My 355/383 build :)

[Orr89RocZ]

Wells it is offical, i'm pulling the L98 and doing a new motor build...nothing spectacular but something decent. plan to use the factory block tho even tho its a 2 bolt main. I'll just use good main caps/bolts


over the next few weeks i'll have to finalize everything and get some price estimates on machine work and such.

Many have convinced me to just rebuild the motor and not risk running it. So i'm not gonna run it

What i had in mind is a cast crank and rod setup from eagle or scat, just your basic steel crank, and I beam steel rods.

For pistons i'm thinking Wiseco forged pistons for strength and a planned 150 shot down the road in the summer/fall or w/e.

Else i'll save for a shortblock already assembled, but thats no fun I want to BUILD!

I'll have to find a cherry picker cuz i dont wanna buy one for 180 + 100 bucks shipping that big heavy beast!! haha

Now i need to decide whether i want a 383 or 355. i know displacement rules and i'll get more power but its also more of a bear to tune with the stock ecm, depending on the cam. The cam i want i have found for cheap..its new and this guy is selling it. its great for a 355 and decent for a 383. If i went 383, i'd like to go one step up on the cam because of the extra 33 cubes. I want all power in by around 6000-6200 rpms and no more. stock ecm only controls fuel to about 6400 i think it is. Atleast thats all the room for fuel adjustment i have.

I want this thing to idle pretty mean so the 230 cam in a 355 will be meaner than the 383. Next sized up cam tho will fit the bill nicely for the 383 tho, just abit more tricky to tune.

So i'm really thinking 355 for now, (less machine work, no stroker clearancing) and running the cam i just found. I feel confident i can get this thing roughly tuned. Should make 350whp atleast i hope with supporting mods since compression will be up around 10.3 to 1. then i want a 150shot to put power up near 475-490whp. or a blower/turbo we'll see what i can do for later days in 08 or over winter 08 haha

This way i can start prepping a 4 bolt main block for nasty stroker clearancing and build a 396 or something. Possibly reuse the wiseco forged pistons since i'll only have like 3000 miles on them shoot for 400-450whp with DFI, and go for 10's

But if they dont charge much to clearance the block for the crank maybe i'll run that 383 and use the 230 cam to make just abit more power than the 355 and more torque but just at lower rpms. I kinda dont want the torque from the 383 since i want my trans and 10 bolt rear to last for alittle while I dont wanna twist the chassis either

[Hurstmeister]

I think you'll find that your choice of cam will effect the tuning of the ECM more then the added cubic inches will. Lopey cams will reduce vacume and that will have the largest effect of all. All EFI motors,.. air density and MAF equiped cars are very sensitive to manifold vacume pressure. So thats where I think your tuner will need to work around. The added cubes arent that that big a deal. You open the maf signal up a bit and add more fuel to correct any lean conditions.

Its a double edged sword. You want that nasty lopey idle,.. and the elctronic fuel injection wants to smooth it out. A carb'd motor will lope more on less cam because the idle circuit in carbs dont have the correction factor that an MAF/IAC equiped motor will have. Say you move to a 110 or 108 lobe center with a 236/278 cam. That cam would idle like a pro stock car if it were carb'd. Depending on how its tuned it can still be lopey with EFI,.. but not that much.

Personally I would check with AFR and see what cam they recommend with your induction setup. You need to know what pistons and crank you will be running before you call them. That way they can factor in the compression ratio to the head volume and give you the best cam choice. Those guys will be able to give you the best advice. That or call Crane or Comp for advice. They will have a list of cams specific to which ever set up you choose.

Also,.. you dont NEED a 4 bolt main block to make high HP. Its a myth. We've run a 2 bolt main 327 in a 4200 lb 49 Chevy which ran 10's, spray'd a healthy 200 shot on it and never had any crank problems. Oh,.. and we were running a stock steel small journal crank to boot.

Hurst

[Orr89RocZ]

well i dont want it to lope too much like a drag car but i want it to be obvious there is a cam in there. i have heard CC306 cammed LT1's on the net and i like it, but its way too much cam lope at idle...it has too much overlap.

383 will swallow that 230/236 cam up and should make great power tho while the idle will be noticeable it wont be as harsh as the 350

AFR has dyno tests of some 383's and 355's, using both their 180cc and 195cc heads. using the same cam that i was gonna use on my 350, that comp 230/236 cam, they made 450 hp with 9.5 to 1 compression and 1 5/8 inch headers, using their smaller 180 cc heads. I hope to match that with 1 more point of compression and 195 cc heads.

their 383 using the above setup made 480 but with 1 3/4 headers. next sized up cam with 195cc heads made 503hp on crank. Not bad, but with compression that low they left some power on the table

I will be happy with 450-480 hp for sure! i know you can always trust manufacturer claims as i have not seen anyone replicate those results yet.

[turbo tecnica]

Looking forward to seeing this project get rolling

[bullss21]

How much more room do you have in your transmission torque wise Justin?

[Orr89RocZ]

Lol ok, updates

thinking 355/357 small block and not the 383 but that could change we'll see. I found a sick cam for the 355 so i may go that direction. its a nasty custom grind that has made 400whp in Lt1's with good heads. i hope to make close to 375 thru the auto but we'll see how good these AFR's are.

if i go 383 i will step up cam size.

AFR heads are here and look amazing! very nice heads. The combustion chambers look great and the intake valve is CLOSE to the deck so i am not sure how much you can safely mill off the head deck, so i'm not gonna mill them now. my compression should be fine as is with the 65 cc chambers

Engine stand is here so i can bolt my block on it to work on. I found a engine hoist to borrow, gotta go pick it up.

The work will begin shortly


my tranny should hold 400wtq. i dont think i'll be near that with the 355..but it could be close

[Hurstmeister]

355 can easily make 400 lb/ft torque with those heads. Just depends on your induction and cam choices.

Hurst

[ceracer33]

jesus thats to much for me to read at work right now lol. ill try to get online later and read it and make my usual chevy sucks comments lol.

[SCU]

So you finally decided to listen to me.

[Orr89RocZ]

haha indeed! i'll post pics in a minute or two