jm8881

This isn't in a camaro but the motor is from the same era and a 350 is a 350 is a 350 reguardless of what fenders it's between.

I've built a 383 stroker from a 350. Everything went together great and the motor turned without interfearance when it was done. I was going to start it today and the engine won't turn at all. The starter just engagues and sounds like it's trying to turn but doesn't.

It never sat outside without headers or plugs so moisture didn't get in. About a month ago I clicked the starter after getting the electrical hooked up to see if the ignition and all were correct and it turned the motor some. Today I tried to turn the motor with a breaker bar on the crank bolt but the bolt just got tighter and tighter with no sign of the motor turning. I had my brother watch the crank pulley while I tried to turn the motor over with the starter and he said it moved about 1/4 inch and then goes back to where it was. What could this be?

The motor is a 4blt 350 with a fully balanced 383 rotating assembly. Everything was clearanced to ensure that it would turn freely in a .30 over block. The heads are Edelbrock performer rpm aluminum heads with 1.60/2.02 valves and a 70 or 72 (can't remember which) combustion chamber. With it having a big cc I don't think compression would be holding it back, like the starter can't turn the motor over with that much compression? The starter is from a 93 4.3l blazer, the same truck the motor is in. The starter is basically new, bought it way back when I first put the motor in as a 350 and it could turn that motor over. Any ideas?

zrs

Remove spark plugs and try turning the engine using the starter.

stevem

when i built mine the crank hit the side of the oil pan.
all i did was move it over a bit

95NateZ28

You did check everything after the cam was installed, correct? I know that my 383 with the Comp XR288HR hydraulic roller had lobes that came into contact with the 1,2,5, and 7 connecting rods. We ended up slightly grinding the connecting rods for clearance. .050 is the recommended amount of clearance. It runs now with absolutely no problems.

It can be misleading as the motor will turn a complete revolution with no contact, however since the cam turns half as fast as the crank you'll run into problems next time around.

jm8881

The connecting rods were all clearanced by the shop I got the assembly from. Also, after installing the timing set I turned the engine more than 1 full rotation, probably around 6 or 8 to see if the timing would still be lined up and since I thought it looked cool to see the pistons all turning. Also, to set the rockers with the instructions I had called to turn the engine over a few times to get everything set. Everything turned freely.

What I'm thinking is wrong lies in the battery. I can't remember how old the battery is and it's been almost two years since it had a green (good) condition indicator. I tried to charge it and the charger says it's full but the green won't show so I think the starter just isn't getting enough power to turn the engine over. I bought an optima red top and will try that. Also, the starter is a stock starter from a 4.3l vortec engine. It just might not have enough torque to turn the motor. I'll see tomorrow.

Also, my cam is an edelbrock performer rpm cam which I wouldn't think would have a big enough lobe to catch on the connecting rods.

jm8881

I replaced the battery and cleaned up some grounds and it will turn over now. Not fast enough to start but it shows that it can actually turn uninterupted. But it seems that the starter is taxing the battery. There is a small gague ground wire running off of the neg battery terminal that started smoking. Is the starter not strong enough to turn the motor? Should I get a high torque starter or one of those mini ones?

greezemonkey

Hey~
You should def hook up on some grounds...if the little jumper from the battery to the fender is smoking...that means it is taking all the ground for that starter..your big cable isn`t grounding well enough.also there should be a copper ground strap from the fire wall to the back of the cylinder head...without that one all kinda of funky things happen.

jm8881

I have that strap from the back of the driverside cylinder head hooked up, also got a high torque starter rated at 180ft lbs and can turn a 12to1 compression ratio motor over. The battery I'm using is an optima red top, and it can turn the motor over much better but not enough to get it started. That ground wire still gets warm but doesn't smoke anymore. I'm gona replace it with a regular gauge neg battery ground wire and hopefully that will give it the power it needs to turn over. Thanks for the help so far, I'll report back tomorrow with my progress.

jm8881

I put a 4 gauge ground wire from the neg bat terminal to the frame and got a new battery cable to go from the battery to the motor. Now it seems like it turns over well enough to start. Just gota get my carb rebuilt since it leaks like mad.