Is a chry 383 industrial engine worth picking up or is it just a boat anchor? can it be converted to a hemi? i believe the guy said the year was 1970-77.
I don't know how many pieces might interchange with a passenger car but 383's were gone by 77 ... Who knows what it is without some numbers off the block and heads or some pics to indentify it ? They made industrial Hemi's .. I never knew them to make Ind 383's Not to say its not possible ? Converted to a hemi ? Well, not without TONS of work and $$$$ so, lets just say no ..could it , yeah kinda sorta The NHRA pro stocks in late 70's ran baby hemis based on the "b" engine thats what a 383 is ..later it grew to 400 ci and not as popular Also Stage V made Hemi head conversions but $$$$$ !!!
Hemi 383??? These later mopar engines fall out of my comfort zone, but from what I've heard they (383) did not come in the "Hemi Breed" but it is possible to put 426 heads on a 383/440. Again though, sort of out of my league here. Never heard of a 383 variety Hemi, though.
It might be a good basis for a stout under 400 ci wedge. And you might be able to stroke it with factory parts to something bigger. Those industrial engines were usually based on truck parts and often had stronger castings There should be plenty of "how to build a Mopar Wedge" info floating around to help decide what to do with it. I'd spend a few bucks and pick up a copy of this. http://www.amazon.com/Big-blk-Mopar...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241101844&sr=8-1 If you buy one of the "used" copies it is pretty inexpensive and should let you know exactly what you are looking at with that engine.
383 Hemi ?? Well, if you put a 392 crank in a 354 block you get 381 at std bore... If it is free, then take it for spare parts. The 383 ended in 1971, the 400 started in 1972 and was immediately bashed as a low-pro smogger when in fact the only real change was a drop in compression. The rating system changed and so the numbers changed. The 400 is an excellent engine. 1978 was the last year for all B & RB engines except for some hold-overs in the RV industry. The pass car B engine, 350-361-383-400, 1958-1978, all have excellent potential and make gobs of torque. There is a reason the RoadRunners were so popular... The StageV conversion can be used on the B & RB blocks, but $$$$$$$$$. .
I would have to believe that IF it is really an industrial 383, it probably has a late 50s or an early 60s build date. Most industrial engines were amoung the biggest most powerful available at the given time. The 383's reign as the most powerful ranged from the end of the early Hemi production in the late 50s until the advent of the raised block 413s in the very early 60s, when it became the standard Chrysler industrial engine. Many people through the years thought Chrysler engines needed to have some title placed in front of the engine size to make them good engines. I have a friend that every Mopar engine he has had in the last 20 years has been a Police Intersepter (insert engine size here). Whatever. Your industrial 383 can be made into a great performance engine a lot cheaper then it can be made into a Hemi. 383s were great engines. Gene
Besides the industrial style water pump and possibly remote oil Filter/cooler , that engine will also have a carb governor and matching ignition which is useless for a street driven car ( advance curve is wrong) Plus if the engine was destined for use in a Combine harvestor,water pump or generator it will have a cam shaft designed to run at one speed with either no top or no bottom end power so you will need to throw that out. The same goes for BB 383 marine engines too. PLUS,if it is a marine engine and not an industrial engine,you have to make sure it rotates the right way. I have seen this before when a mate bought two unused 383's for a grand. One turned clockwise,the other anti clockwise.
Well the price is right...free. but I was just wondering if it would be worth getting and trying to build as my garage is getting full. it is crusty as the guy that has it now found it sitting outside on a farm. is there any speed equipment for chry 383's?
Leave it where it is. There are 100's of car 383's around for cheap money. Why play with some crusty peice of junk.
Not so fast there... The 383 was produced as a service engine, and factory replacements were made up untill the mid 70's. The 400 is infact a 383 stroke that's bored out to the 440 piston size. StageV hemi heads ~can~ be bolted onto a B/RB engine, but the only available intake is for the RB, so your gonna be stuck with a hand made sheet metal intake... Not for the novice. Also, as said, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ The 383 was the "entry level" big block in the mopar line up untill '70, and it was installed in everything from Darts to Road Runners, all the way up to top of the line Chrysler luxo-barges.... TONS of speed parts available, and a fantastic engine! Depending on WHO built it, and WHAT the "industrial" application was, it could be almost anything, from a cheapo company that bought left over car engines in the 70's, to a high end company that spent the money for true Mopar industrial engines. If it's a true industrial, it will have either a 1V or 2V carb, "industrial" script valve covers, a special water pump, and maybe a special pan. The heads will also be different in that they will have no heat risers, and as already said, low performance distributor and cam. On the plus side, it will likely have good rods and crank. Bottom line, if it's free, it's worth picking up for the short block... And just maybe it will have passenger car acessories on it... I'd grab it!
I've got a 383 I plan on building and putting in my Plymouth wagon. Its gonna be a gasser so its gonna need power.... http://www.440source.com/
A 400 is a .90 over bored 383. The bore is actually .20 bigger than a 440. The 426 Hemi was a 383 bore with a 440 stroke. I'm not sure if Stage V is even still in business but 10 years ago i looked into converting a 440 to Hemi. At the time the cost was ten grand to do it.
Don't waste your time, my friend has about 250 or so big block chryslers, about 10 of them are legit 426 hemis. He would freakin laugh at you for even considering making a 383 into a hemi (unless there is some podunct class for that at bonneville). Definitely snatch the motor, just don't make it a hemi.
There was an article in Super Stock & Drag Illustrated in I think 1980 on how the modification was done. Sox & Martin used one of these versions in their Omni and in a Colt. I'll tell you it requires a lot of welding and machine work ans is based on the RB383 not the low block. As far as I know there is only one guy still standing who did alot of the mods. Good Luck
If it's an industrial it's probably a 413. Good engines, but........the heads probably have good valves and seats for natural gas. High dollar filled valves ect... We used to give $36 bucks a piece for the valves for them! At least around here they were 413's and on NG. Used on circle irrigation systems. As mentioned, look on the pad on the front of the block to see what it is.
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