I've got a decision to make and am trying to decide if there are any cons to building a 396 instead of a 383. Would durability be the same? What about overheating? What is the difference between going with a 5.85" rod over a 6" rod when speaking performance wise? What about cam size...would my current cam (222/230, .533/.544, 112lsa), be too small? I know torque would improve significantly over the standard 350 lt1 but what about horsepower when considering that I will be using the same stage 2 heads and cam?

 

you might want to put this on the advanced tech message board, they could probably answer your questions better.