blk97z28

iTrader: (3)

Car - 97 Z28
Trans - A4
Mileage - 75,8XX
Main Usage - Street (98%, strip 2%). Drive a few hundred miles a year if that. Mostly do car shows, cruise around etc.
HP Goal - Not looking for a full out drag car, but something that can be built / withstand the test of time / be able to grow into more if wanted without having to replace anything
** If you seen my "tons of pics" thread, I went all out on my suspension; minus doing Bilstein instead of Koni (I'll change that way down the road). I prefer to do something once and be golden**

Forged 383 vs Forged 396: Yes or No and why
Forged Crank: Who makes them best and why
Forged Rods: Who makes them best and why
Forged Pistons: Who makes them best and why
Best Pushrods: Who makes them and why
Best Roller Rockers: Who makes them and why
Best Roller Rocker Studs: Who makes them and why
Rocker Studs: Who makes them and why (I have the magnums right now but will be going with the ultra pro magnum if they are the absolute best), I have the pro magnum's still in their original box

Thanks!

Shownomercy

iTrader: (1)

383, because its simple and no crazy grinding of cylinder walls (you may have to do some if you have a big throw).
Compstar/Callies are what myself and a fellow boosted LTX guy run, no issues, good mid range stuff. (crank and rods)
I run JE pistons, you will need to determine if you want a more street alloy, or race esque alloy. (Think cold start piston slap)

Everything else is moot, find what you can swing price wise and get it. I run old pro mags on a 7/16 ARP stud with guideplates. (This will be determined by how high you want to spin it, and how much spring pressure you need)

Valve springs are something you should be thinking about as well.

myltwon

iTrader: (1)

383 is more "plug and play" than a 396, if you're not looking to get every ounce of horsepower/torque out of it you'll likely never know the difference.

Scat and Eagle make decent forged assemblies, but I would never trust one of their balancing jobs out of the box.

Pushrods...comp makes decent ones haven't seen anyone have a problem

Roller rockers pretty much all are created relatively equal up to a price point but I would stick with name brand ones. A roller rocker that spits out it's needle bearing will trash a motor quick, ask the LS guys.

Rocker studs...ARP all the bolts that are critical fasteners, there's a reason they're the industry standard.

Like shownomercy said, valve springs are very important to think about. There's A LOT of ones out there with spotty track records, almost as many as there are good ones. Some people swear by beehives and won't run anything else, others have lost motors because of them. Me personally I'd stick with a dual coil, I like the piece of mind that a 2nd spring adds by being a bit of a safety net.

blk97z28

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the inputs!

Something I was thinking about were Callies Dragonslayer or Mangum forged crank, I've heard nothing bad of Callies. I was thinking a dual spring type setup. Just trying to gather some ideas!

Shownomercy

iTrader: (1)

Another point to consider is buying parts for the desired goal for the motor.

In my case, it's all heavy and for the most part overkill but I just add boost to make power.

If you are making a big power NA motor, the small details will be required to make the power you want. Light weight rotating mass etc

97compta

I have Callies dragon slayer, howards billet rods and JE pistons. I was talking to Callies and they said theres never been a crank broke yet and have had seen 1500+ hp to them. Someones going to say theres been ones taken out, but not due to imperfection to the crank, is due to something else letting go first. So they will take whatever the block will take and more. Think my bill for 383 was 2500 and was crank, rods, pistons, rings, billet mains, rod and crank bearing and Balancing and main cap drill bushing to drill out 4 bolt mains for 220 that was included.

I have the pro mag 1.6 with 7/16 stud
comp cams push rods
I also did comp cams roller lifters
Morel lifters and rockers are to be up there in quality and in price range to I think

moehorsepower

iTrader: (3)

As said, depends on your HP goals, ARP bolts on your stock rods may be enough, I made 648 RWHP on a stock crank, no issues but no high RPM runs, 6200 was the max needed and this was boosted.

Supercharged111

iTrader: (1)

Why is it that an LT1 can be taken to 396 but not a 350 Vortec? That's always bugged me.

396LTX

Who said a 350 vortec couldn’t?

Supercharged111

iTrader: (1)

Can it? I only ever find 396 parts on Summit by searching for LT1 as I recall on my last search. Apologies for semi thread jack.

396LTX

Yes, a 396ci sbc is a 350 block cut .030 over bores with a 3.875 stroke crank. You could basically do that to any 350 block

Supercharged111

iTrader: (1)

That's what I thought.

Kfxguy

iTrader: (1)

My buddy had a regular block and he stroked his to a 396. non lt1. It wasnt as fast as my 383 however. He had better heads, same intake and suposedly a bigger cam, bigger tube headers than me. My car trapped 3-4 mph faster. FWIW. same car too. same color car.

97Z28SS

iTrader: (5)

I have 3 all forged 383 LT1s one has a Howards Tracksmart 4340 forged crank and 6" H beam rods with ARP 2000 cap screws and Mahle forged FT pistons, one has a Cola 4340 forged crank and Scat Procomp 6" I beam rods and SRP dished pistons and the last has a Callies Stealth 4340 forged crank with 6" Eagle H beam rods and ARP L19 cap screws and JE dished pistons.