LUVTruck.com

Actually, my next motor is going to either be a 481 like that or a... get ready for this.... 500" SBC. the only problem with motors like this is you HAVE to go with a non-standard valve angle or the motor won't work to its potential. There really is no 23* head in existence that will flow good enough for even a moderately built 500 incher. so some day.... after i take out a second mortgage on the house.... 500" SBC with 14* heads.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

great googa mooga!!! you cant be serious?!?!

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"but its that gut feeling of you're drawn to what feels right for yourself and what you're passionate about..."

I thought it was going in the LUV?

So what would be a good motor to start with? What I mean is, is there a kit that is relatively problem free and not that exotic? I guess what I'm asking is, what would be the biggest you would go with 23 degree heads?

As it stands right now, the LUV is set up pretty clean with the 400. In fact, i cant get the truck to hook up solid with the power it has now. Adding more power to it will only compound the problem. It's a slick little missile as it is right now and im having lots of fun with it.
I'd like to get another vehicle for the 383. Something i can fit in to better plus i want a clutch. I'm thinking along the lines of a mid-70's Chevy or older. Parts are easier to find and not much modifications are needed compaired to a LUV.
Unless i have a catastrophic failure with the 400. The 383 will take its place. But that seems unlikely because i think i got that motor put together really solid and it's running great!

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

the 400's will hold together well if they are built right. I have 5 season(closer to 4 and a half) on a 406 (400 block) making over 500HP (531 when originally built) and for the first 2 or 3 years of its life it had a 180HP nitrous plate on it. For the past 2 seasons i guess the bottle hasn't been touched and the plate is now off the motor completely. This is in my 79 LUV that is a full time drag truck. Its held together and i hope to get through another season on the motor. But with how it has held up and with the proper maintainance I have no reason to think i will blow this puppy up. But next off season she is getting a slight bore and new heads (most likely a new more radical roller cam too) and i am looking for 600HP with that setup. But if your 400 is built right it will run a long time as long as it is maintained well

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79 luv drag truck
2 skidoos
2 quads
badass duramax diesel

500 cid sbc?? How do you get that many cubes? non-standard block I assume?

I guess the point of my post is that if you order from speedomotive or a similar place, you pay them x dollars for a balanced short block. If somewhere in the process of the build they find a part is defective then they get a different part to complete the build correctly (at no additional cost to you) because YOU paid for a balanced short block. They have to do whatever they have to do to get you that bottom end you paid for.

As far as clearancing the rod bolts for the cam, Welcome to the world of strokers! thats almost a given on one of these builds... along with notching the bottom of the cylinders, sometimes notching the oil pan rail, massaging the oil pan, etc. . another option would be to order a smaller base circle "stroker" cam shaft or outright ordering stroker rods that come with more clearance in that area. I understand the timing/bad timing of doing one of these engine builds because i think about that every time i dive into one. and basically what I've come up with is that financially... there is NEVER a good time for me to build a motor so i may as well just get started today!. Whatever you do, dont get discouraged and scrap the project completely. Stroker motors take a little more planning than your regular 350 motor build.
Make the engine shop to deal with the headaches and you will get your motor done a lot sooner

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

btw the 481 motor kit is CHEAP as 481 kits go. They also have "budget stroker" kits on their list too.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

I checked in with the speed shop to get my replacement crank and found that Eagle had sent an un-balanced crankshaft. That got sent back and i waited a few days and recieved a correct unit. The rods were reworked and balanced by the machine shop to provide clearance at the cam. Mickey Reed took care of the rods and didn't bill me a dime! Now everything is at the machine shop and hopefully everything will fit cleanly.
I got to say that Im not too impressed with the way Eagle handles their affairs. But on the other end, Mickey at Heintz Performance South in Hardeeville SC has gone out of his way to make things right.

And LUVSADRAG, I was referring to the fact that someone comes along with a different solution after you've commited yourself to a specific gameplan. I'm not familiar with speedmotive engine kits. If i was aware of that fact beforehand, it could have made an influence on my plans. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

Heads that can flow displacement like that is definitely a challenge I went with Pro Topline heads as they advertise the biggest numbers and then I had one of the best cylinder head porters in my area open them until they broke thru into bolt holes, etc. (and then he welded over where he broke thru and sleeved the bolt holes. Even then I've been told my the head porter that that my heads will be holding the motor back. the next option on 23* heads is to weld up the pushrod areas, use offset lifters and jesel rockers. Tack about another $4K onto the motor for that. the 450 kit really isnt any more exotic that a 383 or 421. just different numbers. its hard to say but IMO the displacement limit before having to go to jessel rockers or a different valve angle, etc is truly about 415-421" .my 450 isn't working to its full potential and never will until i change valve angles or go to Jessel valvetrain.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Yes most definitely an aftermarket block and about 3K worth of block prep (clearancing, notching, removing unnecessary material) 3.85 stroke (421-426) is the limit for a factory Chevy 400 block.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Just out of curiosity, if you're already running a 400 then why are you stepping down to a 383? a 400 (or 406) is that much bigger with the same magic 3.75" stroke. the only disadvantage to a 400 is if it still has the stock 5.56 rods which makes for a crappy rod/stroke ratio (1.48 i think).

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

Not sure if this is an issue for any of you guys, but I guess you need to run a really good oil pan when you're going to mega stroke cranks, not to mention the cranks need alot of profiling all in effort to help avoid the crank actualy "siphoning" the oil out of the pan and drying out the sump from so much windage..

I have pondered going to a 421/434, but I have shy'ed away just due to the black magic required to keep them well lubricated. A guy i know is going for round #5 at getting his 450something back together, had to buy new headers to clear the huge kick out pan. Also im not a big fan of vacuum pumps on these big strokers, and if you do, keep the vacuum below 11 inches so you dont agrivate the 'suck the sump dry' issue.. Maybe this is old news, but something to be aware of. Just my .02 on strokers.

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LUV Truck Desserter!
76 Daily driver (SOLD)
73 LUV (rusting away at the moment)
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63 Nova
74 Camaro

I run a Hamburger aluminum pan (bout $700) as the dart block has a spread pan rail to clear the stroke. If your the fab type you can make a spread rail pan by cutting a regular deep pan apart though. I could have also gone with a Moroso steel pan for about $480.

With motors like this, blueprinting the oil pump is a neccessity to make sure you don't pump all your oil to the top end but incidentally, that problem can and does occur on a mediocre built 350 with a HV melling pump though.

as far as a vacuum pump, I'd highly reccomend one. they claim up to a 36 hp increase. i've never dyno'd with and without but i can definitely tell a HUGE difference.

Don't be scared of big inch small blocks. it does take a little more planning and thought but not much more. Trust me... if a dumbazz like me can do it anybody can do it!

421 and 434 are two different motors...kinda. the 421 can utilize a factory 400 block while the 434 uses aftermarket. my advice? GO FOR IT!!! you won't regret it. I dont care what anybody says... bigger is ALWAYS better.

I will NEVER build anything less than a 406 motor anymore.... period!

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

I got my parts back from the machine shop yesterday and the cost was 1500 dollars... You got to pay to play. I also was able to score a billet aluminum H.E.I distributor.
One question has come up, what needs to be done to the dipstick? From what i've heard, it needs to be modified to clear the reciprocating mass but i haven't seen any specifics. Is there a custom dipstick available for a stroker?

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

I've never had to modify a dipstick in a stroker motor. same dipstick for a sbc 400 as for a 350 so it should clear fine.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

sorry to here about your troubles but why is every body building 383s these days? start with a good 400 block like a 509 casting and go to a 3.875 stroke 6 inch rod motor. 420 cubes later with a 215cc or 230cc dart pro1, roller cam it and u have a 575 to 600 hp motor u can run pump gas in! Use the right parts and hit it with a 200hp nitrous shot and if your not going fast enough u need to get somthing with some wheel base. Im on my 3rd engine for my truck last one i built in high school and went as fast as 10.92 at 123 and i drove it home(well i went cruising for like 2 hours).hopping to run 9.50s with a motor set up like the one above, and still put 10 to 12 thousand miles a year on it! ok im through ranting now! but if your stroking a small block stroke a 400 if you want more revs destroke a 400 with like a 3.30 stroke and make a 355 like chevy should have!

The reason i decided to build a 383 is because i had a 4 bolt / 350 practicly fall into my lap. I was bored and i needed a project of somekind. Plus i had local resources for parts and machine work. It would have been a lot smoother if the "Eagle" end of the plan didn't screw up.
The 400 i have now runs rock-solid and i have no intentions of modifying it. My concerns at the moment are focused on my 9" axle problems and getting the truck to plant the power it has now. A gear change may come around but thats a luxury item. Having 2 3rd members to swap out when i want to run 1/4 mi or drive down the Hwy without fear of frying the motor.
I am tempted to start building the 383 but it's easier to transport in pieces and i would want a clean place to assemble it.
I thought about buying another LUV to run the 383 but the thought of all the modifications needed to get it right has dulled that idea. Im still looking for a body to build to and i have feelers out for a good platform.
For me, My truck is almost perfect for what i want it to do. So i need a new project.

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Previous setup: 4.1 Buick V-6/TH 350
Current setup: 400 Small Block Chevy V-8/TH 350
9" ford rear end/short bed/blue
What do Water, Electricity and Humans have in common... They all travel the path of least resistance.

theres nothing wrong with a 383. its the 3.75" stroke and bigger that makes the motor. the 400 blocks are a little more difficult to come by but they can be found. i gotta agree with above. sure the 350 block was cheap but by the time ur done clearancing the pan rail, the rod bolts, bottom of the cylinders,and picking up a small base circle cam, etc. its almost just as good to have looked for a 400 block. I dont think I'll ever run anything less than a 406 any more. with the abundance of cheap steel 3.875 stroker cranks its almost not even feasible to run the stock cast 400 crank either but then ur getting into all the clearancing issues again.

unfortunatley while I am waiting for my 450" heads to get done, i will be putting my old 350 motor in. its a Brodie alum head 12:1, small .570" roller cam deal that has had my LUV in the 10's before. this time i will be putting the spray to it. my 450 heads are just taking too long so i got a little ansy and pulled the backup motor out of mothballs.

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1978 LUV Truck 2WD
450 "Small Block" Chevy
3.70 Ford 9
28x10 Goodyears

so when will u be hiting the streets rick?