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As the title states I have aquired a free sbc 350 bored out to a 383. The guy who built this engine only ran it for 10 seconds because he immediately discovered that the coolant and oil had mixed. He decided to ditch this engine (gave it to me for free). I tore it down yesterday and I can't decide if it's done for or just a hone and bearings away from running. Obviously need to find out if the block is cracked but here are the areas of damage I'm concerned about.
theres some scoring on the cylinders (can feel a few with my finger nail) and rod bearings. Besides that everything looks alright. For those of you who have built engines, how does it look? Did I land a free money engine?
First, you can't bore yourself to a 383; had to be running a different crank.
It looks like the block wasn't decked. That also does not look like 10s of run time after a rebuild although bearing looks good. (just a little bit of trash through it). Clean. Clean. Clean. Then clean some more.
Break out the dial bore indicator and check the cylindricity of the bores. What head gasket was he running? I know there are some "thinner" ones (0.029") to try and bump up the CR but if you don't have a perfectly flat head and block, they won't seal.
If you're really trying to build it, take it to your local machine shop to have them check the bores as well as magnaflux the block .
It looks to need; magnafluxed, cleaned, possibly decked, and honed, just from what can be seen here. Check to see if the crank needs a polish too, and I'd have it's balance checked if this was a thrown together build (and I'm betting it was). You may come out smelling like a rose after this - if you are a lucky sort!
I am concerned on what looks to be rust at the base of the head studs and block deck, especially with what must've been a sloppy assembly job.
If it's truly a 383 it should have 4.030" bores and a 3.75" stroke crank. Please check back here with what the machine shop finds and/or suggests and let us know the outcome, most don't follow-up.
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Free 383 sbc
