Does anyone have a 383 stroker LS1? I have hear that they make around 550 hp! If you had a stroker LS1 not much could touch you i'm guessing! I saw this guy that does them in "Chevy High Performance" magazine in california. He said it would cost $12,500 all the labor and a Lunati stroker kit. Is it worth the money to do such a thing?

 

I can't really say much about the cost and whether it's worth it or not --- especially since I'm used to dealing in CDN $$$ vs U.S. $$$ .

BUT, what I CAN tell you is that a 383 "stroker" LS1 would be one kick *** engine! Now don't get mislead by the magazine article (I know the one you're talking about from Chevy High Performance) --- not every 383 LS1 is going to make over 500 HP. That particular engine had a lot of money put into it, and a lot of time and energy spent porting, polishing, balancing and blueprinting. However, with a few bucks and the right parts, it's not out of the question. The Lunati stroker kit (including crank shaft, rods and pistons) lists for around ~$3800 I think. Then if you're building up a 383, you might as well put money into the heads (either porting & polishing the stockers, or upgrading to aftermarket). Also you will need a very radical camshaft to make 500 HP if that's what you're looking for, and in the end you would definitely need to have the ECM re-tuned to work with everything you've done to the engine.

Is it worth it though? Well, I know that I had a 383 in my old '81 Z28, and it felt like it had enough torque to pull a freight train! So they certainly make a ton of power and torque, but it just comes down to the budget you're on. LS1's are a great base engine to start from, and even heads & cam packages produce crazy results. A 383 would be great though.

 

email a friend of mine, he's got a very nice 98 T/A stroked to 383.

RAGE4U1@aol.com

 

A stroker kit only gains horsepower by giving you a few more cubic inches. With a 383 stroker you gain 37 cubic inches. It does give you more torque at a lower rpm. Most stroker kits use forged components which don't give you a single horsepower but are capable of handling much more horsepower than the stock components. Stroker kits are very expensive and require the engine to be removed from the car and totally disassembled so there is a lot of labor involved. Nobody does only a stroker kit. They add ported heads, more compression, a bigger cam, headers, custom exhaust and such as that. That is where the horsepower comes from. Stoker kits are great but they are for people who have lots of money to spend. You can make lots of horsepower without one though.....check my sig.