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383 vs 402/408

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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 07:45 PM
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Default 383 vs 402/408

My cousin is trying to spec out his next engine for his TA and he has a realistic goal of 10.99 or better. Right now he has a cam only (228R) LS1 that has gone a best of 11.7x on motor pulling a 3700lb car (very impressive to me). We talked for hours today about his options and went back and forth trying to decide what to do. He wants to stay NA and hit this with a 150 shot on occasion and he wants it to have good street manners.

The 383 specd to the bare minimum of hitting his goals is around $6800 but that's using his LS6 intake and does not include injectors. A 408 with LS3/L92 heads an L76 intake with injectors and a ported 92TB is around $7900. That doesn't include the kit to convert the TB though. I thought he could sell his LS6 intake and 85mm TB and recoup some money and either way he goes he's ready to put in a new trans/rear on top of that.

Another option he has is he already has a really clean LQ4 at his house and he could build it into a 408.

I guess my question is what's the best way to make a 10 second sleeper street TA for the least money that will still be reliable?
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 07:55 PM
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I would think the more cubic inches the better. There are 383's that make killer power but the 4" bore on the 408 opens up a world of possibilities when it comes to head choices. With the 3.9 bore your pretty much stuck with LS6 heads or heads up to 215cc which kick *** but there have been some high compression 402's and 408's with 235cc heads making some killer numbers.

So I guess my vote goes to the 408 with L92's especially if you already have the LQ4 as a starting point. Hell you could even use the LQ4 forge it and make into a 370 and spray the hell out of it.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by MelScrilla
I would think the more cubic inches the better. There are 383's that make killer power but the 4" bore on the 408 opens up a world of possibilities when it comes to head choices. With the 3.9 bore your pretty much stuck with LS6 heads or heads up to 215cc which kick *** but there have been some high compression 402's and 408's with 235cc heads making some killer numbers.

So I guess my vote goes to the 408 with L92's especially if you already have the LQ4 as a starting point. Hell you could even use the LQ4 forge it and make into a 370 and spray the hell out of it.
I personally thought he should boost the LQ4 with a decent turbo cam for around the same money but he wants to go NA and use the N2O system he already has on the car. I understand what he wants and why but to each their own.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 10:38 PM
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Seeing as though he wants a NA motor and a small shot.... Have you considered a LS2 402 build? or LS34188 build? Same power if not more than a 408 and about 70 pounds lighter. the 402 wouldnt be more than a few hundred dollars more than a 408. I really think that for a NA build that the LS2 402 has much more potential than an LQ 408.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by HTX
Seeing as though he wants a NA motor and a small shot.... Have you considered a LS2 402 build? or LS34188 build? Same power if not more than a 408 and about 70 pounds lighter. the 402 wouldnt be more than a few hundred dollars more than a 408. I really think that for a NA build that the LS2 402 has much more potential than an LQ 408.
I'll spec it out and see. Right now I crunched the numbers and he's only going to have a $500 difference between the 383 with 2.5 LS6 heads vs the 408 with CNC L92 heads and I'm betting there will be a significant HP increase as he can run a bigger cam without losing drivability. Let me see about the alum block strokers...


That didn't take long...I specd it out the same and it was $700 more for the alum block 402 as it costs a little more and requires a conversion kit to make it work.
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:30 PM
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i would just use the motor he has. if he has an lq4 then theres money saved right there. you can make anything fast with some money and thats a great place to start imo
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:42 PM
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Originally Posted by transamfreak01
i would just use the motor he has. if he has an lq4 then theres money saved right there. you can make anything fast with some money and thats a great place to start imo
He could save about $1000 going that route BUT he can sell the LQ4 for at least that couldn't he?
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Old Oct 15, 2009 | 11:51 PM
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You're looking to spend a healthy sum of money. But, not enough.

Listen to me: build a killer 347. TFS/AFR heads, the works. Put the rest in the rear and suspension, etc. You can make your goal with a healthy, streetable cam. Just get it tuned by the best.

Good luck.
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Old Oct 16, 2009 | 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Sharpe
You're looking to spend a healthy sum of money. But, not enough.

Listen to me: build a killer 347. TFS/AFR heads, the works. Put the rest in the rear and suspension, etc. You can make your goal with a healthy, streetable cam. Just get it tuned by the best.

Good luck.
but if he builds a 402 he will have more to work with later on down the road, and many many more options.
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Old Oct 16, 2009 | 04:05 PM
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From: Scott, AR
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Originally Posted by Sharpe
You're looking to spend a healthy sum of money. But, not enough.

Listen to me: build a killer 347. TFS/AFR heads, the works. Put the rest in the rear and suspension, etc. You can make your goal with a healthy, streetable cam. Just get it tuned by the best.

Good luck.
Well since he has a 6.0 already I'm going to price going AFR and forged with a healthy cam like a MS3 or a custom grind. The part he's up in the air about is the engine, he's already prepared to do everything else he needs with suspension/rear/transmission next. Right now he's trying to decide on the best bang for the buck that will still be impressive as a combo. Sure a LSX 454 will crush in this car but IT BETTER because it's a 454.
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Old Oct 16, 2009 | 10:54 PM
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Default Cubic Inch

An ole engine builder gave me some good advise a long time. His theory was " There Is No Substitute For Cubic Inch "
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