I am going to build a 383 after I get the car up and running BUT I am wondering what compression should I run? I am thinking low like 8:1-8.5:1 for the S-Trim. Also I wanted to spray a little bit on top but would the block hold it.? All forged bottom end, AFR heads, custom cam, LT4 intake (maybe if none better)...would I be able to spray or just leave it to the supercharger>

 

My combo last year was a 383 LT1, an S-trim, and a 150hp nitrous shot. Worked great, but the devil is in the details. If you want to know more, I can do that. But the short answer is "yes".

Rich Krause

 

yeah if you don't mind. I am mainly looking for what bottom end and any problems you encountered like if you kept breaking something etc....you can either post on here or e-mail me AFast83z28@aol.com....also would you mind telling your E.T. and MPH>?

 

Last years combo had ~8.5:1, 214/224 cam, S-trim with water injection but no intercooler, and very mediocre heads (out of the box AFR's). Made 597rwhp with 14psi and 733rwhp with the 150hp shot (M6). Torque was over 800ft.lbs at the wheels. The hp/torque is more telling than the times, as the car is a pig (over 4,000lbs). But it ran 10.77@135 on 26" ET Streets. If it were 3,500lbs I think it would have gone close to the nines.

Bottom end is not exotic, Callies crank, Lunati "Pro Mod" rods, JE "blower" pistons, 4-bolt iron caps, ARP rod bolts and main studs. The only trick is that I had the piston crowns ceramic coated. Also, the block is ~1/3 filled. It's 0/040" over and I was/am worried about splitting a cylinder. When running nitrous I used 100 octane unleaded, as the car has cats and full emissions (I'm a green kinda guy).

On disassembly this year, it generally looked fairly good. No signs of detonation. Leak down was <5% on all eight. The crank journals were a little squared off and the main bearings were shot though. Nothing terminal. The keys to making this work: low CR, the ceramic coated piston crowns, good gas, careful tuning, water injection, low revs (I was shifting at 5,800). I would only do this if you are willing to pull the motor every year and inspect/repair/replace as needed and if you have access to the tools needed to tune it properly. But it makes a great street/strip combo. Mild cam, full emissions, goes fast at the track. I drive it over 4,000 miles on the street with probably 50-60 passes at the track.

Next year I am going further with better heads, slightly bigger cam, and more boost. I may find the weak point, which I suspect will be the block. If it is, I am not sure if I will do another LT1 block (0.010" over this time) or go with something wild like a BBC or aftermarket small block.

Rich Krause

 

Sounds like you had it running nice. How did you do water injection? Also what tools would I need to tune it proplerly??? Thanks for all the help so far!

James

 

For tuning, at a minimum you need a wide band O2 sensor and the ability to reprogram the PCM (I use LT1_Edit). The most efficient way is on a chassis dyno. Having the ability to monitor boost, intake air temps, fuel pressure, etc. is quite helpful.

My water injection is the Carroll Supercharging kit. Very nice but quite expensive. My friend Bob Kennedy makes a less elaborate kit that works very well. You can see it at www.kennedysdynotune.com where there is quite a bit of info about water injection (I wrote the copy).

Rich Krause