383 SBC was 8cyl *SFI* P-4 was RE: Traction

[ECMnut at aol.com]

Hi Dave,
hey on the 383 thing, there is no subtitute for cubes.
Go with the 400 if the opportunity presents itself.
I had a VERY mild 350 in a Vega.  It turned 11.90s.
The carb was an out-of the box 750 holley, the cam was
a mild Crane hydraulic. Trans turbo 350.  I replace the shortblock
with a 12:1 400 shortblock reusing all the other stuff from the 350.
Because the 400 SBC is strokey as hell, I also went from a 5.38
gear, down to a 4.10 for longevity. (14w x 32h slicks)
The car turned a 10.88 the first run with the 400 SBC. This thing
had no lopety idle at all..  The cam frumped a teeney bit with
the 350, but now it was like driving a hoover vaccuum cleaner.
*Even with* the gear reduction, the extra torque reduced 60ft. times 
from 1.6x to 1.5x seconds.
Just MHO, go with as much displacement as possible, particularly
if it is naturally aspirated.
Mike V

> yep that was what I planned.. havent done it yet.. problems with the 
>  angled plug heads making (2 of) the plug wires hit the exhaust 
>  manifold and burn to short gave the thing a best 1/4 of 14.88 !!!!! 
>  em-freakin-barrisin. blowerless was a 14.20!  I got so discouraged 
>  that I'm seeking a 383 shortblock now. dang blower just another part 
>  to fail. I have the plug problem ironed out and the car is faster but 
>  not proven via timeslip yet. still going 383 regardless. I have 28# 
>  injectors waiting.
>