383 Engine questions

My least concern is the ehads really. With minor port work they will feed 475hp in a 440 easy. So they can make good numbers after they have ben redone properly for performance. But, having owned a '71 383 Newport (and I'm looking for it's replacement. I love that car more than any A or E body I've owned) I can tell you, the 383 is a small engien for that car. What I would suggest is this: Keep the 516 heads, plan on spending around $1200 on getting them "up to snuff". FOr the lower end, the best recipe for torque is stroke. Call Brandon at 440Source, and order up the 3.915 stroke rotating package (after measuring the bore size!!). It will give you a very nice 470, that will pull harder than any 440, weigh less, and look factory. You will be looking for a cam in the 240-245° @ .050 range. Something even like the XE285HL will be a riot, make good horsepower, and more important, big torque from idle up. I ran mine with the 383 factory stock long block, factory intake, Carter AVS, 2bbl manifolds, and duals. But, I ran 3.55, and had a 175hp NOS hit on it. It was the most fun car I've ever owned.