Well, today I went to the machine shop. HAMB'r FEDER was kind enough to steer me to a shop. Went in and dropped off block and pistons; seems like a good place. The machinist there strikes me as the caliber of guy I'd be comfortable turning my parts (and money) over to. Now, there's a whole bunch of questions left. A little backstory: I put a used 383 into my '54 dodge pickup. After I'd made mounts, and got the thing in right like it belonged in there, I found I couldn't run any iron manifolds. Ones that cleared the frame hit the steering. Or the brakes. Sometimes two out of three. So I had a friend fab up some headers. And he did a beautiful job. So beautiful that I felt that it should be hopped up a bit. I scored a Mopar Performance M1, along with a pair of AVS's for the list price of an M1 (including shipping). I bought a Crower cam, it was a discontinued one. I don't have the cam card, but the specs were around 290/295 duration, about 238/244 @ .050" lift, and both sides were .513 or .518" lift. The cam was ground on 105 lobe separation. And put a stall convertor in that I got from a friend of a friend. After a few dozen hours of cam breakin time, and putting around the neighborhood, I wrapped the motor up a bit. And went too far, spinning the #6 rod bearing. Upon dis***embly, I saw valve marks in some piston crowns (thought I heard it float...) and also one lifter which did not appear to be rotating. I started getting parts to repair the engine. I saw a pair of small-chamber "516" heads that had had a set of 2.14/1.81 valves put in on ePay. The seller told me that everything had been replaced, the bowls opened up a bit, and the heads shaved .013"; the work was supposedly done by a shop in CA called Smeding. So, I bid and won, to the tune of about $400. When they arrived, I looked at them, and saw why they had been put up for sale. The intake valves are sunk down about .040" or so (by eyeball); the intake stems sit high by about that amount. Wonderful. That sunk valve is gonna' flow great, and having installed heights all over the place is a good way to have the springs work consistently. And don't even think about valve train geometry, with the valve tips up different heights. About that time I got discouraged. The truck sat for some time while life went on for a few years. Now I'm back on track. The plan on the heads is to tear 'em down and see what the 'bowl work' looks like. Talking to my boss the other day, he offered to help with the heads; he has done automotive machine work. He's into Porsches, but isn't adverse to working on some American iron. I've thought I might step up to a 2.19 valve, which can be bought affordably from mancini, if the seats and bowls look good. I can always get one, and see if the seats would touch up, then buy the rest of the set if it looks like a workable plan. At about ten or twelve bucks a valve, it's within the budget. The heads could be bolted on as-is while I save up for some Indy EZ's, another set of heads could go on the fresh shortblock while I fixed the eBay set, I could have seats put in the eBay 516's, bigger valves, or I could come up with some plan D. But, what do I do about the cam? As you can see in the above picture, this couldn't have been rotating. I checked the bottom of the cam lobe against a truly flat surface; could see that it was correctly crowned. And it wasn't stuck in its bore. All I can think is that the cam journal in question didn't have proper taper. So, I gotta do something - but what? I'm back and forth on this one. I thought of sending it back to Crower, but have heard from another guy about having the exact same experience. Maybe this is not an isolated occurance. Do I have a local cam grinder just use one of the good lobes as a master, and touch up the existing profile? Could do it, but would like a few more degrees duration, and some more lift - if there's a single spring that'll handle it. I don't really want to go to a dual spring on a flat tappet and try to get long life out of it. Or, with the zinc being removed from motor oils, do I just ****-can the whole flat tappet idea, and go with a small street roller grind? So my question really isn't, "pick a cam for me", but really looking for A) who's had experiences with mopar cam grinders, good or bad, B) who has the best single springs out there, and C) what about the oils not having zinc to help with scuffing resistance. That's it for now; I'll be bumping the thread when I have some more updates on the build, or questions. -bill
A stock 383 is a good piece. I guess I need to know what you intend to do with the truck . If you want to race it put some good parts in it ,if its a street driver or friday night cruiser just put the stock stuff back in it . It will idle ,not overheat and will probably run 100000 miles. I personaly would not go thru the trouble of regrinding a cam ,they are to cheap anyway, did you put new lifters on it?
Hell yeah, it got new lifters with the cam! This is something that will make occasional trips to work, and the local burger place. And the drag strip for the occasional test-n-tune or club racing weekend. I'm looking for something with a bit more zip than a stock roadrunner motor. So, a stock, or close to stock grind probably ain't happenng. I guess the real questions are: does Crower do good work (were two identical failures in Seattle alone just a coincidence), or should I go elsewhere? If elsewhere, where? Hughes, Straightline, or somewhere else? if going flat tappet, what to do to keep it alive (motor oil, etc.)? BIG hydraulic - or small (<.600") roller? And one piece of info I left out of original post was piston choice: KB400 (6cc dome). Should make CR almost 11:1. -bill
I built a 383 with 906 heads worked over ,10.0:1 compression, used a lunati cam with I believe a 292 duration and a .484 lift (can't find my cam card but like the 00032 cam) and that engine would burn the hides off off my 3600 lb cuda. It would run good on 93 octane pump gas and not overheat. Give lunati a call they make some good cams for the BB mopars they should be able to give you the cam you need for your application. The 11:1 you are talking about could be a little high for street on only pump gas unless you used aluminum heads that dissipates the heat better allowing higher compression on pump gas. Good luck on your truck.
start here;http://www.hughesengines.com/general/orderingAndShippingInfo.asp or here http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php Check out the tech section on the moparts board, there are oil mods and block mods for better oiling. There is a ton of head info as well, find the tech thread about reaming the oil p***ages as well. http://www.moparts.com/Tech/Archive/bigblock.html I am building a 383 right now for my 61 and will be using 452 heads, the 516's are ok but if you can fix them and peddle them do so.
Thanks '61 for the links. I'd been nosing around hughes' website, but didn't know about the moparts board. Lots of good stuff there - that'll keep me out of trouble for a while surfing that. -bill
Carfarmer, check out the engine books that Mopar Performance offers. They list different "stages"(ie 13,12,11,10 sec.) of go fast recipes for engines. You might want to try the 509 purple shaft cam for your 383. My buddy has a 383 with that cam in it with a 4 speed and it pulls harder than my 11:1 383 witha crower 539/547 lift cam in it. I could never get the damn thing to run right. later shawn
Ill second Hughes for the Cam, I'd stay away form the 2.19 Valves, too big for a 383 IMHO. Indy EZ or Edelbrock heads are the way to go. The 509 Cam is also a good choice, but the Hughe cams are ground for the larger Mopar lifter diameter, netting faster ramp speeds and more open valve tiem for the same duration. A 383 is a nice engine that can turn some RPM with that relatively short stroke for a big block.
If ya need 383 parts...I've got some.....he he Drill and tap the oil pump pick-up to 1/2" and use a Hemi pickup tube......
I love MoPar 383s.... they rev like Chevy 327s. Check this out: Stock 335 horse 383 picks up 117 horses with bolt ons. http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/155_0209_383_engine_restore/ MoPars ROCK!
As for your cam, how did you break it in? The correct procedure is to run the motor at 2000 rpm for 15-20 min. You should use Rotella or Delo or any other Diesel oil because those still have many of the anti wear properties still in them. As for cams, Crowers are good, but for the price to have one re-ground, you could just buy a new one. Im not trying to make you look like a dumb***, you probably know all this, just covering the bases. As for single springs, Crane makes some behive springs that are great at controlling valve float.
Thanks to all the guys chiming in. I've heard that the diesel oils are losing some/most/all (not sure which) of their zinc, as a response to the installation of cats on diesels. Yeah, I broke the cam in; checked that the lifters were free in their bores. Good questions - I'd ask too - but that ain't it. And regardless of cam break-in, the lifter should rotate. If you look at the picture of the lifter on the plate, that line in the middle of it ain't a reflection; that's the part that was always on the lobe when it wasn't holding the valve open. The rest of that rectangle is where the opening or closing ramps of the lobe would contact the lifter. I've got some thoughts on compression ratio. Since I'm too lazy type it all out, I'll cut-n-paste from my car page: And, if nothing else works, I can follow FEDER's advice, and stick the valves in a set of 452 heads. But keep the suggestions coming, folks. -bill
Yup, but forgot to mention it. Had plenty (>.100"). Dished center '68-9 stock 383 pistons are good for that. Springs were street hemi type. Good enough until you wing the thing for the moon... No real suprise that it broke; I over-revved an old engine. The worst failure was the #6 rod. Otherwise, I'd have just re-done the heads and replaced the cam before it went flat. But, like they say, "fix it faster". Which in this case includes checking the con rod big ends, and putting in ARP bolts. And a rev limiter. I guess that's kinda' "fixing it stronger".
I wouldn't run 2.19 intakes on an iron head 383. I would go 2.14/1.81 at the biggest.. The 1/2" oil pickup tube can be used, but make sure the internal oil p***ages are opened up too. The factory rod bolts should be replaced with high strength rod bolts, I cannot tell you how many times guys put B/RB engines back together with stock bolts and spun rod bearings. They would sometimes blame it on "not tightening" the rod bolts because they were found loose, but it was rod bolt stretch.
I Built A Great 360 And Got It On The Road Last Year And It Is Perfecly Powerful. I Am Just Wrapping Up A 383 And Expect It To Be Great Also. I Never Build One Without Consulting Mopar Tech Guys. They Have All The Answers. Phone 888 528 4364. For The Record I Would Never Run Closed Chamber Heads, Too High Compression, Especially If You Used Zero Deck Pistons And I Love The Grinds Compe***ion Cams Has.
I just want to second the "recipes" in those MoPar performance books. Pretty much takes all the guess work out of where you want your engine to be, and how to get it there. Then you just make sure it's ***embled correctly.
I've done 2 383s, both of which found their way into my '57 Ford, and I'm planning a ******** build for the next iteration of the sled. Please tell me you used aftermarket rockers with that Crower cam you put in. Even though I've seen people do it, I find it ill-advised to go any more than .480 on stock valve train components. As nice as the shaft mounted rocker set up is, it's one of the few ****ty things about building one of these. You'll need adjustable rockers. Crane's ductile iron rockers are the cheapest option, and a full roller set up is the next. Unfortunately, MoPar = Mo-money and neither are cheap. I'll be using the ductile iron rockers, and friends of mine that have good running B/RB engines swear by them. What kind of setup is this? I presume it's a mostly drag application judging my the cam profile. That is a whole lot of cam for a 383. I'll be running the Lunati Bracket Master (292 duration, .480 lift, single pattern), which runs good in my friend's 500+ hp 440. Lots of lump at idle, but good enough for the street, which he pairs with a 3000 stall converter. It has proven to be a reliable and powerful combo. That same cam in a 383 is only going to make it more aggressive. Get new rockers and the proper valve springs for your cam, and go from there. Mopar rules
Well, ya' caught me... It went together with stock valve gear and hemi springs. As a matter of fact, I scored a set of 1.5 ductile iron Crane rockers for the cam upgrade. Going to mock up the motor, check deck height on all 4 corners, then get it squared up. Then get a set of cut-to-fit pushrods. Hopefully it'll make at least a horse an inch and get into the thirteens... Honestly, I'm looking for something that can run on the street occasionally, go to the burger joint, and have enough Wheaties to make me giggle. I intend to get the job done with a 383, since everybody keeps on about 440's and stroked 400's, and I just can't go along with the crowd (remember HRM's "dare to be different" phase, where every other issue had an SBC powered Studebaker?). But a stock 383 Mag just ain't close to cutting it. And less is more when it comes to idle quality; I'd like to put my latest dental crown adhesive to the test. But the real question is: How do I keep a flat-tappet cam alive (besides not using dual springs)? I keep hearing about zinc being formulated out of oil - even the diesel engine oil - how are guys dealing with this? -bill
While youre on the phone with Mancini see if they'll cut you a deal on a MOPAR Purple cam, the big hydraulic is a bunch of cam or the splid is even better. They cut me a hell of a dealwhen I bought the one in my ba*****t.
What year 383 are you using? Hopefully something earlier (I think pre-68) with a forged crank and rods. If all you want to do is go into the 13's, then you won't have to deviate too far from stock, especially if you're using a factory 4 bbl motor. Those were 10.2:1 and rated at 305-330 hp depending on what year the motor is. With a good aluminum intake, headers and that crazy cam, you'll have enough torque to turn the earth on it's axis. I put a 440 6 pack cam in my 383, and even in a big sled on whitewalls would run like a scalded dog. Have fun blowing your driveline components all over the road with that motor. I've heard there are zinc additives available to make up for the lack of zinc in the oil. That and using a couple quarts of Rotella along with your regular oil.
I guess I shoulda' put some of those "smilies" on there to show I was being cute. I'm hoping to go better than 1 hp for each of its 394 cubes. And by thirteens, I mean traction-limited low thirteens at 109 MPH (or something cool like that). Look at the cam choices (hughes HEH3742BL, which is like what I had, or the HEH4246BL, which is one step hotter), the CR (10.5+), the heads (915's with 2.14/1.81 valves), tunnel ram w/ AVS's, and headers. Going in a lightweight ('54 Dodge 1/2T without a bunch of heavy **** added), a stall convertor, and 4.10's, it should run okay (driveability wise). The last iteration of the truck was real pleasant to drive. I hadn't had the time to get the secondary opening sorted out, and was sneaking up on the jetting, but it idled well in gear, had way more low end than it needed (gear/convertor...YEAH!) and sounded pretty good. It drove so smooth that I'm pretty sure I can get away with more cam, especially with more CR to bring up the low end and part throttle. The Lunati stick 57JoeFoMoPar recommended is probably a real good grind, but a little mild for what I'm looking to do. After looking at the bank account pretty closely, I don't think I'll be popping for a roller. For quite a while. Pretty sure it'll be one of the Hughes cams. Which gets me to oil... what to do? Hughes offers an anti-scuff additive; probably run me fifteen bucks an oil change. I wouldn't mind finding motor oil that's worth a damn in the first place . Anyway, This whole thread could probably be sub***led: "The re-ring gone wrong" because this started out as some valves, a re-ring and crank job. It started to snowball when the ridge reamer wouldn't clean enough to take out all the ridge. I ordered some KB400 pistons in +.030, but just heard a couple days back that it'll take .040 or more to do the job. Ewwww! Bet I don't need an emoticon for y'all to guess what I think of that. And they don't make one ****ed up looking enough to get my sentiments on the subject anyway! Also, after talking to the machinists, I'm going to step up to line-boring the block and putting in studs. After thirty years of use, the block could have moved around a thousandth or so; cheaper to just have a light cut taken than take the risk that I'll dig back into 'er. Basically, when I'm done, I'll have a block that will be the least of my problems. Oh yeah, the block I'm using is a '69, the crank is out of a '67(IIRC?), the heads '66 or earlier, and the rods??? Well, I'm starting a thread about the rods here.
The Jalopy Journal
