350 Rebuild

[CG]

I have no idea what kind of views this side of the board gets but it looks like this is the place to post.

I gave my son a 350 4bolt engine out of a truck to put in the 69 panel he bought from me. Now I know you can probably buy an engine these days with a warranty for less than it takes to build one. But he really wants to do one by himself with a little bit of advice from here and there.

He has never built an engine and its something I cant give him any good advice on. So he is looking on the Summit web sight for engine rebuild kits. Its a virgin block and he's looking to have it overbored to have a semi lumpy 383 when hes done.

Any advice on what engine rebuild assemblies to get via Summit would be greatly appreciated.

He wants all new and only keeping the block. He's undecided on whether he wants to spend the dough on aluminum aftermarket heads or have his machined and do the assembly himself.

Again, he really wants to do the entire rebuild himself, he realizes there are better ways to go, he really wants the experience and to say he did this.

[mongocanfly]

hes wanting to build a 383 out of a 350 ?....does he have all the needed parts to do it or is he planning on buying everything in a kit?..
I would go alum head no doubt
for gaskets I like felpro..
never used a summit rebuild kit before though

[CG]

He has no parts. He is looking to Summit at their different kit assemblies. He's in the planning stages right now.

He is looking more for the experience of building an entire engine for the first time. Just wants to be sure he picks the right parts.

If anyone has a better place to buy the assemblies he is open. Ive only used Summit myself for buying the majority of anything I needed automotive online. Used Rock Auto one time.

[geezer#99]

Has he got the required engine stand?
Tools and especially a torque wrench.
Clean dry place to work.
Has he got the first thing he needs. A book on how to rebuild your sbc.
Just buying a kit won’t do it.
A kit is good if you’re rebuilding stock.

[Captainfab]

You can certainly buy a kit for building a 383. Summit is good for quality parts. I would also check with Northern Auto Parts, Falcon Global and KMJ Performance.

[truckster]

If he's building a 383 any work that goes into the stock heads would be a waste of money. My best advice is to find a machine shop that's got a good reputation and have him have a chat with the machinist.

[CG]

He has mist of the tools he needs and will purchase what he doesn’t. I gave him my how to build a small block book.

I told him to talk to his machine shop before making any purchases

[garyd1961]

Nothing against a 383 but I think I would build a 350 for a first engine rebuild. He can basically use the original engine as a pattern to go by and add cam , heads and intake. He need to learn the basics first and he can always build a stroker in the future.

[Rick Bollinger]

I got the Eagle rotating assy. And the eldelbrock 338 hp top end kit. All matched components all work together. I did have my machine shop assemble it. They will have to machine and clearance the block. I ended up with a little over 400 hp and 460+ torque. Around 10:1 compression with the 64cc heads you could lower the compression a bit by going with the 72cc heads.
https://www.edelbrock.com/e-street-t...hevy-2038.html
You could even have them assemble the short block and you do the cam heads ect. Why I liked doing it this way was I knew what kind of shape the block was in and exactly what parts was going into it. And could stop by from time to time and check progress.

[AussieinNC]

Apart from normal rebuilding processes, pumping a 350 to 383 will require the lower end of each cylinder to be clearance ground away to provide clearance for the connecting rods and nuts / bolts.

Check out the following link for a better idea....

https://blog.k1technologies.com/how-...ker-crankshaft

Depending on the actual engine out of the "truck" there may be other areas that require close attention....

If this was my sons first engine build, I would be recommending a later model single piece rear main oil seal, factory hydraulic roller cam 350 with some aftermarket heads....

[Warrens69GMC]

For heads consider AFR enforcer heads, 477ea at summit

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...oaAkLVEALw_wcB

[truckster]

Originally Posted by AussieinNC

If this was my sons first engine build, I would be recommending a later model single piece rear main oil seal, factory hydraulic roller cam 350 with some aftermarket heads...

I agree with this thought. It's not as sexy as a 383, but a Vortec 350 with the right cam will put out 330 HP and 400 lb-ft of torque, and it's going to last for a long, long time.

[Rick Bollinger]

Aussie Nice article on how to clearance a block. Given the price to turn a crank. rebuild rods a 383 rotating assy is not more than a couple hundred bucks higher. It will come with all correct bearings ect. The machine shop will do all the grinding for you and from there assembly is the same. They will just need the rotating assembly or have them order it.

[Rick Bollinger]

It is all what CG wants to do with the truck. Daily driver or work truck just go from there. I am just a couple of years from retiring and I want to be able to hook up my 28 foot camper at any moment and go wear ever I want. Thats why I went with a 383. lots of low end grunt, pump gas, stock torque converter, OD trans and Fi tech. Without going big block. For a daily or no trailer truck maybe just a 350.

[Captainfab]

Starting with a L31 Vortec 350 would be perfect. The reciepe is already out there to build one into a 383. Just look up the specs on the GM HT383 crate engine.

[Tom]

The whole "all new parts" makes it seem more like he's assembling an engine not building one. That being said, I like Scat for rotating assembly parts.

Or he can just re-used the rods after new bolts, throw a scat9000 crank in there, and spend the money on good heads so he actually enjoys what he just made. Just my opinion.

[garyd1961]

My suggestion would be to start with a hydraulic roller block and instead spending money on a 383 use the money to buy better heads. A 350 with good heads is better than a 383 with so so heads.

[weq92f]

.

Whatever he builds, the kid's gonna have FUN!

-klb

[CG]

I had him talk to a local guy that's more into "building" engines than I am and he has talked him down like several of you have said. So now he's going to just stay mostly stock. He does not want to buy a ready to go engine, he wants to build/assemble it himself. Its an experience thing he's going for.

[garyd1961]

I would put my money in a good set of aluminum heads or at least vortec heads, both will really make a difference in power. I would stay away from a lumpy cam unless you are building a hotrod. You need the right torque converter and gears for a lumpy cam plus it moves your power up in the higher rpm range away from where you need it.

[mattfranklin]

As far as specs, I've really enjoyed the Richard Holdener YouTube channel. He tests the combinations and shares the dyno results. I'm very familiar with engine theory and RH is the real deal. If you're thinking about a combination, he's probably already tested it and compared it to competing combinations.

[nikwho]

There's nothing wrong with an old gen one SBC. And your son wants a 383. No reason to talk him out of that! With the availability of sub $1,000 balanced rotating assemblies (Eagle and Scat), I don't think that I will ever assemble another SBC with a stock stroke. Sounds like he had the right book. Find the machine shop that he will use, develop a plan with the machinist. Then, your son can disassemble the entire deal and take the block in to the machine shop. Have them inspect the block to see what over bore you require. Once you know the bore that you need to be at, you can purchase the rotating assembly. Clearance for rods, and its very easy to assemble. I've assembled 8 so far. The only failures that I've had were from engines that I didn't assemble, including two crate engines.

So, I would absolutely support your son in this venture! Don't let anyone talk him out of it! This is how hot rodders are made and how this knowledge is passed on to younger generations. Any snags that you guys hit can easily be addressed here, or with your machinist. Tell the machine shop that you plan to do the assembly. If your son is into this stuff, every tool that you'll need, he will likely use again!

[garyd1961]

Originally Posted by nikwho

There's nothing wrong with an old gen one SBC. And your son wants a 383. No reason to talk him out of that! With the availability of sub $1,000 balanced rotating assemblies (Eagle and Scat), I don't think that I will ever assemble another SBC with a stock stroke. Sounds like he had the right book. Find the machine shop that he will use, develop a plan with the machi7nist. Then, your son can disassemble the entire deal and take the block in to the machine shop. Have them inspect the block to see what over bore you require. Once you know the bore that you need to be at, you can purchase the rotating assembly. Clearance for rods, and its very easy to assemble. I've assembled 8 so far. The only failures that I've had were from engines that I didn't assemble, including two crate engines.

So, I would absolutely support your son in this venture! Don't let anyone talk him out of it! This is how hot rodders are made and how this knowledge is passed on to younger generations. Any snags that you guys hit can easily be addressed here, or with your machinist. Tell the machine shop that you plan to do the assembly. If your son is into this stuff, every tool that you'll need, he will likely use again!

Never said there was anything wrong with a 383 been there and done that myself. I'm saying a 350 with a good set of heads is better than a 383 with 882s or even camel humps. If you got the money for the machine work and good aluminum heads go for the 383 by all means. Just don't forget we are talking about a kid and his first motor build though.
I still would start with a roller block. Why put all the money and effort into a motor with a flat tappet cam when you can have a hydraulic roller for another hundred bucks.

[Myself]

It's a lot about matching up the parts for a good combo as well. You can throw any old parts on a 406 smallblock but if they're not matched up well then don't be surprised when an '87 Camaro with a 305 goes flying past you! I have a 305 in my old daily driver that will put the hurt on ANY other 305 around here and most of the 350's too. The last 350 I built was 10.5:1 compression with ported 305 HO iron heads. When I sold that old truck the buyer stated he could NOT believe how well that engine ran. I use a desktop dyno type program to input all my parts to get the perfect matchup. It makes a HUGE difference. For instance in my old daily with the 305....it has dual 2 1/4" exhaust. If I were to go dual 2 1/2" exhaust the program showed a LOSS of 30ft lb of torque! Let the boy build whatever he wants but a well matched up combo is key.

[nikwho]

I would prefer a solidly built 383 short block with an Eagle or Scat rotating assembly and garbage, poor flowing GM heads, than a stock short block with a $2,000 set of AFR heads. I would invest as much as I could in the short block (Gen 1, LT1, Vortec, whatever it may be), as the top end is easily upgradable in the future. Build it with a plan, regarding camshaft, intake, head, compression, etc. and you can do it in steps.

Good luck with your build!

Nik