Budget 383 build questions

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74dusterman

74dusterman

74dusterman
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I pulled the 383 out of my 67 D200 to freshen it up. I am planning on leaving the bottom end stock and putting new bearings and rings in it. The heads are the 516 castings. I plan on swapping the 2bbl intake for a 4bbl, maybe a cast iron intake. I am thinking of going with the xe268H cam from comp cams. I am not looking for 600hp or anything wild. I just want a good reliable motor to cruise around. I am open to any thoughts or suggestions on this setup. The truck has 46000 miles on it but sat for 10 years. I have thought about buying a set of aeroheads from Indy. Is it worth it or stick with the 516 heads? Thanks for the help.
 
My dad has a 65 coronet with a bone stock bottom end 1964 date 383 with a 528 mp cam, stock 2463200 heads which i belive are just like the closed chamber 516 heads, a holley street dominator intake topped with an 850 double pumper, idk how much horsepower it makes but its a blast to drive, at 3600lb with a 275 drag radial, 4.56 gears and a 4000 stall ati converter it went 12.50 and was on the 6200 rev limiter about 40 yards before the traps
 
I have one in my dart and I think you might be happier with a 262 or maybe a voodoo cam. Its not gonna have alot on the bottom especially if you have a 3.23 and stock converter. The idle sounds nice and rumpy, but you may be saying " I wish I woulda"... If your 516s are in good shape keep em! The aeroheads have their share of horror stories, bad seats, poorly installed guides etc. They apparently dont reject any cores.
 
I second staying with your 516s if they're in good shape...just a good rebuild and valve job, with some decent springs for whatever cam you choose. I would also tend to agree with a smaller voodoo or XE cam (262ish)...the 268 would be a great cam if you installed a little bit of stall or some more gear, but that's JMO.

Look up RustyRatRod-I think he may have a B intake...if not, I bet a Weiand action plus would serve you pretty well for your purposes.
 
IMO, for the 268 style cams, Lunati has the market cornered. That's the one I would recommend. I agree with using the 516 castings. They are good heads for what you have planned.
 
Thanks for the info. I should have mentioned the truck has 3.55 gears and stock converter. I have headders on it already. I am going to look into a lunati cam. I was thinking about buying an Edelbrock carb. Maybe a carb and intake combo? What size carb would I need? I am guessing around 650 or 700 vacuum secondaries? I will stick with the 516 heads also. Thanks again for the help.
 
This is the cam I have in my 383 rroad runner, this cam has a lot of low and a ton of mid range!! I wouldn't go any bigger. Use your 516 with maybe a larger exhaust valve ( not really needed for your build) and maybe a little bowl blend,
 
This might be a dumb question, do I need to have hardened seats put in the 516 heads? If that is so then I would need new valves also right? Is it worth sticking the money into the 516 heads?
 
In my opinion the 516 will help with your compression ratio. If your going to drive it a lot like 8 10k miles a year then I would but most guys I know with mopars don't but they drive 1 or 2k a season.
 
74dusterman said:
This might be a dumb question, do I need to have hardened seats put in the 516 heads? If that is so then I would need new valves also right? Is it worth sticking the money into the 516 heads?
Click to expand...

It's not a bad idea, but I've heard a couple different opinions...since you're driving a truck, I'd recommend it. As far as needing new valves, only if they measure bad. As a matter of fact, if you install new hardened seats, it'll put the valves back "up" in the chamber...improves flow and shrinks chamber volume.

I don't think keeping them is a bad deal considering what you want to do with the truck. If you were looking to make a lot of power, then go with something different...
 
IF you have hardened seats installed, go ahead and have the larger 1.74 exhaust valves installed too.
 
True, thanks Rob. New stock 440 valves are only about $90 for a whole set if you need them...
 
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