383 stroker?

If your'e worried about the fuel cost of the larger engine then maybe you should think about changing the tranny out for a 700R4 or a T-56 when you make the switch. The engine will bolt right in.

...Ron

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I was thinking about going with a manual transmission, after all, that's the time to do it, when the engine is out of the car...tell me more about those trannys you mentioned-- is it better to go with one of those, or a muncie 4 speeed? Thanks for the info-

I would imagine that this is not your daily driver... so how bad can it hurt to pay for the gas on the weekends.

Yeah, that's true, I don't use my old Camaro to commuting to work....but I don't want to have a car that's REAL bad on gas. I once owned a '68 GTO that had a built

I started with an '87 IROC, 305-5speed.

After getting beat by a '91 350 Z28, I upped that IROC to a 400+ hp TPI 383 that was an absolute torque monster. I backed it up with a T-56, Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and 373 gears.

On the open road between Houston and Austin, it ticked along at about 1750 RPM's at 65-to-70 mph in sixth gear. In your application, imagine the Muncie

I could drive from north Houston (Spring) to central Austin (+/- 140 miles) on a little less than a quarter tank, plus the notorious Camaro "top heavy" fuel guage that didn't register below 'full' for about 30 miles.

In a nutshell: do the conversion and go to some deeper gears to help your launches. It is worth the work, and the conversion isn't *that difficult. There is also tons of conversion kits to make it easier.

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-Donald in Austin

Thanks for the info, I think I'm going to go ahead and do this conversion. I could rebuild my 350, but you only live once, and this 383 stroker would be a heck of a lot of fun.

Terry

I was only pushing 9.7:1 compression, but spent a truckload on my heads. I could get real stupid, real quick. That engine is now in my youngest brother's '84 dually Chevy, running around Houston. It'll light up all four with ease.

Granted, bigger is always better, and a big block will *always* develop more power, but they are, obviously, a much larger, heavier package. Well built strokers are torque monsters, with all the benefits of the 350 package.

Trust me when I say you won't be disappointed. Once you go Stroker, you never go back....unless someone has an LT5 laying around.

-Donald in Austin

I decided to go with the 383 stroker in this Camaro, so I'm buying the engine today. I'll drive it for a while, and either keep it, or if it's just too much power, I should be able to sell it for more than it's worth now with a garden variety 350 in it.

There's plenty of 4 speeds out there to be had a fair prices and most of the ones that came out of compact cars that had V8's behind them will bolt right in. Meaning trannies that came out of Camaros, Novas, etc. The 5 and 6 speed varieties need are a little slightly different matter though. crossmembers will have to be moved and driveshafts will have to be altered. The good news if you are really interested in putting in an overdrive tranny is that there are kits out there that make them a bolt in swap. The T-56 6 speed is by far the strongest OD tranny that you would likely be using. Go to some of the message boards on sites like thirdgen.org, fbody.com, fbody.org, camaroZ28.com, camaroforum.com, pro-touring.com, etc. There's others and the spelling may not be correct on the ones I wrote above but you get the idea. Do plenty of research and I'm sure that you will find what you are looking for.

...Ron

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Sensible quoting would be a good place to start though.

There is no replacement for cubic displacement.

Or how about "size matters"?

Terry spilled my beer when they jumped on the table and proclaimed in

Tomato, tomaato. :)

NOI

The correct term is

There is no replacement, for displacement..

And

My fav..

Speed costs, how fast do you want to go?

That's from the original Mad Max movie. :)

NOI

I just got my Camaro back from the shop with the 383 installed. I think it was a 350 block bored out to a 383. I'm not sure about the rod length. Has a mild cam, aluminum intake, Edelbrock carb. It would be real interesting to go to fuel injection, that might be a good winter project. The engine only has about 50 miles on it, so it has to be broken in a little, it runs smooth but it's still real tight. If anyone has any suggestions about maximizing performance with this setup, let me know- Thanks, Terry

-Matt- "..."

Ya a 383 is a 350 block, cylinders bored to 4.030" with a 3.76" stroke. If the crank wasn't replaced, you don't have a 383. You can have a number of different rod lengths. Ther is no reason a 383 balanced and blueprinted with forged rotating assembly cannot live in the higher rpm range with doubled valve springs.