I decided I may just go back to the idea of doing a 383 (had always wanted to do one, but kinda shelved the idea) instead of just doing a standard rebuild of my motor.

I saw that VRE has some 'economy shortblocks' in another thread, and the more I look at it, the more it sounds like what I want. I was looking at the Economy 383 Short Block (scroll to bottom of page).

Fits in my budget... That's pretty close to being in line with a good rebuild. Opinions? This is going to be for a heads/cam setup, -no nitrous, no blower. Just NA heads and cam stroker. Strong enough for NA abuse? If I need to go with the "Racer Series" 383 I will.

Other question: I had wanted to go with the LE1 package previously, because I prefer not to use steep gears and would actually LIKE to stay with 3.23s if at all possible... Although I will change to 3.42 if I'm forced to. Does the LE1 package lend itself to life atop a 383? Or will I have to change the plan here?

Last question... I want to hear about reliability again of a 383. I've heard some very disconcerting talk before of them being a real pain in the *** as far as reliablity, and chewing up parts.

 

I can answer the reliability part...Its all about the quality if parts and the quality and attention to detail of the machine and assembly work...My LPE 383 has been flawless for 11 years now. Last year we pulled the heads to get more air and went with a bigger cam ONLY because I wanted to go faster. The bottom end is still just as LPE assembled it in 1995! I also have overkill parts: Callies crank, Oliver billet steel 5.85" rods and JE pistons...Yes, they are $$$, but I've been running them hard for 11 years now, so I'd say its reliable and worth the extra $$$. I consider myself a long term test dummy...VRE has a good following here also, in fact one 383 just made some crazy good dyno numbers a few weeks ago. I think here people go with either VRE or Golen...

As far as the LE1 question, I used Joe Overton and E.B. Porting thru lethalefi.com last year, so you'd have to ask Lloyd.

--Alan

 

I don't see why the cast crank would be a problem in your setup. with an LE1 package it shouldnt rev a whole lot higher than 6000 rpm. I would imagine the eagle cast crank is as strong as or stronger than the stock crank. the stock crank can take some abuse. hell the one guy on here (I cant remember his name) has a solid roller 355 making 470+rwhp and running low 10s on a stock crank. the eagle crank should take what you want to do.

As for reliability I only have 3,000 miles or so on my engine but it has been good thus far.

with the torque the 383 will generate down low you shouldn't need to swap your rear. I think I could get away with 3.42s even with my wild cam. A nice stall converter helps though.

check this out:
http://64.65.63.61/forums/showthread.php?t=433724
its an LE1 383. makes a TON of torque and starts very early.

I would just make one recommendation (if it would be possible to fit into your budget) and that is to use LE2 heads and an LE1 cam. even the owner of that LE1 383 wishes he went with the LE2 setup.

best thing to do would be to call/email lloyd. he'll set you up!

 

Id give Lloyd a call if I were you. IMO, on a 383 I would go with at least the LE2. Feed that thing some air! Hell, if I were you Id do a LE3, but I did do a LE3 so you already know that Lloyd said my setup should be great for stop and go driving, with lots of torque down low.

I think the economy setup would work for you. It would have worked for me too, even with a little spray. But it dont cost too much for for the racer. That gets you a forged crank as well. But then I figured what the hell, lets get 4 bolt mains too. It just kept going from there

I dont know how the LE2/3 would do with emissions either. I imagine with the right tunning they could pass. Thank god I dont have to deal with that crap

 

you better have good tires It will put an endless smile on your face. even at quarter throttle it will MOVE.
As radical as my car sounds, it is incredibly docile. I would, and have, drive it every day if it wasn't for the gas consumption.

 

Thanks guys



Reason I would like to avoid doing anything that would make a gear swap neccessary is... I have owned a geared car before, and I HATED the way it was basically useless once you were already at speed. I like having acceleration all the way through the range, and like that my current setup still accelerates like crazy above 100-110 if I want it to.

Yes, my car is an auto, but I would like to do some road courses with it one of these days.

That's why I was trying to do the LE1 instead of the 2 and 3... Because I don't want to have to start into gears again. If the LE2 can make good use of 3.42s, it may be a sacrifice I'm willing to make since 3.42s aren't too bad.