do you ever get so wrapped up in your projects engine , that you can,t step back and see that the costs don,t justify the results???
I just got thru reading a HOT ROD MAG engine build where they got 505hp/500 tq from a 383, they listed the parts(never mentioned the machine shop costs) and just the parts alone cost $6359.11 (and that assumed you had a block from a 350 your starting with as the block was not included in the price!!)now thats about what your average hot rodders going to spend ($5500-$7500)to get that power level if he builds a 383 sbc to 500hp, but being basically I big block guy at heart I stepped back and had to ask WHY??? WHY GO THRU THAT EFFORT and COST to get that result??and your still forgetting those machine shop costs and the potential screw-ups
remember thats about $6500
FOR ABOUT THE SAME MONEY YOU COULD BUY A BBC 502, SAME POWER BUT FAR MORE GROWTH POTENTIAL
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Ascripts/pricesdata.cgi
OR IF YOUR REALLY INTO SBCs,FOR JUST UNDER $7000 YOU COULD PURCHASE A 454 SBC ENGINE
http://ohiocrank.com/enginekits.html
THERES DOZENS OF OPTIONS, BUT THE MAIN POINT IS THAT IF THEY HAD STEPPED BACK AND LOOKED LONG AND HARD AT COST VS THE RESULTS......WELL ID SURE HAVE A 502 BBC or 454 sbc VS THAT 383 SBC
that was 500 flywheel hp in the HOT ROD MAG BUILD UP BTW
while I agree that a sbc can be fun....and impressive ,a bbc engine similarly built (TO the same power level PER CUBIC INCH) will almost always make the smaller engine car look silly, sorry but its just physics, lets say your 383 sbc camaro weights 3500 lbs and has 500hp thats 7 hp per lb... and 1.30 hp per cubic inch....if I install a 496 which ois the stroker version of a 454 much like a 383 is the stroker version of a 350- I have a 113 cubic inch advantage, and thats 147 extra hp at the same 1.30 hp per inch of displacement, sure I weight about 100 lbs more, or 3600 lbs, but Ive got 645 hp to move that 3600lbs.. or only 5.6lbs per hp to worry about accellerating, thats an advantage of about 20% in favor of the BBC combo
theres thousands of combos each engine could be built to,power adders etc. but the bottom line is that a larger displacement and better flowing heads on the bbc have advantages, and that its foolish to spend $7000 on a 383 if you could build a 454 sbc for about the same cost
all IM saying is step back and look at the cost vs results before diving into a project
lets assume you have a 1992-96 corvette and its got an LT1 engine, thats seen better days, you can buy a 396 displacement 450 hp replacement for about $9000
OR
but personally I can,t even imagine spending $9000 on an LT1 if I could buy a 454 sbc for $7000 or a 500hp bbc for $6500
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevyBi ... assem.html
but then swapping in either engine for your LT1 would be reasonably easy and especially in the case of the 454SBC the swaps almost a drop in deal
http://ohiocrank.com/enginekits.html
http://www.lt1intake.com/
and where your current LT1 injection can be adapted to the 454 sbc engine
its NOT a direct bolt up but THE LT1 intake CAN BE EASILY ADAPTED TO FIT THE EARLIER STYLE heads and ADAPTED to use a DISTRIB IGNITION
go to that LT1 INTAKE site and ask questions
http://www.lt1intake.com/files/faq.html
the point is theres OPTIONS,think them thru before spending your money and your not married to the original block/engine
NEVER DIVE HEAD FIRST INTO A PROJECT WITHOUT DOING SOME BASIC RESEARCH ON PARTS AVAILABILITY AND PRODUCT SUPPORT, BUT IF YOUR REALLY DETERMINED ALMOST ANYTHING CAN BE MADE TO WORK IF YOU WANT TO THROW ENOUGH TIME AND MONEY INTO THE PROJECT
I just got thru reading a HOT ROD MAG engine build where they got 505hp/500 tq from a 383, they listed the parts(never mentioned the machine shop costs) and just the parts alone cost $6359.11 (and that assumed you had a block from a 350 your starting with as the block was not included in the price!!)now thats about what your average hot rodders going to spend ($5500-$7500)to get that power level if he builds a 383 sbc to 500hp, but being basically I big block guy at heart I stepped back and had to ask WHY??? WHY GO THRU THAT EFFORT and COST to get that result??and your still forgetting those machine shop costs and the potential screw-ups
remember thats about $6500
FOR ABOUT THE SAME MONEY YOU COULD BUY A BBC 502, SAME POWER BUT FAR MORE GROWTH POTENTIAL
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Ascripts/pricesdata.cgi
OR IF YOUR REALLY INTO SBCs,FOR JUST UNDER $7000 YOU COULD PURCHASE A 454 SBC ENGINE
http://ohiocrank.com/enginekits.html
THERES DOZENS OF OPTIONS, BUT THE MAIN POINT IS THAT IF THEY HAD STEPPED BACK AND LOOKED LONG AND HARD AT COST VS THE RESULTS......WELL ID SURE HAVE A 502 BBC or 454 sbc VS THAT 383 SBC
that was 500 flywheel hp in the HOT ROD MAG BUILD UP BTW
while I agree that a sbc can be fun....and impressive ,a bbc engine similarly built (TO the same power level PER CUBIC INCH) will almost always make the smaller engine car look silly, sorry but its just physics, lets say your 383 sbc camaro weights 3500 lbs and has 500hp thats 7 hp per lb... and 1.30 hp per cubic inch....if I install a 496 which ois the stroker version of a 454 much like a 383 is the stroker version of a 350- I have a 113 cubic inch advantage, and thats 147 extra hp at the same 1.30 hp per inch of displacement, sure I weight about 100 lbs more, or 3600 lbs, but Ive got 645 hp to move that 3600lbs.. or only 5.6lbs per hp to worry about accellerating, thats an advantage of about 20% in favor of the BBC combo
theres thousands of combos each engine could be built to,power adders etc. but the bottom line is that a larger displacement and better flowing heads on the bbc have advantages, and that its foolish to spend $7000 on a 383 if you could build a 454 sbc for about the same cost
all IM saying is step back and look at the cost vs results before diving into a project
lets assume you have a 1992-96 corvette and its got an LT1 engine, thats seen better days, you can buy a 396 displacement 450 hp replacement for about $9000
OR
but personally I can,t even imagine spending $9000 on an LT1 if I could buy a 454 sbc for $7000 or a 500hp bbc for $6500
http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/ChevyBi ... assem.html
but then swapping in either engine for your LT1 would be reasonably easy and especially in the case of the 454SBC the swaps almost a drop in deal
http://ohiocrank.com/enginekits.html
http://www.lt1intake.com/
and where your current LT1 injection can be adapted to the 454 sbc engine
its NOT a direct bolt up but THE LT1 intake CAN BE EASILY ADAPTED TO FIT THE EARLIER STYLE heads and ADAPTED to use a DISTRIB IGNITION
go to that LT1 INTAKE site and ask questions
http://www.lt1intake.com/files/faq.html
the point is theres OPTIONS,think them thru before spending your money and your not married to the original block/engine
NEVER DIVE HEAD FIRST INTO A PROJECT WITHOUT DOING SOME BASIC RESEARCH ON PARTS AVAILABILITY AND PRODUCT SUPPORT, BUT IF YOUR REALLY DETERMINED ALMOST ANYTHING CAN BE MADE TO WORK IF YOU WANT TO THROW ENOUGH TIME AND MONEY INTO THE PROJECT