grumpyvette
Well-known member
I was asked to repost this info for the newer guys
Ive built dozens of 383 and 396 sbc engines and the clearancing can be done BY YOUR OWN HANDS with a standard HAND HELD drill and a few CARBIDE BURRS OR GRIND STONES in that drill in well under two hours if you take your time and total expence even if you need to buy that drill and burrs will be well under $50 total
http://www.click-onsource.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=OVAL_1-4_Shank
buy a 1/2" burr and a cheap drill
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20776&item=4358782476&rd=1
place you old bearings in the block an place the crank in those bearings after coating them with axle grease
slowly rotate the crank and grind a minimum of .060 clearance anywhere the counter weights might touch the block and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place it touches the block (use a JUMBO size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges)
next assemble two connecting rods and pistons, one connecting rod and piston for the left one connecting rod and piston for the right, use old bearings coated with axle grease and no rings on the pistons, assemble them to the crank and grind anyplace the rods touch the block, grind minimum of .060 clearance and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place the rods touche the block (use a LARGE size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges)move them to the next journal and repeat untill all 4 journals and 8 connecting rods clear. now assemble all eight rods and pistons without rings and install them in thier correct locations and recheck everthing carefully.
next intall the cam and index it correctly with the timeing chain/gears, rotate the engine slowly and look for clearance issues, between the cam and rods/rod bolts ,youll need to use a small base cam if there are major clearance issues and thats almost always a good idea when building a stroker combo but in most cases if your cams lift and duration is under about 230 at .05 and .500 lift there should be minor if any clearance issues, usually the outside edge of a rod bolt head is the only area needing a touch up.
once everything clears, wash all the parts VERY CAREFULLY ,TWICE and re-oil then send out to be ballanced now you might ask why do that! well, first youll know its done correctly, and that a correctly built 383 will have a very significant hp and torque advantage over any similar 327 or 350
be aware that a small base dia. cam might be required in some cases,it will depend on the rods and the cam combo you chose
http://www.bracketmasters.com/small_block_stroker_383_cu.htm
http://www.prewittracing.com/newpage2.htm
need a few pictures?
this may help
the comon areas are the area near the block oil pan rail where the rod bolts touch
and the lower inner cylinder walls and where the cam lobes touch the rod bolts upper shoulder on some types of rods, now you can,t grind on the cam, but you can grind the edge of the rod bolt and you can use a small base circle cam to give greater clearances
http://www.karl-ellwein.org/2005engineprojects/388project.htm
"What do you think about hard blocking the bottom inch of the block?"
hard block porded in the cylinder base area up to the level of the bottom of the freeze plugs has little effect on the cooling and adds significantly to cylinder strength on thin bore walls, so yeah! any time you exceed about a ..040 overbore its a good idea.
GOOD
http://store.summitracing.com/defau...&N=100&Ntk=PartSearch&Ntt=MOR-35571&x=19&y=11
MUCH BETTER, because it gets into the fine cracks and pores in the cast block surface, as its a liquid epoxy and holds far better than the basically structural concrete that moroso sells
http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterialText.asp?bassnum=PDEVCON05
Ive built dozens of 383 and 396 sbc engines and the clearancing can be done BY YOUR OWN HANDS with a standard HAND HELD drill and a few CARBIDE BURRS OR GRIND STONES in that drill in well under two hours if you take your time and total expence even if you need to buy that drill and burrs will be well under $50 total
http://www.click-onsource.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=OVAL_1-4_Shank
buy a 1/2" burr and a cheap drill
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20776&item=4358782476&rd=1
place you old bearings in the block an place the crank in those bearings after coating them with axle grease
slowly rotate the crank and grind a minimum of .060 clearance anywhere the counter weights might touch the block and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place it touches the block (use a JUMBO size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges)
next assemble two connecting rods and pistons, one connecting rod and piston for the left one connecting rod and piston for the right, use old bearings coated with axle grease and no rings on the pistons, assemble them to the crank and grind anyplace the rods touch the block, grind minimum of .060 clearance and try NOT to grind more than about .070 any place the rods touche the block (use a LARGE size paper clip as a gauge if you don,t have feeler gauges)move them to the next journal and repeat untill all 4 journals and 8 connecting rods clear. now assemble all eight rods and pistons without rings and install them in thier correct locations and recheck everthing carefully.
next intall the cam and index it correctly with the timeing chain/gears, rotate the engine slowly and look for clearance issues, between the cam and rods/rod bolts ,youll need to use a small base cam if there are major clearance issues and thats almost always a good idea when building a stroker combo but in most cases if your cams lift and duration is under about 230 at .05 and .500 lift there should be minor if any clearance issues, usually the outside edge of a rod bolt head is the only area needing a touch up.
once everything clears, wash all the parts VERY CAREFULLY ,TWICE and re-oil then send out to be ballanced now you might ask why do that! well, first youll know its done correctly, and that a correctly built 383 will have a very significant hp and torque advantage over any similar 327 or 350
be aware that a small base dia. cam might be required in some cases,it will depend on the rods and the cam combo you chose
http://www.bracketmasters.com/small_block_stroker_383_cu.htm
http://www.prewittracing.com/newpage2.htm
need a few pictures?
this may help
the comon areas are the area near the block oil pan rail where the rod bolts touch
and the lower inner cylinder walls and where the cam lobes touch the rod bolts upper shoulder on some types of rods, now you can,t grind on the cam, but you can grind the edge of the rod bolt and you can use a small base circle cam to give greater clearances
http://www.karl-ellwein.org/2005engineprojects/388project.htm
"What do you think about hard blocking the bottom inch of the block?"
hard block porded in the cylinder base area up to the level of the bottom of the freeze plugs has little effect on the cooling and adds significantly to cylinder strength on thin bore walls, so yeah! any time you exceed about a ..040 overbore its a good idea.
GOOD
http://store.summitracing.com/defau...&N=100&Ntk=PartSearch&Ntt=MOR-35571&x=19&y=11
MUCH BETTER, because it gets into the fine cracks and pores in the cast block surface, as its a liquid epoxy and holds far better than the basically structural concrete that moroso sells
http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterialText.asp?bassnum=PDEVCON05
