Chris wrote:Thanks for the good ideas. I like the thought of keeping the 383 if I can get that kind of power out of it. The car is a four speed, I dont plan on racing it but I had all small blocks in my cars before i got married (340 Demon, 74 360 challenger, 69 z28 350, 351 Mach 1, and now after 20 years i can finally afford to get back into it. Sorry if I'm rambling on but anyway this time i want to go a step further and build something that can smoke the tires without brake torquing and getrubber in at least 3 gears and have that off beat rumble of a funnycar. I would love to put a hemi in it but after what i'm spending on the rest of the car my budget is probably in the 2-5000 range for now. Thanks for the advice.
Yeah the 4-speed and mildly built 383 will give it to you! Remember what fabian said, that engine loves to rev, with a 4-speed it will have a great flat torque curve as long as you dont over cam it. A nice set of KB pistons with near zero deck will get the compression up to 9.5. The 383 had pistons down in the hole a bit, it makes around 8.5 comp. the KB hyperuetectic pistons are a great bang for the buck upgrade and wont break the bank. The most expensive part if the heads are worn and used will be re-conditioning the heads. The 440source heads are only 899.00 for a pair and will give you an extra 50 H.P. out of the box,(all else being equal), but arent necessary unless you must do that much in re-building your old heads,(new springs, seats, valves, magging, ect) it will quickly add up, so plan accordingly. The 383 rocks!