Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

So I went to dump the oil in the waste oil storage today and there is deffinetly bearing material in the bottom.of the bucket I drained the oil into. I thought I was on gold rush with the amount of brass in the bottom.

anyway I want to do an Na 383 but I don' feel like building my own. I was thinking about buying a shortblock from a manufacture. This cat is gonna be 90 street use and I'm gonn do le2 heads and a custom cam. What shortblock do you guys recommed?

BALLSS

FWIW I bought a Golen forged 4 bolt main 383 shortblock. Had it 10+ years and about 40k mi. No problems

ERE is also VERY good.

KW Baraka

iTrader: (7)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam1203

…… I was thinking about buying a shortblock from a manufacture…..What shortblock do you guys recommed?

Yep, right there --->> http://www.ellweinengines.com/

KW

Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

I like ERE because they are closer but the price difference is pretty big. I want to go with a forged crank because I heard the cat ones break. I notice both companies offer a cast crank though. What's everyone's opinion? Golen has a 383 with forged crank for 3999 which isn't bad.

Shownomercy

iTrader: (1)

ERE hands down, Karl is a great guy and builds great engines.

Give him a call and discuss what you want with him.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

Sad to see what prices are today. LPE used to sell a 383 short block for 6K in the 90's with all forged top-of-the-line parts, and then they were considered "overpriced."

Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

People have to make a living. I' going to give them a call tomorrow. I just don' want to go buck wild I want to get something that works well for me and my use.

BALLSS

ERE is a one man shop. Karl builds each motor with great care and is highly regarded. IIRC his fee is $1500 + what ever part selection you chose, machining & shipping

Golen is a large motor shop. I ordered the 4 bolt forged 383 short block with SRP pistons. Yeah $ have gone up from what they were 10 years ago....like everything else.

hokeplaya05

iTrader: (3)

I went with golen because his shop is 5 minutes from my work and I was able to stop in and check on my motor build whenever I wanted plus I could pick it up when it was done to save on shipping. over 12k miles on my motor without issues, and I have a cast scat crank in mine because I'm an idiot and didn't spring for the forged unit at the time but so far so good *knocks on wood*.

can't go wrong with either shop IMO

Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

I tried to call ERE this week twice no one picked up it went to voice mail.I'm gona send my spare heads out to me LE first any way

I'm curious about which way you guys would go.with the rockers? I have S.A. rockers now and this car is gonna be used on the street almost exclusively. I was always under the impression you went to NSA rockers based on cam lift. But I read a post the other day that suggested it was based on RPM.

I'm a little nervous about using NsA rockers as I have no experience with them. I know you need ride plates and hardened pushrods.

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

BALLSS

You want NSA...your new motor, heads, tune the motor will spin higher RPM's...you want NSA and guide plates

Get the ISKY adjustable guide plates and Comp ultra pro mag, IMHO

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

Your best bet with Karl is to email him. He isn't a dedicated engine shop like those other guys, he works and builds engines in his spare time.

NSA all the way. I had the Isky's and while they worked, they were a colossal bitch to adjust without being welded. Stick with non adjustable plates if you can get away with it.

BALLSS

...you don't weld them together then adjust...

Once you do have them adjusted you "can" tack weld the 2 halves together if in the future you want to pull the guide plates for whatever reason and replace to the same cyl they cam from. I did not weld mine together after adjusting. Over 10 years, no problem.

The issue most of us had with one piece guide plates on GM AL heads is you could get one RR dead center but other would be off. Moving one affected the other. Hence the 2 piece eliminates that issue

One can certainly use one piece if they work on "all" the cyl/valves but in most cases there are a few cyl that don't line up...YMMV

Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

Ok a few questions. I have been reading up on some other people's threads and I have a few questions. I have read that le 2 heads or even stock heads can't flow enough for a 383. So my question is if I go le2 on stock heads is it even worth going with a 383?

sorry for all the questions I just don't want to do this again. Nor do I want to waste a bunch of money on a poor running motor.

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

That's what I meant. If you ever have to go back and redo them for whatever reason, playing with adjustable plates is a huge waste of time if you don't necessarily need them. I've never had an issue getting my rockers lined up with trickflow or jegs plates on stock castings though.

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

Says who? I could see them becoming a bottleneck for a big cube solid roller setup, but there's nothing wrong with a 383/LE2/hydraulic roller motor on the street.

Adam1203

iTrader: (5)

just read a couple of threads from 2005-07 time frame on ls1tech and camaro z28

BALLSS

YES!!

LE2 heads and cam package will be great for a 383

350 groundpounder

iTrader: (5)

Honestly even LE1 heads would work for a street 383 pumping out 260cfm with a 195cc intake runner. Would make a great powerband under the curve and support a 500fwhp build. LE2 gets another 10-20cfm but the runners are hogged out to 205cc i believe.
My 383 has LE trickflows with 202/160 valves and flows 290cfm at .600 lift. Great flowing heads but cost a lot of $$$. With 210cc runners i might be sacrificing some low end torque over LE1's but this motor really shines in the mid-upper rpms.
My point is you really dont need high flowing hogged out heads for a street car to make a great power curve.
I think LE1's are a great all around head for a great price. Good cfm flow and high port velocity with relatively small 195cc runners. If you want more than 260cfm just have Lloyd put bigger valves in and flow 270cfm.