[newbie]

Hi guys, I am a 22 year old newbie here and did do a search but i still have questions. I am building my first street rod and to be honest i dont know a hell of alot about matching the parts. I bought most of the parts from a guy that was retiring from racing. I dont want to assemble it only to have it fall on its face because the parts are not matched correctly. The short block i have has a balanced forged assembly, The heads are a set of slightly used dart pro1 aluminum heads 215 cc 205/160 that should produce 10.5 to 1 compression. I have both a preformer rpm intake as well as a victor jr. I have a set of solid roller lifters and full roller rockers (No cam yet) And a holly DP750 with vac sec. What i need help with is choosing which intake to use as well as a cam to suite my needs. Its going in a 84 camaro with a turbo 400 tranny 3500 stall and posi 373 rear. What i want is something with ALOT of torque, something that will really fry the tires yet be able to drive it on the street. The cam really doesnt have to be a solid roller but seeing as i already have the lifters as well as the rockers my thinking was i may as well use them. Can anyone suggest the best intake out of the 2 i have as well as suggest a cam that will work with what i have?? Is 3500 stall to much for the street?? Can anyone give me any tips on any of the above that will help me?? Thanks in advance

[billman]

With the hardware you listed, you're looking at an engine that can handle a pretty tall cam, one that can be too much for the street, especially with a 3500 stall converter. If I were you, and I know you want to save money, I'm afraid those roller lifters have to go, especially if they are used. Used lifters of any type on a new cam are a no-no because worn lifters will not break in the cam profile properly. Buy a new hydraulic cam with some high rev lifters. You CAN mix and match manufacturers as long as the parts are NEW. Take a look at P.A.W. for some good deals, but NO regrinds! they have a reduced base circle that will affect valvetrain geometry. With those heads, gears, and converter/tranny combo... let's see... probably something in the low 300's for duration and around .500 lift with no more than 112 degrees of lobe separation should be an eyeball-flattener. But DON'T make the common mistake of running a stock HEI ignition!! The advance curve is difficult to change and will not complement the cam/heads/gears combination. My personal favorite is the Mallory YL Unilite mechanical advance. That one gives 32 degrees out of the box, and there's a graduated tab inside that you can bend to get more. I set mine up with 8 initial and 34 inside for 42 total and it's all in by 3600 RPM. Sweet. Makes for a real screamer, and the throttle response is like firing a .357 down a tube. Use a SINGLE plane intake with this setup so that all the ports have equal access at high RPM. I'm kind of against the Victor jr. though, it's too peaky and doesn't come on until about 4500 or so. I prefer Weiand manifolds, they have a different plenum design (that's the space under the carb inside the manifold). Whatever manifold you choose, you will want to play around with the amount of spacing under the carb. This will make a BIG difference if you get it right. My guess is your combo will like a 1/2 inch spacer, but try 3/8 and 1 inch also if you can. These are a dime a dozen at auto swaps.
One more thing-- if those rocker arms are used, turn them over take a look at the wear in the pushrod cup. If it's more than half way into the hole (less if you ask me) they are too worn to run.
Good luck, and good hunting.

[Kevin45]

Hi guys, I am a 22 year old newbie here

Profile says 36!!!

BTW...this was found in our Knowledge Base http://www.prestage.com/db/get_blocks.asp]CLICK HERE[/URL] Scroll down to the bottom and you will see some info on building a 383

Kevin

[newbie]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kevin45
[B]

Profile says 36!!! OOps, sorry, must have clicked wrong date, will correct this. Thanks for the links as well as the advise.

[1BAD80]

108 different way's to build a 383 with dyno info.
http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html

[lluciano77]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by billman
[B]With the hardware you listed, you're looking at an engine that can handle a pretty tall cam, one that can be too much for the street, especially with a 3500 stall converter. If I were you, and I know you want to save money, I'm afraid those roller lifters have to go, especially if they are used. Used lifters of any type on a new cam are a no-no because worn lifters will not break in the cam profile properly.

Roller lifters can be re-used untill they are worn out. Even if you changed cams every day for 10 years. I've thought about running a solid roller on the street but it one of those grey areas where you have to decide between power and reliability. Solid rollers put more stress on the valvetrain and that could cause more wear. They run a higher risk of something failing causing widespread damage. They also the most power of all the types of cams.

I run a hydraulic roller on my Ford. It has a nice idle, makes a ton of power, and revs like crazy. The ramps are a little less agressive than a solid roller.