5.7 350 Vortec into 383?

[Stylez]

I recently made a deal for a 5.7 Vortec 350 from a 99 suburban with a new transmission (4L60E?).... I have seen a lot of rebuild kits on Ebay and other sites.. I don't think I want to just rebuild this motor but build it to about 400-500 HP for my Malibu wagon. ive been looking at the SCAT 9000 series 383 stroker kits. I was thinking of pairing that with a Edelbrock top end kit.

Ive been reading some of the reviews on the sites about the kits and have noticed people aren't really happy with the cheaper kits of around $1000.00. Im wondering if anyone has any other suggestions for stroker kits besides SCAT or Eagle. this is my first engine build and am wanting to send some of the work out but assemble it at home over the winter so it'll be ready to drop in the first of spring. I want to keep my AC so do I need to part off of the suburban or do I need my Malibu parts? thanks for any and all help before hand and if I put this in the wrong place im sorry... PEACE...

 

[YAV8]

Not sure what wrong with the Eagle or Scat kits. Never a problem and have been using them for years with the late 880 vortec casting. Depending on your budget you can get the Eagle kits starting at around $800 and FREE shipping. These kits are heavy because they include the crank rods pistons balancer rings and bearings. The ones I get are the dished piston 9.5-1 and reuse the factory vortec heads. You can also get these with flat top pistns and it runs up the compression so a good set of aluminum heads might be in order. It easy to make 450-500HP using the stroker kit and stock or after market heads. One other nice thing is the block is set up for a hyd roller cam. Use that to your advantage. If you can do most of the assembley your self and reuse the vortec heads with a spring upgrade and a new hyd roller cam your total should come under $1500. That casting will bolt into anything you had a SBC in before.

 

[Stylez]

thanks YAV8, I forgot the mention that the factor heads are warped. kind of why I wanted to go with a top end kit as well... the reviews were saying that the kits were dinged and messed up and after several machine shops summit or scat didn't want to pay to replace the messed up pieces. I would think that a company that builds multiple sets would have a better customer service than to leave people in limbo...

 

[1981Regal]

If I remember correctly scat had better tolerance vs eagle.

 

[Doober]

I read of Scat being closer than Eagle, all my stuff was within .0005" of spec. Heads in the 190-210cc range with a roller cam around 230/240 @ .050" should be between 450-500hp, and will still be ok on the street.

 

[bracketchev1221]

My 540 makes over 900 hp on an Eagle crank and H beam rods. Seems to be ok for me.

 

[1981Regal]

Not knocking Eagle just an observation of the two crankshaft brands.

 

[Doober]

I'd go with Scat again without hesitation, can't comment on Eagle outside what I've read.

I did read about a build by David Vizard where one of the Scat stroker series rods cleared the bottoms of the cylinder walls without clearancing.

I know it's from their site and whatnot, but a stock (or mildly ported) set of Vortecs won't make quite as much power with the same combo, but it can give you an idea of the power curve of the engine and where torque will be. After doing more reading I see how much more cam I could've gone with in the 383 for my truck. Down the road I'm torn between a built 383 like they have listed with AFR heads, cam, etc. and make it look relatively stock, or build a turbo LS... odds are I will probably spend a pretty penny either way.

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[gman415]

Don't forget that these are one piece rear seal blocks when ordering a crank.

 

[prairiehotrodder]

I have had good luck with K1 cranks, rods and wiseco pistons. I built a 383 a few years ago with a scat kit as well. The machinist sent it all home with me saying it was done and ready to assemble and that the block didn't require any notching. He was wrong!!! The rods touched the bottoms of the bores in 2 places and were very tight in a couple more spots. Was annoying to get it partially assembled only to have to take it back apart, grind on it, clean it and start over. Are you using 5.7 or 6" rods?
Brian