Cylinder Head Decision?

[74 Shortbed]

Hard to beat Sportman II's for the price..

 

[Rusty Nail]

Yeahhhhhh pass on using the 882s if possible. You can port the sh!t out of them but they simply don't make respectable numbers and for a little more money you can make real decent power but you HAVE TO spend it on
good cylinder heads.
good cylinder heads.
good cylinder heads.

 

[hatzie]

If you want to build a 383 look at how GM did it on the HT383 crate motors.
GM used Cast Iron vortec heads, a stout 350 4-bolt roller cam block, standard 350 length 5.7" powdered metal rods, dished pistons, and a forged custom stroke crank.
It makes the HP and torque numbers quoted on 87 octane fuel.

Compare that to the cast 400 stroke cranks, custom length rods, special pistons, special camshaft, and other one-off parts for an Eagle or Scat kit. Add on the machine work and other extras like heads etc. Then write down the price. I bet you clear $5,000 and maybe even $6,000.

I ran the numbers 15 years ago. The HT383 was a heckuva lot of bang for the buck... you'll probably find you get a noticeably less expensive motor. You definitely end up with better internals and an actual warranty by shelling out the bucks for a GM crate motor.

Summit $4,739.31 Shipping included.

HT383 Tech Specs

• Part Number: 19355720
• Engine Type: Chevy Small-Block V-8
• Displacement (cu. in.): 383
• Bore x Stroke (in.): 4.000 x 3.800
• Block (P/N 88962516): Cast-iron with four-bolt main caps
• Crankshaft (P/N 12489436): 4340 forged steel
• Connecting Rods (P/N 12497624): Heavy-duty Forged steel
• Pistons (P/N 12499103): Hypereutectic aluminum
• Camshaft Type (P/N 14097395): Hydraulic roller
• Camshaft Lift (in.): .431 intake / .451 exhaust
• Camshaft Duration (@.050 in.): 196° intake / 206° exhaust
• Cylinder Heads (P/N 12558060): Vortec iron; 64-cc chambers
• Valve Size (in.): 1.940 intake / 1.500 exhaust
• Compression Ratio: 9.1:1
• Rocker Arms (P/N 10089648): Stamped steel
• Rocker Arm Ratio: 1.5:1
• Water Pump (P/N 88894341): Cast iron
• Recommended Fuel: Regular pump
• Ignition Timing: 32° Total @ 4,000 rpm
• Maximum Recommended rpm: 5000
• Balanced: External
• Oil pan with partial windage tray and baffles

Hot Rod managed to bump the already respectable 323HP and 444 ft-lb of torque to 460hp and 500 ft-lb of torque with a few bolt on parts and some dyno time...
Not sure what their mods do to your ability to just pull up to any pump and fill up with cheap gas tho.
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/gm-ht383-crate-small-block-tune-up/

 

[bucket]

882's are ok if the budget is real strict. Sounds like it's not though.

 

[Squarehead1984]

There are companies like Edelbrock that make top end kits that the heads, cam and intake are matched together. Makes for easy buying.

The cam you have is tiny so low end torque is what you will get.

I’ve never bought anything from blueprint engines so I have no idea the quality and I’m not promoting them but about 2200 or so will get you an assembled shortblock ready to bolt stuff on. Your small cam and the right heads and intake will make for an awesome burnout machine!!!

 

[4WDKC]

Can I ask why you want to use this cam with a 383?

 

[HotRodPC]

I'd go with iron head equivalent, aluminum dissipates heat while iron retains heat, and chamber heat=power...

True, all depends on what you're doing and compression ratio too. With aluminum because it does dissipate heat, you can run another 1 point higher in compression and still run pump gas since combustion chamber temp is cooler and can be helpful too if squeezing some N20 and not have to back off the timing as much. For a naturally aspirated daily driven street truck, not a thing wrong with iron heads.

 

[74 Shortbed]

True, all depends on what you're doing and compression ratio too. With aluminum because it does dissipate heat, you can run another 1 point higher in compression and still run pump gas since combustion chamber temp is cooler and can be helpful too if squeezing some N20 and not have to back off the timing as much. For a naturally aspirated daily driven street truck, not a thing wrong with iron heads.

Kinda makes it a draw there, lol.. But on a DD the iron is a better way to go, IMO..

 

[HotRodPC]

Kinda makes it a draw there, lol.. But on a DD the iron is a better way to go, IMO..

Yep, I can go for that.

 

[paulrowe]

Is this cam too small for a 383? I just thought it would make excellent torque. It's a 4x4 truck I use for towing and light off road use.

 

[Snoots]

Not being a dick, but take that crank to a competent engine builder/ machinist and have it checked. Don’t just toss it in.

If you're going to keep the crank, I'd suggest that you have it magnafluxed, the oil holes cross-drilled and chamfered as well as balancing, shot-peening, heat treated...all that good stuff. It'll all pay you back well in the long run.
You can run 9.5 compression with 87 octane with no problems. For a DD and torque, irons heads will fit the bill. Polish the chamber and port match 'em. Smooth out the exhaust ports, yadda yadda...

 

[4WDKC]

Is this cam too small for a 383? I just thought it would make excellent torque. It's a 4x4 truck I use for towing and light off road use.

It's not a bad cam just not ideal, the rpm range that is stated is based on a 350 ci, a 383 will move it down about 300 rpm so the range would like 300-4300, personally I dont like RPM range that stop before 5k. I understand it wont be used in that range but should you ever need it it will be there. Going to a cam that is a couple sizes bigger would help with cranking pressures and give you a more usable rpm range. Ideally youre supposed to have heads and compression figured out before selecting the cam to make the combination match.

 

[hirschdalechevy]

4wdkc is spot on ^^^^^^

I will give you my 2 cent's , (my last 383 in my k-10), big block guy now.

Scat crank and rods , 22cc d-dish pistons , 0 deck , .041 head gaskets , afr 180 heads , comp 268h cam , with all the other bolt on's , quench motor. Simply bad ass pump gas small block for a truck.

Decking the block will insure that the block on all four corner's of the block are the same distance from the main bearing centerline , (good thing) and you can get your pistons to 0 deck, (stock is like .020 down or so). At this point flat top piston's are to high of compression so you need a d-dish piston. With a 64cc head and a 22cc dish you will be at 9.2 to 9.3 to 1 with a .041 head gasket ,(perfect quench), which will stop pinging and detonation issue's.

Heads , I am an afr aluminum head fan but the vortec,s seem to be the way to go for iron and summit has them for cheap that can handle up to .500 lift cam's , (your choice).

As far as a cam you need to pick out something that works with you compression, head flow number's and cubic inches. I think in my k-10 383 I could have put a little more cam in it than a 268h , because it had tons of torque but I think with those heads it could have ran out much more,(not that it was bad anyway).

I think that if you built a 9.2 to 1, 0 deck, quench motor with good heads , (vortec or aluminum) , 383 , I would step up the cam to the 12-239-3 4x4 cam.

It's all about cylinder pressure , which is controlled by the static compression and the cam , then head flow comes into play.

Do your leg work and your 383 will be over the top, hope this help's

 

[paulrowe]

Ok guys thanks for the good advise. I'm going to order a pair of vortecs and I'll deffinatly look into another cam. The 383 has been an after thought. I was going to build a 350 origanly but when I took the engine apart the crank was all rusty and somebody did a crap job polishing the rods, that's when I decided to just get a new rotating assembly. Also the pistons were .100 domes. Ive got a few blocks around so ill probably usr the cam and 882 heads to build a mild 350 and sell it.

 

[paulrowe]

Would this cam on a 355 with 882 heads make a pretty good towing motor? If so I'm sure my brother could use it anyway.