Opinions on 383 crate motors

[Chewy1576]

I sourced one from Jegs (http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/601255/10002/-1). The only hold up I have with it is that it specs an 11" clutch. If I'm replacing everything, I would rather go with a 12" clutch to help handle the extra torque. Other ext. balanced flywheels from Jegs are $300+, so if I go with a 12" clutch I may stick with a 350 SBC non-weighted flywheel and add a balancing plate.

 

[TylerZ281500]

hmmmm i dunno, im not a stick guy. id just use your stock one or a seperately balanced stock one.

 

[Chewy1576]

I would need a balancer plate to reuse the stock flywheel as it is originally made for an internally balanced motor. Using a non-balanced flywheel with an ext. balanced crank would cause the motor to come apart from vibration. This flywheel and clutch also have an unknown amount of miles on them (I don't know if they are original or if/when they may have been replaced) and I wouldn't feel comfortable putting them behind a newer, stronger motor.


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[Chewy1576]

Ok I was incorrect. Contacted Blueprint again to double check on the flywheel and any 1986-1993 305/350 flywheel will work with this engine. I could even re-use the stock one in the truck if I wanted to, although I'm going to replace it and go with a 12" clutch. 400 SBC balancer up front and this flywheel in back and it will be good!

 

[Chewy1576]

Just an update: The motor shipped out yesterday. No estimate on delivery but the shop doing the swap is ready and waiting. All replacement parts have been gathered. Getting temporary registration tomorrow afternoon to get the truck to the shop. Hopefully it will be running again on the new motor next week!

 

[senja]

What would I do if I were in your shoes? Let me give you some free advice. The Blueprint 383 is the way to go, but I would consider a short block, and add some after-market pieces to finish off the project. I'm guessing this is a father / son project so maybe dear old dad will help you with the cost. It's not going to be cheap.
Let's say you get the short block, and then go out and buy cylinder heads, intake manifold, headers, and anticipate changing the cam shaft. If you want to experience any kind of HP increase , you'll need a different cam shaft. And then you'll need "the little stuff." i.e. gaskets, head bolts,new push rods, engine stand, rent an engine puller, the list goes on and on. But don't worry, this will be fun. Really.
I'm looking in one of my old Edelbrock catalogs and the do projects just like what you and planning, and of course they use Edelbrock parts, and they tell you how much HP you gain with each new component. They don't guess at it. They chassis dyno their vehicles so they know what they are talking about. They call this their "Total Power Package." And I'm reading about a truck just like yours. Take a look at this and see what they have to say. Very interesting.
Or, maybe you might want to buy a complete engine and just swap it out for the old one. You'll still have to change out the throttle body, and some of the little stuff.
I'd give serious thought to the Edelbrock package. At least that way you know what you are getting.

 

[skylark]

The problem with Edelbrock is that they are very conservative. Their cams under perform compared to similar cams from other companies. There is a reason why most of us use Comp, Lunati and even GM performance cams. Their shorty headers are ok but realistically all shorty headers are about the same so why pay more for Edelbrock? They really don't make anything on the fuel delivery side for our trucks so we have to go elsewhere unless we decide to throw our fuel injection away and put on a carb. Edelbrock does make some nice intakes though. Not bashing on Edelbrock because I also like a lot of their dress up goodies as well. My stroker has their intake, air filter assembly, timing cover and valve covers.

 

[Chewy1576]

We already grabbed the Blueprint 383 TBI replacement engine. It shipped out last Monday. This particular engine seems underrated compared to other crate 383's but I'm assuming that is due to accommodating the stock TBI. It does come with a tune and is billed as "plug and play" from Blueprint. It will be a huge improvement over the stock 350 with 200k miles on the clock, and a good starting platform for increased output later.

 

[TylerZ281500]

yea edlebrock cams are pretty crappy compared to a similar comp, AI, summit, etc cam. ill run an edelbrock intkae all day because theyre 30 bucks on cragslist and that about all they are worth.

 

[Chewy1576]

The motor was delivered Thursday. The truck is at the shop and surgery will being Monday. The dyno sheet that came with the motor says 290 hp / 400 tq.