good morning,
My dad recently purchases a beautiful Cortez silver w/black stripes 69 z28/rs. It has a 350 in it right now that is okay for now, but I want to surprise him for in the fall with the motor he always wanted for his 69. Its a 383 Stroker disguised as a 302. So, I have 350 block that I had in the garage that is a 010 coded block which is a two bolt block that will work. I am looking for a engine that will probably see the track maybe once just for fun and the rest of the time will be for pleasure and burning the doors off the import kids. I would like to achieve around 430-450hp 430-450ftlbs tq. Have a nice poppy lope to it nothing extreme but still sound mean sitting there and not have the whole car shaking to pieces. The car has the 1969 camaro chambered exhaust on it now. Manual 4speed with 3.73 gears. So far I have ordered a stroker kit from White performance that includes1. Balanced 3.750" Scat 9000 Crankshaft 2. Probe -12cc dish forged pistons and pins with locks 4.030 bore will achieve 10.3:1 CR 3. Hastings moly rings 4. King bearings rods and mains 5. 5.7" I-beam rods with rod bolts cut to clear cam.) That will be put in next week. I also purchased some brand new PhaseII Bowtie heads that have 64CC Combustion chambers and 184CC runners, as well as a edelbrock performer RPM intake manifold. I know that I want to run a Hydraulic Roller retrofit kit but not sure which one and brand is best and what size cam? CAN YOU GIVE SOME GUIDANCE?? And Im also not so sure on what valves and springs to go with..I would spend up to $1k on springs, roller kit, and cam. Can you guys point me in the direction of parts that I will need to achieve my goals?? Please

 

Can anyone help me?? You guys know your stuff.

 

I'd give this retrofit kit some serious consideration: Comp Cams Xtreme Energy
And heres an article I had bookmarked on doing a roller cam conversion: http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...cam/index.html

 

Thats exactly what I am talking about. I was trying to find a whole kit that is designed to work together. Seeing as this is my first engine build some of this is hard to wrap my head around until it comes together. So, would this kit support the 450hp goal I have or help me achieve it? What will that cam be like? Will it be really shakey in the car or what? I guess I can look it up to see what it sounds like.
If I were to go with this I am thinking of a Holley Carb possibly 650-750cfm. Any ideas on that?

 

You might also check out David Vizard's 'How to Build Max Performance Chevy Small Blocks on a Budget' book. Very good intro to the science of building power. I used this to build my 383, and it recently dyno'd out at 420 rear-wheel HP (480 lb-ft). Made good power well past 6000 RPM. My rod/piston/head combo worked out to 9.8:1 compression, and I used a flat tappet hydraulic (even though I have a roller block) to save money, so you could see a bit more HP than me.

 

are yo sure you want a 2 bolt block

 

The 2 bolt is fine as long as its built right. Also, good studs are a must. Plus we are not talking a full blown alcohol strip car. We are talking about a beefed up cruiser.

 

It sounds like your building the bottom half of your engine for higher RPMs (7,500 rpm) but your limiting yourself with the upper half. For instance that intake manifold is only good for 5500 rpm (stock) and your cam is good for 6,000 rpm. Your rods, pistons etc are good for well over 7,000 rpm. BTW, I'm turning 7000 rpm with my two bolt main 350 with stock rods and cast crank. Balanced of course.

You asked about valves. It looks like the heads you purchased are 2.02 and 1.60. With the 184 CC runners, I would think you're fine up to 6000 rpm or so. As far as springs, you'll have to get the cam manufacturer and get the springs they recommend. Too light of a spring and you'll float the valves at the higher rpm and too stiff of a spring and you'll grind the lobes down on break in. This is where it comes in handy to really read the cam break in document.

As far as roller rockers, you won't need a girdle for only 6,000 rpm, so save your money. Since your not running a very high rpm, you don't need the biggest baddest roller rockers either. I'd stay cheap. You said you wanted to fake a 302, unfortunatly when you run a set of roller rockers, that will put you into taller valve covers. You'll want to ask if the roller rockers you purchase will clear the stock valve covers, but I don't think they will. Put that on your questions list ha ha. However, I do somewhat recall a set of stamped steel stock style rockers that have a roller tip that might just fit like stock... Also, it's a little thing, but if you end up getting new valve covers, make sure you check to see if they are baffled or not. This will dictate the oil breather that you can use.

Lastly, good luck with those chrome molly rings. You'll want to follow the break in procedure by the book with them. I'm running a set of Hastings as well and the rings are just now starting to seat. I'm not sure why you went with those rings since they are for the higher rpm's, but know that you'll burn through a few quarts of oil before they seat properly.

As far as a carburetor, check with the guys at Holly. I'm thinking you'll need a 750, but my hunch is your right on that line between a 650 and 750.

In all, it sounds like you've got a really nice engine coming together. I'd love to have that crank and rods! As far as meeting your hp goal, if you tune it right you should hit your target pretty easy.

Have fun!~ and it's a cool feeling to know that you built what's powering your classic car! Especially when you smoke the doors off that rice grinder with that fat ole cigar they call a tail pipe lol!

 

The GM LT4 HOT Cam kit has .525 lift and with stock push rods, 1.6 roller rockers, and stock roller lifters (GM Performance or Sealed Power HT-2148's) it will fit under stock valve cover gaskets (center bolt style).
You could use stamped 1.5 ratio regular rockers and it should fit under no problem.
The CR is perfect for the kit. I have it in my 355 and love it.

 

I just picked up a 67 with a 383 stroker. I know it has dart heads but the guy I bought it from didn't know much mechanically, he had it built. It ha a dual plane intake and a Holley 670 an dyno'd 316hp 349tq. I ordered a quick fuel 750 to go on next week. It has a slight lope so I know it's got a small cam in it. I love to see mid 400's. May need to bottle feed her too!