Lindy65

Hello,

Have had some pretty gnarly gen. 1 small blocks built in the past, however those old school builders have now largely retired.

Not taking anything away from crate engines whatsoever, but am leaning toward an all aluminum 377-ish build (little personal nod to GS and one of those cars that I spent time around with family friend/owner many years ago).

Can anyone here recommend a trustworthy shop for the above? No problem traveling for the right builder.

Thank You!

Lindy

Nowhere Man

your location?

Lindy65

MN and AZ. Again, no problem traveling for the right shop.

ChrisBlair

Just mentioning, Blueprint offers a complete 383 that is advertised as mathematically a 377, They make their own blocks but I do not believe they offer aluminum. They sell a long block version but again- iron block only to my knowledge. Seems a good deal to me. Tempting even.

Westlotorn

EDIT: My note in blue below is wrong, the original Grand Sport did use the 4" bore and a 3.75 stroke just like the BP engines made today. The 377 using a 4.125 bore and a 3.48 stroke did not come around till the 400 small block was released in 1970 and hot rodders made a large bore short stroke 377.
The Grand Sport did use all aluminum blocks while BP engines uses a cast iron block.

" The 377 the OP is talking about is a 4 1/8 bore with a 350 crankshaft 3.48" stroke.

Blueprint makes a 350 block with a 4" bore and using a 3.75" stroke also gets a 377.

The large bore short stroke version is a high winder like a 302 combo.

The long stroke smaller bore engine makes a ton of torque and makes good power but they are not the same.

Boyan

Let me ask my buddy who is close to retiring if he is interested….he is in Saugus, CA. A one man old school shop with all old manual machines….he took over from his Dad who started it in the 60’s.

Vette5311

Many people don’t realize this. Many years ago I built one of these with a 400 block and bearing spacers. One of the nicest revving engines I’ve ever built.
edit - mine had a 350 steel crank (3.48 stroke) to make 377. In my opinion the larger bore unshrouds the valves making more higher rpm hp but the other combination makes more lower rpm torque which is of course better for a street engine. The bearing spacers are a pain also. JMHO.

ChrisBlair

As I mentioned in my post, that's how they advertise it, being mathematically a 377. I did not suggest it is the same engine as say, a Grand Sport's in any way.

Westlotorn

I read a test once where they took the 400 block and installed a 283 crankshaft, only 3" or 3.25" stroke. This combo made right at 350 cubic inches, I think it was in Hot Rod and they said it was the 350 GM should have built. Made 400 HP with no detonation issues and out performed the 350 engines they had made at the time. I do believe the 377 would have kicked that new version 350 to the curb while still offering a high winding toy.
Not sure how they would do on MPG but I don't think anyone cares when they go that direction.

Westlotorn

CHRIS, I AM TOTALLY WRONG!!!, The original Grand Sport lists the bore and stroke as 4" x 3.75 exactly like the BP engine design you mentioned.
Sorry the other 377 I mentioned did not come around till the 400 block was made in 1970 so your information was exactly correct.

My mistake, should have checked first before commenting. I will edit the original post to correct.


I believe a std 383 is normally built from a standard 350 block but bored .030 oversize giving you the 383 designation. Since Blueprint builds their own 350 casting they can use the std 4.000 bore which reduces the total to 377.

I almost went with a 377 with a 400 block 4.125 bore for my car but finally decided to go with a 406, more inches = more go power normally? I guess that is why we see some building big blocks as large as 640".

ChrisBlair

No big deal. But it's good to get the input on how they arrive at their displacement. You know, the only thing that makes me shy away from their long block (aside from that I really want to start with a bare block) is that the dip stick is on the passenger side. I wonder if it can be relocated to the driver's...but then I remember I don't actually need an engine and there's other things that need my money!

rosros

You can try Wes Tech in Silver Lakes Wi. Norm Brandess is an engine designer and is a contributing writer for Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc. Defintely old school engine builder.

Scott Marzahl

Are you looking at using a Dart Aluminum Block. One of my buds had a 377 built from.a cast Dart Block, that is a really nice engine. He had Action Machine in Shoreline Washington build it. They have all the nice Rotler CNC machines in house and do a fair number of Dart blocks.

427Hotrod

VortecPro in TX. Mark Jones. VortecPro - Racing & Machine - Homepage (vortecpro454.com)

Fanatical attention to detail and pulls incredible performance out of combinations. I've been to his shop and seen his work, Great stuff.


JIM