383 or 396 stroker....which is better for the money?

 

way too general man

 

You never mentioned what you were wanting to do...

 

i have an LT1 car and cant decide if i want to go with a 396 or 383 set up. i am really a novice about car stuff but have some experience. i do have the advantage however of a friend of mine who is a certified tech. who has built stangs and maros before. i want an all-motor car runing in the mid-11's. and i want to stroke it but need advice on cam and heads. is this stuff really rocket science or do most people just start throwing parts in the car?

 

A lot more than just throwing parts together. That's why you can have 383's running 13's and bolt-on lt1's running bottom 12's. Mid 11's isn't even impossible with a stock bottom end and a very nice heads/cam package, but I agree with your choice of wanting to go with a stroker if you can afford it. You can build it to run mid 11's on motor then spray it for those times ya just wanna go faster .

 

If you can afford an aftermarket casting ($3k or so in a set of heads), then I'd consider more inches. If you use LT1's I personally wouldnt run any more than a 383 under it. Of course the 383 can be a bit cheaper.. so you'd have more $ to put where it'll actually do something - cylinder heads/valvetrain .

 

all motor car go for the cubes you have to buy a crank either way. Yeah, if you have a pocket full of cash to wast just stand back and throw it at the car, otherwise, you might want to get with an engine builder who's done some lt1's and form some type of plan. Be sure to take into account that you will need to upgrade the fuel system, clutch/converter, driveshaft, rearend, blah, blah, blah...to go with the big cubes.

 

actually, i have a friend (alexafrashteh.com) who put a 396 in his LT1 car and he still has the stock 10-bolt and stock 1LE driveshaft and he hasnt blown it up yet. by the way, he kept his stock heads and had them worked (stage 2)

 

I know alex.. .

He hasnt upgraded his stuff? Im not surprised, my granny is harder on stuff

 

i know he spent all that cheese and hasnt gone to the track....mystery. he did just get a new car though, Neon SRT4.
still got the Z though. he is soooo afraid of driving the Z more than 3 times a week! lol...

 

power doesnt kill parts, traction and shock loads do.

 

I am building a 396 right now consisting of a Callies crank, Manley Billet rods, and a custom J&E piston. They will be topped off with a set of AFR 210 Comp ported heads. Why I didnt go with a 383? Who the hell has heard of an SS 383 Camaro?

 

your building a 396? so you suggest going with aftermarket heads, not sure i can afford them... my problem is i have no idea what cam i would get for stock ported heads...any advice?

 

Well, my builder would rather have me go with the AFR 210 LT4's than the heads I have now, which I am sure they would work really well anyway. Right now I have a set of Stage 3 TEA LT1 heads and ported intake. I will actually be putting them up for sale once I get them off the car, and have the machine shop go over them. If I was on a budget, I would reuse them and I know they would still make great power. Since I can swing it, I will be going with the AFR's. As far as a cam, you could go with the XE 230 (which I have now), XE236, or CC306 would work great in a stroker. My cam will be a custom grind hydraulic roller with around 250 degrees duration and 600 lift.



Nick

 

would you be interested in selling me the heads? how much would you want for 'em?