383 Project

471 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by AutoGear, 10 d ago

jjjaffo

Discussion Starter · 14 d ago

So I'm about to build a 383 sbc for the first time. I have never owned one or been in a car that had one. Because of that I'm not sure how to cam it. This is going in a 1980 El Camino with a th350 and a 3.08 rear gear with a 27" tall tire. This is not a drag race car and won't see the strip. This is something I just want to get in and drive anywhere. ( hence the 3.08 gear ). I was thinking somewhere in the 220-224* @.050" duration area. I was looking at just shy of 10 to 1 comp. with 64CC aluminum heads. I figure it should be drunk with torque and very street friendly with that duration. I know a lot of you folks would go bigger, but for a nice street cruiser is the duration still too small?

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'49 Ford Coupe

· #2 · 14 d ago

Take a look at CompCam CL-12-211-2 Magnum 270H grind. I chose to go flat lifter on my 383 build.. used a 2400 RPM lockup converter on my 700R4. It's got loads of torqy starting at around 1,300 RPM.. I don't think I've had it any higher than 4,000 RPM since I built the car. I made the selection off of Comp cams website where you input all sorts of data to make the selection and it turned out really nice..

On my website the first gallery gives you an idea of what it sounds like Plus if you then also scroll down to building the engine you can see what all went into it.. over 3,000 pictures and videos on my site... keep us posted!

PaulsPics

Check out how to build a classic 1949 Ford street rod with modern features and power and convenience you never thought possible. With a 383 SBC Stroker engine, S-10 front frame, Jaguar XJS/XJ6 rear end, air conditioned, power brakes, and power steering.

49fordcoupe.smugmug.com

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2001Blazer4x4

· #3 · 14 d ago (Edited)

I had a Comp XE274H in my 383 originally. It was a really good street cam in a 383 with AFR 195 65 cc heads and flat tops (10.3:1). As I understand it, the roller version of this cam is even better. Probably could use more torque converter, but if your not racing it should have plenty of power for street tires.

Remember that better heads make more power at lower RPM with less cam. It's 475 flywheel or so with the AFR heads. Subtact up to 100 hp, depending on what heads you end up with.

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bjf66

· #4 · 14 d ago

I’m across the ditch down under, however when I was building 350” and went with hydraulic roller setup asked cam grinder for recommendation and ended up getting a spec cam for approx us$70 more than purchasing from catalogue off the big boys
Of coarse stuff over here is more expensive than in USA

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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jjjaffo

Discussion Starter · #5 · 14 d ago

'49 Ford Coupe said:
Take a look at CompCam CL-12-211-2 Magnum 270H grind. I chose to go flat lifter on my 383 build.. used a 2400 RPM lockup converter on my 700R4. It's got loads of torqy starting at around 1,300 RPM.. I don't think I've had it any higher than 4,000 RPM since I built the car. I made the selection off of Comp cams website where you input all sorts of data to make the selection and it turned out really nice..

On my website the first gallery gives you an idea of what it sounds like Plus if you then also scroll down to building the engine you can see what all went into it.. over 3,000 pictures and videos on my site... keep us posted!

PaulsPics

Check out how to build a classic 1949 Ford street rod with modern features and power and convenience you never thought possible. With a 383 SBC Stroker engine, S-10 front frame, Jaguar XJS/XJ6 rear end, air conditioned, power brakes, and power steering.

49fordcoupe.smugmug.com

I actually have run the 270 magnum hydraulic flat tappet in my old 402 BBC. Had it in an 84 Cutlass with 3.42 gears and could just boil the tires at will. All around fun cam in that engine.

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Moosecountry

· #6 · 14 d ago

comp has a new diamond face lifter, maybe be the first to try it and give us a review. if solid flat is ok with you then 228º is on a 112º separation would be nice.
750 cfm of F.I./ dual plane, 1 5/8 or 1 3/4'' long tube primary pipes look at isky Z-20 cam for a strong 5500 rpm engine

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nyceguy01

· #7 · 13 d ago

With more cubes in a 383 you can step it up a little.
I like a hyd roller with 230/236 duration @ .050.
Will still be good on bottom with a 2400ish stall converter. Will be making good torque below there.
Youre gearing is a little tall but with a 27" tire I would think it will still be good to go.

I have installed a set of the new comp lifters and they looked good but thruthfully, Ive broken in several flat tappets in the last few years and never had a single issue, figured it was cheap insurance though.

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AutoGear

· #8 · 12 d ago

Dads 383 is a 10:1, 5500rpm max, 6-inch rod deal with Profiler aluminum heads and shorty headers.
Mike Jones spec'd a couple cams for it; the one Dad settled on was a 224/228 with .340 lift at the valve (I and E) and its ground on a 110.

The car is ~3500pds and has a custom M22Z (2.98 1st/2.04 2nd/ 1.46 3rd/1.00 4th) with a new 3.08 in a narrowed 10bolt and 28" tall tires. He has an 800cfm AVS-2 on an Airgap. He cruises at 2200-2400.

The thing idles like a stock 350. He could have stuffed a lot more duration in it. Its so mild my mom told him to do something about it

Mike Jones cams make a truckload of power for their relatively mild specs. Im not sure what the magic is; but it is night and day different than some of the other stuff Ive been around.

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Moosecountry

· #9 · 12 d ago

1.88 n 1.36 would be better gear ratios imo
or better yet for the price use a 5 sp

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AutoGear

· #10 · 11 d ago

No to the 5 speed, the car was bought by him in 1968 and was a 4spd by 1970. Its on its 3rd iteration and the 2200rpm is sufficient for what he does with the car (carb and distributor); not to mention the available (at the time) TKO had a 2-3 shift that he absolutely detests. I offered to buy him a TKO from Bob Hanlon, he said no.

To the 2.99/188/136 : Auto Gear has those ratios now. The modular countershaft makes that possible. At the time, the program was still in its infancy. Dads 4spd is actually a pre-cursor to the 23 program. Its an M22z modular cluster test bunny. He really enjoys the "geometric gear spacing" (even amounts of RPM drop across the board) as it feels similar to the original M21 he had in the car from 1970 - 2019. Also, when we did the changeover to the 22Z, he still had his 327 in the car and in my experience with 283s and 327s on the street:
a) the shorter drop 1 - 2 for fun on the street
b) the equidistant gear drops are comfortable to many musclecar era drivers
c) "more" 2nd and 3rd gear (compared to the -346 ratio 1.88/1.35) would offset the lack of C.I. on the street

Heck he's done open-track days at watkins glen (2hr drive, the event and 2hrs home) with the "wrong" 3rd gear and had a blast with no shifting issues.

Our own esteemed BigGearHead (Freddie) had this specific ratio on the 23 platform, we changed to the better 346 ratio (you're right; its statistically a better set of gears and lots of my drag racers see gains over a tenth by swapping, along with increased MPH) and he switched back to the original ratio. The nice thing is options. Dads happy, BGH is happy; I'm happy.

Moosecountry said:
1.88 n 1.36 would be better gear ratios imo
or better yet for the price use a 5 sp

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Moosecountry

· #11 · 11 d ago

I agree the 2-3 shift in tko 600 is difficult (I have one) but for road racing power shifting is not an issue. The new design tremec has fixed the 2-3 issue.
I changed mine from 2.73 rear gears with T-10 to 3.50 rear gears with .82 5th gear. Im 2000 rpm at 60 mph
Muncie costs more tham my TKO 600. Ive broken a few Muncies but admit they shift nice.
big gap on 3-4 shift with wide ratio
2.20 close ratio is not street friendly
D N makes a 5sp with 1:1 5th gear

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AutoGear

· #12 · 10 d ago

Back to 383s; the old-man mobile gets 20mpg; makes some of his buddies with self learn TBI's kinda mad

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