What I have so far is '90 L-98 (out of vette) block.
I have decided to go with 383 stroker.

I did a lot of search and this is starting to kill me. First I'd like to decide what rotating assembly to get.
What crank?
What rods?
What pistons?
Should I buy everything as a kit or separately?
What rod lenghth to go with?

My goal is to build 383 that will rev to 7000 rpm and I want 500 or more crank HP. Also I want everything forged because supercharger in future is possible.

I have found kits from $1000 (eagle, scat) to $3000. As much as I would like to get all best components, $3000 for only rotating assembly is out of my league.

So please give me your inputs.
What do you have in your engines?
What power are you making with what components?
What do you think are quality pieces and what to avoid?

Any input is appreciated.

 

The parts we used for Beppe's 396 (conv 90) were a great combo.
Callies crank
Manley H beam rods
srp forged pistons
je rings
clevite bearings
complete balance job
$2200

 

I confirm
-Beppe-

 

I'm using Eagle and it does well at 6500 where I've always shifted it for over 6000 hard miles now! I got mine on Ebay for $895.

 

Your goal is very similar to mine, but I never had the requirement to go with a supercharger in the future. I could, but just didn't commit to my build with that in mind. I’m pretty sure that I could throw nitrous at it, or a blower and still be in great shape and rev to 7000 if I wanted to, but for my purposes I wanted longevity and some semblance of good gas mileage as a daily driver with >500hp on tap. When you start working on putting your motor together, talk to a builder specifically or someone who has been there and done that so that you can not make simple mistakes. Something as small as buying a crank and rods that are not optimized for your setup, or pistons that will end up being too heavy for your setup. I say this because I had planned on using a complete Callies 383 kit from Karl

http://www.karl-ellwein.org/EllweinEnginesHome.htm

I spoke to him, picked his brains, asked everything that I could about doing a 383 on my car and when it came down to starting my build, I went with the advice and help of a fellow forum member. If you search around, read the threads, and do your research it will become very evident within a short period of time as to who knows what and how much they know. Ask questions and make sure that you spend your money only once, most of all don't buy things that are unnecessary to achieve your goal. NOW, with that being said: If your talking JUST my rotating assembly, I have Scat Q-Lite H 6" Beam Rods, -12cc Manley Pistons, Eagle 4340 Lightweight Crank w/3.75 stroke. Just in those parts I spent ~$1,600.00. I also purchased Bearings, Rings, Gaskets, new 7000+rpm lifters, 58mm Throttle body, AFR Heads, and all of my engine gaskets. I have the roller rockers, headers, heavy duty timing chain that I'm going to use for now, but I still need to purchase an electric water pump, block prep, custom ground camshaft, single mass flywheel and a clutch strong enough to hold. My bill to date is more like $6000, and I haven't even pulled my block out of my 96 yet. So understand that you will have to buy great parts to support your 7000rpm goal such as high quality lifters, 1-pc pushrods, Shaft RR's or low mass RR's and possible stud girdles to hold them together. I don't plan on going above 6500rpm but something as simple as a change in cam, which is being custom ground in my case, can make all the difference in the temperament and operation of your motor. So choice of heads and cam will be very important during your build. I guess what I’m saying here is nothing new for the forum. Figure out what your budget is, and then determine how you are going to build a motor to fit within it. I spoke to one forum member who builds his own engines and does his own machine work. My jaw almost hit the ground when he told me that he spent over $3000 on his crank alone, he also has invested over $9000 in his motor. Good luck with your adventure, I wish you the very best and please keep us posted!


R/Noland Smith, Jr.
STSC(SS) USN Ret.

 

Just buy a balanced rotating assembly, or it will cost you extra when you go to assemble the engine, don't ask me how I know....

I pieced together all my parts and ended up paying more after the balance and clearancing than i would have buying a complete pre-balanced assembly.

IMHO, buy a Scat 4340 or then a 4340 Eagle if you are on a budget,, if not then go crazy.

I know guys doing 7k rpm with the 5140 parts but I personally would not do this.

 

Thank you for all replies.
I'm still researching and all of your inputs are very welcome.

BlackHarley, I know that building complete engine will be pricey anyway.
I still haven't decided if I'll use some stuff from my present engine
or if I'll try to sell complete engine when I build my new one.

There is a lot of good stuff that I allready have on my engine,
(#219 cam, LPE double springs with Ti retainers, cc's hardened pushrods,
hardened guideplates, promagnum rr's, complete superram intake, hooker
headers..........) but I'm not sure how usable they are for 7krpm engine.

 

Goodluck Bro!

R/Noland

 

I dunno if the LPE 219 cam on a 383 Super Ram motor would even make power up at 7000 rpms. I would say a good shift point for that motor would be at best 5500 rpms. Any higher would just be pointless because a Super Ram intake creates its torque and power down low.

 

Need a lot more cam to make power to 7k. Crossing solid roller territory at that point.
Better off trying to have all your power come in earlier. To run it occasionally to 7k may be novel, but to HAVE to run it that high gets old.

 

I agree with you, that's why I said that I don't know how usable
that parts would be for engine that I want. The anwser is, UNUSABLE.