Old school baby! 383 SBC

I built this little buggar way back when I was a kid,
like my son Kyle! 😂
Something nice and simple and back then I would have thought this was a pretty big deal.

[@michaelallen2501]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the 2500HP builds. But THIS is the content I'm after. Real world affordable power for the working class man. There's not a single product or service you guys offer for someone who punches a clock 40 hours a week. But you do make some amazing stuff for people who own a business or 3.

[@anthonyrybczynski5420]

I agree. I've been watching steve Morris racing engines for probably 10 or 12 years. I can only dream about having one of his engines. I think he should offer a budget powerplant. I understand the money is in nice stuff. You make more money catering to people who have lots of money. I think the billet Lamborghini block is a smart design mainly because more people who own Lamborghini can afford a custom engine as compared to muscle car guys. Whose going 100k laying around?

[@jasonstormoen]

@@anthonyrybczynski5420 It doesn't have to be a dream. A real good friend of mine, his son who is 24 just had Steve do work for him and I know others who have too. It also doesn't take 100k to have a competitive fast pc out of this camp. I think a lot of it comes down to how bad you want something. I worked 2 jobs for a long time and one was strictly for the car stuff, like my first turbo and then a gear drive and procharger with RFD top end.

[@ss0073]

I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I got my entire rotating assy from him to build a 400 SBC…..everything but heads and block, and it wasn’t overly expensive. I’d rather pay a little more to get the service I got. The aluminum Brodix block cost more than my entire bill with him.

[@anthonyrybczynski5420]

@@jasonstormoen I currently work 2 jobs. I am a full time auto mechanic in a Ford dealership. I have a part time job fixing trucks for a landscaping company. In my area, real estate has gone nuts so it takes a lot just to get by. Rent in town is 2800 to 3500 a month for an economy apartment. Like cockroaches economy apartment. Houses are $2,000,000+. We are in the middle of a housing crisis in my region.

[@bevinsracing]

At the end of the day with all do respect your paying for a name... Good for him though all good everyone has a lane to stay in. Just build your own shit and learn something like I do been 8.40s out of my home garage doesn't take rocket science these days big block Chevy and a little vortech blower under $10k I'm entire engine trans setup

[@keithdaniels1994]

Thers a reason these motors are so prolific. You gotta love a small block Chevy that makes over 500 horses and still idles decent. Very nice.

[@garybulwinkle82]

But no choke! How do you start it on a cold day?

[@tjmerryman1851]

@@garybulwinkle82 no problem just use ya foot n baby the throttle

[@PhiddyPford]

What not a LS!!! Excellent!!

[@thehappytexan]

That would be a blast to drive around on the street. This proves once again that all you need is properly matched parts to have a good performing combination.

[@bigiron4018]

Unless it’s turbocharged, carbs can generally be used to great success if you have the know-how

[@sixoid4104]

Very true. I work at a mustang shop and we had a old school 302, GT40 upper and lower with heads. Also has a T trim blower on it and made 544 wheel on our dyno.

[@rollydoucet8909]

We've done quite a few 383's for both street, and race track use, and they are a very good 'bang for the buck' engine. Another very popular deal is the 347 Ford stroker.

[@albertgaspar627]

and the other kicker is to focus on what's behind the flywheel. many dyno queens love their buildsheets, but that's with no water pump, 60 degree inlet air, and an exhaust system that won't fit a car. but get the right torque converter or clutch, right weight flywheel, good gear ratios, and a rear suspension that won't hop, and folks won't even believe the time slips when you show them. as for carbs, they're great for turbos! the venturi effect cools the charge coming in, you just have to build for boost so you aren't spraying gas out the tube you put a spark plug boot on top of (old school, ask your father kids)

[@bigiron4018]

@@albertgaspar627 carbs are horrible for turbos… it’s the very thing carbs are not equipped to deal with. There is tons of literature on this, just some googling and reading and you’ll get to the same level of understanding. Not trying to be rude at all; it’s just not even a debatable point so I assume you don’t have the info to know otherwise

[@79tazman]

Nothing wrong with old reliable SBC they are still out there and still making power good for the old hot rod or weekend cruiser

[@musclebone7875]

Yup!

[@nkmoto894]

@@musclebone7875 Putting one in my C3 just so it goes as good as it looks. Can't have as beautiful car and 170 hp. Lol

[@musclebone7875]

@@nkmoto894 right! A c3 with 450 to 500hp would be nice 👍

[@albertgaspar627]

the funny thing is that in an age of LS, mouse motors are the cheapest they've been since 1973.

[@Ada-zn3pw]

Love the sound of a high compression big solid camshaft SBC. Sounds better than any LS

[@warrenstephens3705]

500+ ftlbs from 3500 to 6000, very good combination of parts. Great job guys!!

[@builditinyourgarage7826]

This engine bring backs many memories. I remember finding 400 cranks and turning them down to do this 30 years ago as well. It always was a fun project. Brought back many memories. Thank you for sharing. Was very surprised at 550hp, but was not surprised at 500 ft/lbs of torque at 3500.

[@MrJayo73]

@@peterlyons4389 you did back before the aftermarket did it for you

[@builditinyourgarage7826]

@@peterlyons4389 When I did this years ago, we found cranks out of sbc 400's out of combines (which was very common) and you had to turn down the mains. As MrJayo Stated below, this isn't like today where you buy a crank and put it in and its all done for you, this was the old days of digging through junkyards to find parts ,the times have changed.

[@albertgaspar627]

@@peterlyons4389 ah well...the deal is, when automakers made a long stroke crank for a smaller engine, they needed the new crankshaft to have strength. that strength comes from the main diameters overlapping the rod main diameters, and the easy way was to increase the size of the main journals. look up the difference between the 400 and 350, you'll see that they indeed to need to be turned (and if you wanted a 377 cid, you had to use special bearing shells to put your 350 crank into a 400). now, to further educate you, in 1968 chevy changed the rod bearing size in the small block. so folks building an "all factory parts" engine for racing would take a post 1967 crank, and offset grind the crank to a pre 1968 connecting rod and get more stroke. On a 350, that would be a 360 cid without any boring out, 365 on a .030 over block, and 370 on a maxed out .060 cylinder. Around the 1980's folks went to the 383 because they typically put fuelie heads on their 400 without knowing they needed to drill out steam holes and overheated the block...but decided the crank was salvagable.

[@anthonyrybczynski5420]

@@builditinyourgarage7826 I've done that with transmissions. Taken apart 3 scrap trannys to get different ratio combos. Then build 1 trany.

[@timtompkins150]

I was part of a fuel car team back then and I got the combination from another racer. I did one including the block clearancing in the back room of the speed shop. Without many people knowing what it was it was a nice surprise. I had it in my daily driver Vega panel. Could light the tires at like 60 mph .

[@turbo2ltr]

Back in the 90s I built a SBC. I still like the sound of that SBC at 7000 RPM over the "slappy" sound of the modern motors like the LT1 in my 18 camaro..

[@vinceburris2538]

Perfect piece for my truck. Thanks Steve for bringing us the videos.

[@Hogiewan1]

Got a old school 383 in my 71 Camaro. Sounds good, runs good, and can beat on it all day. Back when you had to know how to time one and tune a carb. Good memories. Thanks Steve!

[@jamesrichardson4616]

Awesome so many people jump to ls and forget about a good ol SBC

[@arodderz]

73 camaro with a 383 sbc. Similar build to this ( Afr 195 heads, roller cam .576" lift, Vic Jr single plane). Tons of fun on the street.👍

[@richb.4374]

I love these old school small blocks. The supercharged and turbo LS builds are awesome and impressive, but these old school engines are great for casual street rodders who don't want to run 6's at a drag strip.

[@edwardssistershands]

Quite a bit of effort to get an LS in the 6's. No?

[@ssnerd583]

Yep...this is an awesome street motor, no doubt....lotsa torque down low to make it MOVE and enough HP up top to make it fast.....

[@johndoran3274]

Brings back memories. This was a popular setup back in the ‘80s and early’90s, minus the aluminum heads because we couldn’t afford those even if we could find them.

[@aaronnoyb]

Very impressive, HP and torque curves are almost a dead match for the CTSV LSA 6.2 supercharged engine.

[@RT10Viperman]

Now thats customer service...!! Steve standing behind one of his old builds and keeping it in the game...!! Killer numbers...!!!

[@mgbchuck6527]

SBC Goodness----------I like it!

[@johnwilliamson467]

A very usable torque curve very good build. Nice video for those with a budget .

[@mohanperformance.enginerd.1308]

I could hear the accelleration rate of the power test right away. That impressed me the most. Very honest dyno pull. Vrs some of the desperate pulls we see on youtube set at 100 rpm per second or even less in an attempt to fool someone and torcher some guys engine. So this was refreshing and gets 5 stars from me. Also was enjoyable to see a good o'l grass roots core sbc like we all grew up on done by pro's. Great runner! This was the best vid I have watched in a very long time. Thank's

[@Needmo940]

the hot setup when I was in high school (class of 83) was a 283 crank in a 327. we had some fast bugs in HS. The theory was let them spin faster

[@timtorkelson7201]

Agreed! Love the 383's,406's,421's,434's,447's..small block stuff!! Wicked,streetable,nasty sounding small blocks. 😉

[@Dr_Xyzt]

It's good to see some traditional hot-rod stuff. I like class racing, like requiring a 650 cfm carb. It forces you as a builder to keep the setup practical and keeps the playing field close.

[@billmadison2032]

Tickling the throttle on startup brought back memories

[@ChicagoRob2]

I love old school, and that is a super strong street engine with big-block torque. I guessed it would make 450hp. - I was wrong!

[@jaypisme2343]

I guessed 510

[@bad77dragtruck]

This was my first built engine in my squarebody! 20 years ago.... and now I miss it!

[@Mikki_Tu]

Got to love vac sec carbs when they're set up right, so good for daily drivers, especially if you have to drive in traffic at all.

[@mikemorris4409]

Had a 383 in a 79 cutlass . 400 crank turned, 5.7 rods, 10:1 KeithB flat's and molly rings, iron heads milled .01 and punched to 2.02 / 1.60, mild comp cam /lifter hydro, roller rockers and an autozone rebuild kit..... old...old school budget build but I did spring for the 750 double with mechanicals and a baby victor... Obviously I had the big Accell HEI distro and the entire autozone SBC dress up section thrown in for good measure... it was a POS and I loved it! (Didn't require a small loan just to tune it though, had that going for it...)

[@scotthultin7769]

138👍's up Steve Morris thanks again for sharing you're innovations and you're not leaving any engine type behind you're showing us all that boost will work with any engine combination I appreciate your knowledge and your great videos keep them all coming

[@tezzrterry7485]

I've got a very similar 383, love it on the street, big torque etc.

[@Gudetamaimmi]

This is just like my old 383, except i had cast heads, mechanical secondaries. When it was dynoed on my old hx 1 tonner Holden it made 261 kw at the wheels, it was a fun old ute back in the day, boy do i miss it

[@dallascowboys1683]

I love the old school SBC and SBF builds. Especially the Cleveland’s. Thanks for another great video on a practical engine.

[@stevelennox8575]

Wonder if Steve has any tunnel rams with Predator VV carbs hiding in the shop? Now that would be a lesson in tuning ..........

[@zrxdoug]

Heh..was just thinking the same. Only Chevy I've ever owned was a 383 built around the time this one was (early nineties)..pretty much identical to this, but running a single Predator. Nobody did dyno runs back then, but it was good for low 9's in a light front engine dragster.. Good ol' days..

[@KM-os4be]

Nice and simple is right. No need to pack around a laptop. i'm actually thinking about going back to old school SBC with a 400 using a dart block for next engine.

[@markwallace5274]

Love the old school stuff its what I grew up around Sbc and Pontiacs 👍🏼

[@95Sn95]

It just proves the gen 1 is still a Viable option... There's a reason frieburger chose a Procharged SBC for the newest rendition of his land speed camaro, I think it was in the 950hp range on mild boost levels I will say it's a pretty trick high end build

[@PapaWheelie1]

The sound of a healthy SBC gives me chills

[@timtorkelson7201]

Ditto! Good bud use to truck pull, he had a wicked 406,14.1,6" aluminum rodes,Lunati crank,Carrillo rods, 850 double pumper, and some very massaged 202 heads,on alcohol..cam with 1.7 rockers was over 900 lift!! Organic idling 😅😂

[@timtorkelson7201]

Orgasmic

[@kuzz7919]

If you would have told me 35-40 yrs ago that you could get a SBC street engine that was 500+hp on pump gas I would have laughed. I love seeing a modern take on a old school SBC......nice job Steve !!

[@kylestubblefield3404]

I just love the sound of a small block getting wound out. Thanks for sharing Steve

[@brucewilson1118]

I love the old stuff

[@danielmattiello1507]

He is the freaking Yoda of GM. Love his work.

[@ricknielson8934]

Like they say,it’s not what you know,it’s who you know. Lucky man to have an engine builder of your caliber building that for him.

[@kennyking6325]

As usual Mr. Morris you wrenched down another amazing engine! You are giving it a 20 year warranty to boot, ha thank you for the video!

[@MrRevell111]

383 in my 67 chevelle, does 9.9 now with a 250 shot. Full interior all steel and glass. 3500# sled making around 800 hp.

[@saulloyola1161]

Love that old simple technology

[@crunks420]

I had a friend with one of these in an old C10 Chevy pickup. It had minor stiffening to the suspension, and it felt super fast on the road. It was a friggen gas guzzler, though.

[@rosskrause3926]

This is a great video here..its very similar to what I plan on building hopefully very soon..I was going to go the LS route and may do that one day in the future but I still love the small block Chevy ! Thank you Steve for this and many many other awesome engine dyno runs and the valuable info you provide.

[@patrickwendling6759]

Thanks for the everyday Joe build.. love it

[@robpederson281]

Performs real well. Heads are perfect for that set up

[@williamjohnson5707]

Enjoyed watching, i have been kicking around re-doing my lil 383 iron head fo an aluminum headed monster. This really tips the scale to go back through mine and give it some extra muscle. Thanks

[@jaredfarney675]

That's pretty cool an old build found its way back 🤘🏻🇺🇸

[@MartinMcMartin]

Everything has it's place, nothing wrong with old school.

[@BubbaAyers1969]

Nice 👍 I like the old school engines, the sound they make.. thanks for sharing that engine sounds good 👌

[@bubbakushingtonIII]

Man what a time piece. Great video.

[@jeffjarquin5600]

Little dude sounds great!

[@E.T.GARAGE]

That's real good numbers for a gen1 383sbc, it would be real nice to know the cam specs.

[@randelclawson7695]

You can bet it's not a wide LSA cam at 110-112 and most likely is either 108 or 109 if the compression is over 10:1.

[@lods7185]

You can definitely run 11.1 on pump gas with a big duration cam .

[@TPVPRO]

It's good to see you still get excited with the budget builds 💪 Steve is the man.

[@MaybeKoolaid]

Just bought a 67 impala with one of these bad boys in it. Pushing 480 but nearly 600ft at 3k. I personally have not heard a better sounding engine when they are fully open. Thank you for the content I'm glad sbcs are still loved

[@bradpnw1897]

That is an awesome engine I love seeing that on your channel that would be so fun on the road and very reliable also

[@vehdynam]

Nice piece and quite interesting. Great street engine for sure.

[@mikemaccracken3112]

Nice 383! Excellent street engine.

[@242bleek]

Sounds excellent, killer numbers and torque curve. People are so fast to dismiss the old sbc these days and I'm not sure why.

[@joe1273]

Simple answer more power, cheaper and stronger engines like the ls are in every junk yard now. Still love a good old sbc tho

[@242bleek]

@@joe1273 No doubt LS is cheaper out of the box. But if you're doing aftermarket block and heads build the LS doesn't really hold any advantages anymore.

[@gordocarbo]

@@joe1273 If you like junkyard engines, not for me Buying aftermarket stuff for ls vs sbc, machine work sbc is still way cheaper and just as effective. Takes a lil more cam timing to make the same power thats all due to the 23 deg head and hassles of efi tuning etc

[@inscoredbz]

What are the cam specs if you don't mind me asking. That thing is a beast.

[@brillyanse]

Simple and clean, purring like a kitten 😺🔥🔥

[@glenbrannon7224]

awesome job Steve, great power for a 383!

[@muskyelondragon]

Very good performance out of that 383. Great work man.

[@joeinmi8671]

Thats a strong piece. Would be curious of cam specs

[@kevinquednau4064]

I like when u do old school stuff. Pretty awesome Steve thank u

[@mikerecords5530]

It's nice to see you doing a little bit of regular guy engines.

[@adammiller6606]

That was a cool episode. Thanks.

[@Turbochapman]

I bought a similar crate engine a few years ago and put a Holley Sniper system on it. Thing ripped and was alot of fun to drive.

[@jimkillen1065]

Wow that a good running street engine . I was amazed on the hp and tq number . It's my opinion that cylinder heads is key to doing this . I prefer a solid roller csm also .

[@ericbastion2149]

I love it I built a 383 out of a stroker kit from Eagle with forged pistons put it in my S 10 it’s a ripper

[@jasonstormoen]

I remember these good ole cast 400 crank swaps to get the 383. It has. Been a long time sinse I've seen one of these combos.. Great video!!

[@Thumper68]

Yeah my kinda engine wish made a lot more videos like this

[@inkscars6380]

I enjoy these builds so much!!! Wish I could afford one of your builds but this is more along my budget lol 😂

[@rodpalm6398]

Real close to what my Dart SHP 400cid puts out. My combo makes 530tq 560HP on pump gas using a very drivable dual plane manifold.

[@frankburn6312]

Same here , just a little less hp (500) and skip white stuff. 400 block= torque monster

[@rodpalm6398]

@@frankburn6312 Yes all that torque right off the line, so much fun to drive. Made a double pumper work with my Automatic with some tuning.

[@The_Kman]

Nice 383 Steve. Thanks for sharing.

[@toxicstorm7072]

Excellent vid!!! you make it look simple!

[@jeffwooton7138]

Nice little unit. Love the flat torque curve.

[@GMCTIM]

Our oldest son just took the 6,3 spd out of his 55 pu 3100, in with 383, auto, looking, sounding great ! 😁👍🏻

[@arthurbelleville9977]

she mite be old but still cool.back in the day you could fool someone with those.now she is a baby.

[@marklottero5345]

Cool that you did this project, as busy as you are I'm sure you didn't have to. That combo is still a great street strip deal.

[@bradfuhrmann5768]

Was this a camshaft that you spec’ed, or was this camshaft an off the shelf grind?

[@jnljnl8485]

Now build a 377 destroked 400. I think even being down a few cubes it will make it up in flow with unshrouding the valves out to the bigger bore. This setup dominated dirt track racing back in the days of limited aftermarket options.

[@MrJayo73]

@@peterlyons4389 no it's a 400 with a 350 crank

[@MrJayo73]

@@peterlyons4389 I don't understand your math that would only be like a 378 if it's bored 30

[@scottmuller1901]

@@peterlyons4389 the math dont lie 4.155*4.155 *.7845*3.48*8=377.05 ci. A std bore 400 with 350 crank 371 and change ci

[@MrJayo73]

@@scottmuller1901 we will let him ponder on his mishap

[@MrJayo73]

@@peterlyons4389 you might want to figure out the correct answer before you post something else

[@mikef-gi2dg]

Now that was REALLY COOL. If you sold something like that I would buy it for sure.

[@upptowne]

Used to love havin a 383, good reliable combo. Thanks

[@WyFoster]

That's a heck of a driver right there

[@SARJENT.]

Dood! Sounds really good.

[@arthurbeowulfe7339]

I would love to see you build n old school Pontiac .. I've always been a huge fan of the old Pontiacs n the sound of the exhaust is note is truly unique

[@coryholbrook4643]

I’d be super happy with that too!

[@gin3648]

Got my first V8 on the street and this was cool to see how the old beasts rumble. Mines a manual 5.0 HO (302W) in a 1999 falcon ute down under, shes ugly but makes all the right noises.

[@fauxque5057]

Slap an old points distributor and you have an EMP proof engine. Been considering something like that for my old square body. It has an HEI but that's not EMP proof

[@jimmattingly4234]

Very nice Steve good see projects like this

[@badhombre8383]

That’s crazy good for n/a. I was totally thinking mid 400’s

[@markrich3271]

I have a forged turbocharged 383 with heads cam intake 4150 throttle body running ls1 ecm coil over plug ignition . I love the old school sbc with modern electronics. Back when I built it there was a large difference between building a gen1 and gen 3/4

[@williamsands647]

Heck yeah Steve! Sometimes this is just the type of thing ya need, especially with "junkyard LS" engines going way up in price. Old school still has legs!

[@eddiespagetti8395]

I built a 383 in the 1990s. Lumpy cam and 202. Heads . A little shot of nos and It hit 635 hp on dyno. I had ,456 gears and my 71 Malibu went pretty fast

[@keything8487]

thatll do it....all day long !!!

[@Wikkus]

Very cool to see some old skool stuff like some of us are still using.

[@dhackens]

Nice to see a SBC can make the HPs

[@desertrat8322]

awesome to see some Gen 1 sbc dyno pulls