hey, i ran across this board and though it seemd like a good place to join.

Well i have a 67 camaro with a 350 that someone put in around 1976 according to the cast numbers. Long story short the motor is a piece of ****! I've decided to get rid of the whole thing and start from scratch.

I'm gona stay small block, I'll order the short block from PAW, (Performance Auto Motive)

Its a 350, pre machined bored .030 over (maybe its .035 i forget) and a 400 crank, anyways 383 cubes will come out of it.

Forged Pistons, and mico-ground crank.

Now i've seen alot of 383 buildups ranging from 450-540 hp my target is atleast 480, at the flywheel.

I've decided on Edelbrock Performer RPM Intake, Speed Demon 760 cfm carb.

I'm not so sure about cam and heads, for heads i either want to go with the Trick-Flow 23Degree heads, or Air Flow Research 195 cc Compeition heads,

and cam Comp Camps extreme energy,or magnum cam. They have a 292H cam that has .501 inch lift intake and exhaust, that is big, which i want, but they say the magnum is not supposed to see alot of street use, the other option is the etreme energy 284H which has a lift of .507 intake .510 exhaust, i think thats getting too big. What do you guys think?

 

You should try the Pro-Lightning heads or Dart Iron Eagle..215cc heads..both are a good set of heads. As for the cam not being for the street, whoever told you that is wrong. My friend has that cam in a blown 406. You didnt really "throw" the motor away did you? You could have used the block for this 383...

 

You would have no problems with the 292h on the street. That is no where even close to being to big. I have that same cam in my 406 in my 79 camaro and have had no problems with it on the street. I am running an even bigger cam in the 406 in my 68. It is not a hydraulic, but has a .604 lift wth a lot a duration and it doesn't even have any problems on the street. So get the big cam and have no worries. Enjoy the radical lope that tells everyone here I am

 

If you have thrown that cam out, and look to replace...trust me when I say, at least step up to a a solid cam. Roller would be tough, but cost more. I went from the Comp XE284 to the solid 294s, and WOW ...what a difference!

 

Well, ok, I'm biassed!! But they are a nice combo.

Anyway, what I can tell you is that the 383 I had in my '81 Z28 had GM "882" casting heads (~76cc chambers??) so they were essentially "crap" heads, but with flat-tops, I probably had around ~9.5 - 10:1 compression, and I was using a .480/.480 hydraulic cam (non-roller) --- oh yeah, and a Weiand "Stealth" (comparable to Edelbrock Performer RPM) intake --- with that setup, the car had tons of torque, and ran in the mid-13's at the track with 3.42 gears. I know it had WAY more potential with just a cam alone, but a better set of heads (with a cam) would have easily put that car into the 12's.

The '73 Camaro (in my sig below - which actually needs to be updated a little ) has the same "882" casting heads, but we're running with a .502/.488 solid lifter cam (using 1.6 rockers on the intakes, and 1.5's on the exhaust). Also, the motor has 11.5:1 pop-ups (actually 10.5:1 with the current big chambers), and we know there is still LOTS of room to go with the camshaft. Without having to clearance the pistons, we could probably go to a cam with ~.525 lift, maybe .550, but there's no reason you can't run a cam that's over .500 lift (although, idle quality may suffer just a little!).

Unfortunately, the heads we had to go on the '73 ended up being f'd, so we had to use an old set of plain "heads", but I know that one day my dad would like to get a nice set of aluminum heads (Edelbrock? other??) and a higher lift (potentially solid-roller) cam. Hopefully next spring the car will be on the road though, and we can take it to the track to see what it does. I'm expecting (or "hoping for") 12's. As long as the car gets traction, it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyways, good luck with your project - and don't fear high lift!!! Oh yeah - brace yourself for the torque!!!!!!!!

 

yeah i know i can use the 350 block that is in there, but i'm not even certain its 350, it could be a 327. I ran the block numbers and it could be virtually any small block, when i compare them to the head casting numbers its either a 350 or a 327, and the intake i dont know where the hell it came from because the numbers say its from a 65 vette 302.

Plus it could be cracked and all, for an extra few hundred bucks to get a brand new block pre machined is a good choice for me, plus its just a fresh start

Capn Pete i have 883 (pretty much the 882) heads on mine too, they are the worst ever, all the websites say they are prone to cracking and they just suck!

Back to the cam, so u guys think the Magnum 305H with a .525 inch lift is gona be good? Also what do you think are about Magnum Cams Vs Extreme Energy

Maybe i'll take a picture of my engine and show u guys what a piece it is.. lol

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but since the 350 and 327 both share the same bore size (right??) then are they not the same block?? Or are there subtle differences like different main journal sizes? or crank clearance issues?? That I don't know.

I realize that "882"/"883" casting heads are as good as "junk", but you'd honestly be surprised how well they worked on my old car --- in any street race I had (not many, but a few) I never lost! Also, I was 17-18 at the time when I had that car , which pi$$es me off cause it was actually faster (1/4 mile) than my new (~$36,000) car!!!!!!!!

IMO, I think that the 305H, .525" lift cam should be pretty good for ya! Let us know what you decide to do, for sure.

 

i'm not sure about bore size, deck height etc.. all i know is even if mine is a 350, it'll be another 700-800 to have it all machined, it might even be cheaper buying it as a short block 383

 

350 and 327 block were the same, the 327 had a different throw on the crank than the 350. unless you have a small jurinal 327 then you can put a 283 crank in the thing and make a hi-rev'n
302. if that is the case hang on to it you can get some big bucks for it from a collector (someone restoring) and old Chevy. but if the numbers are matching to a "76" like you said its a 350 block no 327 built then. Oh yea go with the bigger cam and think about Dart Pro 1 heads very good price and nice stock flow numbers.

 

I was actually looking to finish up my 383 sometime this winter and have pretty much the same ideas.

I want to go with the set of AFR's on a performer RPM manifold.

I want to see about 450+ HP out of this and drive it on the street year round and be a hydro roller setup.

I have a LT1 with stage 2 heads and the hotcam and drive that all year round.

The 383 will be carb'd that is the only issue i have driving it in the winter.

My main concern is cam selection. Who has proven setups that actually run a number that i am looking for. I will tune the car differently for the winter and put on smaller rocker arms as well to help a bit.

What size head is too large for the street? I was looking around 200cc size which should be enough for my bottom end.

 

AFR's come in 195 cc then they jump to a 210 cc street race head

 

LJ93Z28GM: I dont know of any head size that is too large for the *street*...it just depends on if you want to wind the motor up in the rpm range, how your cam/compression etc is setup. You can get too much head (lol) for a engine though.. ie. running 230cc heads on a 9:1 CR n/a motor w/a small cam. A friend of mine ran a 406 w/215 cc heads. Just depends on your setup. I'd stick w/215cc heads, 2.05 valve for a 383ci, 2.08 valve for a 400ci+. Just remember, the power is in the heads, but also remember just because a set of heads costs $1300, doesnt mean a set of $800 heads dont flow as good. Take for example Pro lightning or <insert head brand> they flow 282cfm out of the box..thats as much as a set of Brodix Track I heads. (dont ask me how I know. )

 

I have to agree with Alex (BartonekDrag Racing) in that you can not have a head that is too arge for the street. I have the Dart Iron Eagle 230cc heads with 2.08 valves on my 406. It has no problems on the street. Just make sure your motor can feed the heads.

 

are you saying that 195 cc is too small, thats what the trick flow 23 degree heads are, i think tho trick flow makes a big port set or something but i can't find them right now.

As for the AFR's once u get into their race heads i think the price goes way up. The 195 CC's assembeled are like $1200-1300 alone i think.

As for feeding them that'll be no trouble with a speed demon 760 cfm, and an Air Gap RPM manifold

 

I don't think anyone is saying your heads are too small just that you can go as big as you like as long as you can feed them. Your heads will work fine. You will be able to make plenty of power with them.