Great L98

Hey guys, my first post/thread on this site, huge place. Anyway, I had a few questions about engine rebuild options.


Have an 85 Vette that's been sitting since 2002. It's been undergoing a slow very slow tear down and rebuild of the whole car. Well, the teardown was the fun part as it was interesting to get my hands dirty turning wrenches and removing that old crud off the car that had failed because of old age. Had a new crate 350 installed in 2001 when the old L-98 went boom. Unfortunatelly, not even a year after the new engine was installed, trouble struck in the form of a faulty alternator. I didn't know about it at the time but when I did some checking and realized that was the cause, the car was already completely disassembled. Rookie mistake on my part.

That aside, the 350 crate engine is brand new with not even 5,000 miles on it. While it's sitting out of the car, I removed the heads to discover that the pistons were encrusted with carbon deposits and scaling had developed in the coolant passages.

Long story short: Thinking about a complete teardown and rebuilding of an even stronger running 350, when the thought of a 383 stroker sounds fun. The only things I really know about the process of increasing the displacement is through boring and stroking. For my 350, I was thinking that the increased stroke would due? A 383 crank along with a notch or two in the block itself to allow clearance for the longer crank. If I upgrade to a 383, ditch the iron heads for something better? An upgrade of a cam is probably a no brainer as well. Personal labor on this project is not a concern as it's just that, a project for fun. This should be a breeze compared to what I've already had to do.

I have many more questions which I'll post up later, thanks to all in advance.

Villain281H

iTrader: (5)

I have run 350 engines all my life, and my current 383 stroker is the first I've had. I'd never go back to a 350 again. The torque and power is unreal compared to the 350, and I know it's the cubes b/c I kept heads, intake, cam and carb all the same from one motor to the next and picked up 42 rwhp.

I'd suggest a set of aluminum heads to complement the stroker over your iron ones, but just my opinion.

Good luck!

Derek

Great L98

Thanks for the advice on cylinder heads!


Other questions:

Would time in hot tank take care of the scaling in the coolant passage ways?

What cam is recommended over the stock one for the usual?

I believe the specs for the stock cam are as follows:

Hydraulic flat tappet cam, (.383" intake/ .401" exhaust) and a 112-degree lobe seperation.


The combustion chambers are 76cc, with the addition of new heads, keeping the same combustion chamber size be recommended?

Ditch the old pushrods and lifters? Would they be strong enough to handle the upgrade?


I'm going to pick up a "How to" book on tearing down and rebuilding of the chevy smallblock but if you guys can still add your input, maybe you'll hit on something they might not cover.

hondo

iTrader: (2)

dont forget you will need bigger fuel injectors and some ecm tuning with the 383 unless you keep it very mild.

what are your goals for this car.....drag racing, street car, daily driver, auto-x ? This will help in selecting a cam and other parts of the build, and is something alot of people just arent realistic about.

PortPros1

Any good machine shop will be able to clean the block and get rid of the build up in the water passages; we use a high pressure hot-tank.
You'll need a bigger cam for the 383, depends on the heads you pick. Check with the manufacture they will have some recommendations. Or if you go with a ported set the head porter can recommend a good cam for you. We do a lot of custom cams matched to our cylinder heads. But you can make very good power with shelf cams as well.
If you go with the aluminum heads you can run more C/R. If you have forged pistons you can run up to 11/1 on the street, the easiest way to get there is a smaller combustion chamber.
A 64cc chamber will get you 11/1 on most combinations, it depends on the piston design, flat top, dish or dome.
If you upgrade to heads that run guide plates you will have to run harden pushrods. You need to find out what you have in the motor again it depends on your final combination.
PM me if you have more questions I'd be happy to help.