.Two suggestions.Canton high volume pump from melling@ $100.Have you considered an electric water pump.Few free gee gee's and it gives you a cooling option after shut down.

 

sounds sweet! good luck!

 

I've heard about high volume oil pumps and how they destroy distributer gears if the pressure is too high. I guess I've have to get a bigger oil pan if I'd wanna run one of them.

I've also thought of the electric water pump. How much $$$ and how reliable are they?

 

high volume doesn't equal high pressure unless you increase the spring rating.There is a high volume/high pressure pump but you don't want that one.Summit racing has the pumps for $260 but I have seen them cheaper on e-bay.Your fine with the stock pan for street use.