81shark2008

i want to put a new engine in my 81 with the most hp for the least price. should i rebuild the 350 or make it a 383 stroker and i've also been checking out the 454 method. i would like it to be around 600 hp or so what have you guys done to get the show quality and hp on a reasonable budget? thanks

Gordonm

What do you consider reasonable. 600HP is no slouch and you don't want cheap stuff in there. 600 HP from a SB will take more than a 383 unless you put on a blower. 600 HP from a BB is doable but it won't be cheap. Then yo uhave to upgrade the rest of the drivetrain to handle the HP. It won't be cheap.

coolcoupe

wow 600 hp hope you plan on doing every thing from trans to rearend and yoke half shafts i did my 81 went with 91 truck block and full roller cam air gap rpm intake here is my most expensive mistake i like what i got done but for the money i should of used vortx heads i used cammel backs had them ported polished stainless valve pined rocker studs 202 intake 160 exha 435 hp now its rear end time sounds great and runs great watch it in the rain sorry so long just wanted to give my two cents

Goody

Uh, it doesn't work like that I'm afraid. Build a nice 425HP engine and then add nitrous for those times you want to go really fast.

The one thing you should not skimp on is the heads. The most important part of any engine are the flow characteristics of the heads.

Crunch-o-Matic

Id take a 500+hp 383 stroker before I'd go through the pain of swapping for a big block w/ just 600+hp.

Either way, to get that kind of power a 383 stroker with good parts will cost you atleast 7K and a big block stroker probably north of 9K. We haven't even started talking about trans and rear.

I was in your same dilemma a few years ago. I went with a Salley Chevrolet 383/500 (dyned at the crank at around 540hp/535tq) backed by a TKO600 w/ 4:11 gears.

I decided if I was going to go through the pain of a big block swap, I needed to be in the 700hp range to off set the extra weight and cost to do the swap.

B/L: I couldn't justify swapping in a big block adding 250lbs for an addl 60hp...

FlyViper

My 2 cents on swapping a BB in a SB car (71): It's not that bad, surprisingly. You can use a lot of the parts you already have (or in my case just decide to get new ones while I've got it out, but definitely wasn't a requirement). At least in my car, everything bolts right in. Things like a radiator, clutch, etc. you're going to want to replace regardless if it's a BB or a high power SB. So when it comes to the SB/BB decision, just go with what you feel is right for you...don't worry about having to get "extra" parts, you'll need them anyways!