The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts New engine ordered, your thoughts!

Since my Babbit engine died I have been looking into getting a high pressure engine. I was looking at a 6cyl. but decided on a v8 350. Upon ordering the engine I moved to a 383 stroker with 444 TQ and 435 HP. I just received my SM420 rebuild kit and they are building the engine. I will try and get many photos of the install. I will be painting the cab in/out as well as the frame before the engine comes. I have been powder coating some parts in my spare time.
Novak said that the SM420 should work fine with the 383 as many off roading Jeep guys have been mounting Big blocks to them without problems.
I still have the two speed rear and will try and see how the truck runs with the stock ring gear. I may go with an over drive kit or change the ring to get more top end if the engine whines out too much. I know, I will have to upgrade the brakes too since stopping is kind of important. Will a hydrovac system be eneough? Let me know what yall think and don't ras me too hard.

Aloha,

Keoni

Keoni,

Keeping the stock trans and rear will still net you the same top speed as the original 6 cylinder when running the same RPM. You will have way more HP than you will use. Finding a taller (lower number) 2-speed rear ring and pinion gear set will be almost imposible. You didn't say what year and size your truck is, but if it has a GM rear there are only a few ratios made...most trucks back then had the same HP and Torque ratings so taller gears weren't needed. If you have an Eaton rear then you might find better gears to fit your housing...that's what I did on my Fire Truck. I went from 53mph (7.17:1 single speed) to 63mph (6.14/8.36:1 2-speed). More HP would be nice when going up long hills.

Mike B

Sounds like a real nice motor I wish I had one to put in my 63

You might want to check out the Ranger overdrive from Advance Adapters. Oh, yeah, don't try to speed shift that 420, they can't tolerate that too much.

Neat truck! I look forward to watching your progress as I have a 50 1.5 SWB. Yours is a common challange... you upgrade one part and everything else around it need to upgraded too. Check out Grigg's truck as he has swapped in a diesel and is upgrading eveything else to keep up with the motor.

Thanks for the replys guys. Sorry I did not post the truck specs. It is a 48 1.5 ton Chevy with a two speed rear.
I got a good deal on e-bay. $3,800 shipped for a 383 complete engine. I just need headders, hoses, starter and altinator. I really did not want that much engine but it was the cheapest complete I could find. I went complete since a short block was a little more than a used engine plus rebuilding it, then to put all the little extras on, Price kept going up and up. The 6cyl from Jim Carter was as much or more than what I just got and it has low HP/torque but it does keep the nostalgia. I bought the side mount v8 kit from Jim Carter, hope it works.
I am deciding on going with power steering since i'm going this far. I also need to address the Brakes issue. Any info/tips on the Braking??

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001084

Grigg swapped in disks/axle from a more current truck. He has a link to pics at the above string.