Hi, first I wanted to say thanks, you guys have helped me out alot on past post. So here's the new issue, my odometer just hit 200k still runs good but I need more power out of it. Im looking into getting the LE2 head & Cam kit from Elliotts. I was entertaining the thought of stroking the bottom instead of just freshening it up. I would like to know if a 383 or 396 stroker would be a hell of alot faster than just going threw the bottom on a basic rebuild. Does anyone know any ballpark horse power and torque numbers I should look for with these combos. Also can anyone recommend any links for stroker kits, I've had a local guy do some machine work for me in the past so he told me if I got the parts he'd do the work and assembly for about a grand this sounded good to me. Also as a stroker will my car still be dependable or does this open a hole big can of worms? Elliott told me with the LE2 heads and his 230 cam I'd still pass Ca sniffer test will stroking my lt1 have any effect on that? Last but not least what kind of gas milliage will I be loosing, I work almost 50 miles from home. I do have a commuter but I would like to drive my maro from time to time. I also wanted to mention I will be getting headers, 58tb and porting intake to match and pc tunning. This car may see 1 or 2 passes at the track, its basically for me to say..... yeah my car is fast..... (and mean it).Sorry for the extra long post I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything.

Thanks for your guys help.

 

If you do a search you will see a lot of posts on this subject. There is very little gain from a stroker per se (if there are no other changes). OTOH, if you need new pistons and a crank anyway, go for a 383 as there are some gains at minimal additional cost and any other changes (to the valvetrain or induction system) will have a larger gain than with a 350. 383 is the sweet spot for a stroker, 396 is quite do-able but gets into potential problems with getting into water when clearancing the block, rod to cam clearance, etc. Just not worth it, IMHO.

Rich

 

As he said, just going from 350 to 383 will yield very little power, however the 383 will benefit greater then a 350 mod for mod. So if a cam is worth 30hp in a 350 it "could" be worth 45 in a stroker. (Not real numbers, just a comparison).

Not sure if you need a 58mm TB.

 

I think you will see some decent gains from the 33 extra cubes if you go 383. Many of the AI heads and cam guys are seeing 425/375rw with 355's and stock shortblocks. I have also seen a few AI headed 383's making more power, 435-450rwhp and similar tq.

I would say the extra cubes are good for 10-25hp and 50-70tq from what ive recently noticed, especially the AI LE stuff. Now it is a very general comparison and anyone could say that its total crap but i am on this site a lot and its just what ive noticed.

WIth you having to pass emissions a bigger motor will always tolerate more cam, so it will an easier time passing emissions and being 400hp if it were a 383 rather than an 355/350.

Get the le2 heads and a smaller cam so you can pass, another plus of the small cam will be that its very tame and should get good mpg's. So when you do dd it wont kill your pocketbook. Go for the 58mm tb and LT"s, you will need them

 

After going "bigger is better" (396) I really wished I would've saved the money and just did heads/cam. There are a lot of cars making the same power as me with just H/C while spending a lot less and having less problems. Just my experience.

 

You deserve a pat on the back for this statement. Most guys who put together strokers that make no more power or even less than a stock shortblock setup make grand claims about torque and drivability as the excuse for why it was still a good idea.

Don't get me wrong a stroker should be better but most times guys make critical mistakes and miss out on what they should have had.

 

hey 94zvert,

the moser 12 bolt might be why some H/C cars are dynoing the same as you. 12 bolts from what ive seen take considerably more power than stock 10 bolts do to turn.

the key word in this statement though is MIGHT. i dont know what setup you have or the combos that the H/C car you are referring to have. but the standard 15-20% drivetrain loss is much closer to the 20% side if not higher with a 12 bolt.

now that being said, if your gonna go through the motor anyway defiantly say go 383.

 

IMO if someone is building a 383, they "should" have future plans, or are building it to the moon right now.

 

I can tell you that the heads/cam and intake on my stock motor made 360rwhp with full bolt-ons. It now makes 380rwhp with a 383 stroker. Now my situation is a little screwed because of a bad purchase I made on the heads/cam/intake, but I am going to be having my shop redo the topend down the road and I will be well over 400rwhp with the stroker. So don't compare my current numbers to what you will make since my power is kinda low for what it should be... but that gives you somewhat of an idea of the 350 vs 383 power difference.

 

Your numbers are super low, whoever did that needs to quit their job lol.

 

He had posted details but got flamed for it. While you are correct you would not have made this statement if you knew the details .

 

I withdraw my uneducated statement

 

Yeah, wasn't the shops fault. They've built some stout LT and LS motors and know their stuff. I supplied the heads/intake and it didn't give them much to work with. I basically have bad heads and intake on a nice motor with a decent cam and full bolt-ons.

 

What was the story with the heads? While 380rwhp is not fantabulous, without knowing the constraints (i.e. had to pass smog, towing with it, etc.), a statement that this result is good or bad really can't be justified. AFAIC, 380rwhp out of a 383 CA emission-friendly engine is pretty nice. A lot of guys (not talking about you, bombebomb ) will jump on the "that's weak-sauce" bandwagon, but ironically, those same guys have nothing near 380rwhp themselves.

 

The short version is that I bought a h/c/i kit from someone off the boards. I installed them on my stock motor, and took to the car into have it dyno tuned. It made 360rwhp with that setup, then the bottom end gave up before they were completely done tuning it. I had them rebuild the motor with the current details in my sig. Heads and intake were kept, but a cam was thrown in more suited to the 383. Motor is built for nitrous down the road. The only thing keeping this car from being fully emissions legal is the fact that I removed all emissions equipment and have a full exhaust from the headers back, with no cat's or mufflers, just the LM.

The heads and intake turned out to be some sort of a backyard garage or basement port-job and they were claiming to be something they weren't. So while the new cam is good, I still have lots of room for improvement with the intake and heads, hence, the "low" dyno numbers. I'm also pretty sure more power COULD be tuned into but keep in mind it's mainly a street car and squeezing every last hp out of it wasn't the goal. Before I hit it with nitrous though, I would like have the top end redone by my shop and should easily see 400+ at the wheels both hp and tq.