I just did a heads and cam swap and it looks like i now have a spun bearing in the bottom end. I am looking at doing a 383 setup and was wondering if somebody can give me a couple of recommendations on setup. The car is mainly used as a daily driver street car but occasionaly will go to the track. I have to pass emissions and I like a car that is easy to drive (no cam surge and easy to drive in city traffic). Here are the questions I have.

1. I have 4.10 gears in the car right now and it is an m6 - would i be better off switching back to the 3.42's to take advantage of the low end torque or should I keep the 4.10's.

2. I have the comp cams XE503 camshaft and I am looking at switching back to the 1.5 stamped steel rocker arms because I am getting sick of listening to the ticking from the self-aligning roller rockers I have. Is .503/.510 enough lift to keep a 383 working strong to 6000rpms or will I be in bad need of the 1.6 rockers for extra lift.

3. Will this combination pass a sniffer emission test?

4. What type of rpm should this combination rev to safely - I have been told a 383 won't rev as quick or as high as a 350 but I don't know. I would like to shift it around 5500-6000rpms.

5. Can anyone give me a rough idea of what type of power I should expect with this setup - I will list all the mods below.

XE503 camshaft
LE2 cylinder heads 270/190 @ .600 lift - 266/182 @ .500 lift
SLP short tube headers
Random Technologies high flow dual cat y-pipe
SLP 2OTL catback
52mm throttle body
30# Ford SVO fuel injectors
dyno tuning
underdrive pulley
1le elbow


The rotating assembly I am looking at is part # 13052L from Eagle, it comes with cast crank/6.0" I beam rods/SRP forged pistons/bearings/rings.

Thanks.

 

You should decide what power you want to shoot for. Sounds to me like something a little less than a 383 would be more suited for the "streetability", daily driver goals you want. Might be helpful with emissions too but then we don't know what your state tests for or the method they use to test it. Unless you live in South America or the middle east, why would you want to feed a 383 daily driver anyway? Seems to me, you want the good street car and want to impress everyone when you get to the track. You have to compromise, no car will do both great.

Before you go any further, find out how the cam, the gears and convertor will work together. All 3 being matched to work in harmony is important. I'm no expert at it but I know enough to ask the right questions. Also I think you need more lift for a 383 BUT that really depends on how much power you want to shoot for. The above question to a cam company or a convertor company will go far to answer them.

If anyone should invest in a desk top dyno, you have the best case. Pick the items you want to use, it spits out the answer. Change the parts and see what the new results are. If you don't want to spend the money, GOOGLE it and see if there are free software dyno's you can use.

 

In my opinion, it would be foolish to go back to stamped 1.5's. RR's can only help and especially with a bigger CI combo.

I would bet that the cam you have in it is perfectly streetable in a 350? However, in a 383, you could run a bigger cam. That cam wont choke a 383, but its not helping it. You could run slightly bigger and still have streetablity. 33 Cubic inches is a pretty large gain across the board. But to awnser your ?, that cam is OK for a 383. I think hahah ...

As for switching back to the 3.42's, thats something that I would never consider inless you do alot of highway driving. Even on the highway, 4.10's arent bad inless you are cruising at 80+ mph regularly, then I could see it hurting fuel economy ...

If it was my car the RR's and the 4.10's would stay. Im not sure about going bigger on a cam though if you have to pass emissions.

Also, the money you will have into the bottom end, it will only cost a little more to go fully forged . When I build my 383, I plan on converting to 4 bolt mains ... Its something you might want to consider. Its cheap insurance on a major investment. I mean be realistic, you didnt put a cam in it to drive around under 2500RPMs all day ... When you wind that bitch out, it isnt worth it to worry if the bottom will hold over a few hundred dollars in parts and a few hundred more in labor ...