383 v. 355 is a no brainer. Except under very odd circumstances, the following ought to cover 99.9% of situations.

Extremely low budget - build a 355 with stock crank and rods.
Just about anything else - build a 383.

Does this mean other choices are foolish? No, not at all. Just that these are the most logical choices when performance/dollar is a mjoar criteria. Hell, if you really like revs you could build a de-stroked 331 or 306 and get it to run good. Gonna cost a lot of $$$ though just to be different. Ditto for big inch combos. The 396 is a gray area, but anything larger takes you way out of the price/performance sweet spot.

This is not rocket science, it's barely engines 101.

Rich

 

I shift at 67-6800 in the 1/4, but I have spun it to 7200. I was running the stock opti with those times, but I have swapped to a LTCC and haven't been to the track yet. Still waiting on a dyno tune. The cam is just a hair smaller than the 306 and 847.

 

Exact same bottom ends even down to the Scat rods. It is a great setup.

 

AS for beating the Ferrari, it was mostly like on the highway if I pulled up to one...How rare would that be...

As for the budget, from what Im seeing they are around the same cost but the 383 is a hair more, and like i said i cant really re-use my stuff as to how old it is...I wouldnt trust it

I mostly would be a street/strip car, because I like to mess around on the highway as well as light to light so on and so forth

I do know all power is useless if it cant be planted to the ground, I only have some minor stuff now, STB, Adj PHB....Later on I Plan on getting my subframes, k member, control arms, and eventually way down the line a rear end unless i can nail one cheap somehow...or im forced with the stock unit giving out...

i also was debating on gears since i have stock 3.23's, would 3.73s be better without over doing it making the car useless after a 1/4 mile?? Also im doing a 6 speed swap, cause my auto is acting crappy and i just dropped 800 getting it fixed, and when i floor it it just redlines, but any other time its fine...???stock stall btw

 

You need to do some more research if your going with a M6. Heaven help your rearend, and unless your a stick diehard kind of guy, an auto is usually quicker in the quarter. Please, no flames from the manual guys, I love them too. Just not for drag racing.

 

Agree - it you want to drag race an auto is better (though not as much fun). Or, if you are bucks up you can have the best of both worlds with one of these:

or one of these:


One buddy has the Lenco (top) in his street/strip 5.0. Now that is one MF of a tranny! Another buddy has the G-Force in his Mustang, also nice but that Lenco, ai carumba.

Rich

 

i know an auto would be better, but im tired of it. and i dont really understand those auto-manuals...its either one or the other to me, an since i drove this car auto already for the longest, and i have a auto cavalier, i want something for fun. plus i like the fact of being in control of the gears a lot better, and to me a manual driver posseses more skills than an auto...just MO

 

m6 + heads/cam = no more stock 10bolt. Trust me I blew up 2 stock 10bolts with just a cam, headers, and drag radials. If you have a manual you better not go to the track until you get the rearend unless you like begging for a tow. I have done it twice and it is not the easiest thing to come by.

 

Key here being drag radials, the 10 bolt will have a fighting chance on street tires.

 

What type of dyno #'s are you putting down?

 

Meatspinning at the track on street tires seems rather pointless to me after someone has spent some $$$ on their heads/cam/increased CID setup.

 

Tis true, but till I get a bigger better rear end I will stick to the street tires. Dem things are expensive.