1968 383 Rebuild

[milit73]

I have my numbers matching engine for my 1968 Superbee and want to do a decent rebuild. I will be putting this back to stock but would not mind updating the internals for a little more performance.

Are there any good all around kits to do this or would it be better to piece this together? Thanks

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Has that engine ever been rebuilt? I would check the bore size before getting too far ahead of yourself. Make sure its a stock bore otherwise you will have to send back pistons etc etc.. Have the block looked at prior to making too many plans. It may need to be bored,honed etc etc.

 

[milit73]

It has never been rebuilt and was running good when pulled. I will start the tear down in the next few months and have everything checked.

 

[Bee1971]

Reality

How much do you want to spend in machine work plus parts

How much HP you want

What about the heads , machine work versus buying aluminum

If it’s your numbers block , you have to ask yourself what it’s worth to you down the road in Reliabiity versus HP

 

[65-440]

Honestly I would put the numbers engine in a corner of the garage and build a different 383 for it and have some fun... 383's are all over the place and cheap

 

[miller]

If you're wanting to keep the #s (engine/trans, etc.) up, and running down the road as is, just consider the mileage on the engine. On the 'older' type engines , mileage equals wear. To some, including me, it's fairly normal to rebuild an engine, at 100,000 miles. Those things don't last forever...certain parts wear, so they need to be addressed.
Just build it straight up, but as it's needed, to bring things up to snuff...fresh.

It's your boat...float it as you want.

 

[wyrmrider]

I put a 440 crank, 440 LY rods and custom pistons with a quench dome in a matching number superbird- still matching numbers compression down some for today's calif gas
put durabond valve seats and kline inserts in the heads and had them ported 2.14 x 1.81 valves did NOT fool with intake face gasket matching crap but did match the manifold
custom crower cam- similar seat timing to Magnum but more lift
I still have a spare piston somewhere I'll see if I can post it up

 

[Daves69]

1968 383 Rebuild

I have my numbers matching engine for my 1968 Superbee and want to do a decent rebuild.....

Kind of a special build in '68. Some info on that engine......
http://moparmuscle.org/383-engine.html

IMO, I might consider finding another engine to build if this one is an all standard real McCoy.

If you do tear it down I'm curious about the piston to deck height of it.

 

[wyrmrider]

yes the teardown is like an autopsy
if you can do a compression check before teardown
drain the block both sides before taking off heads
check the deck clearance at all four corners and report as requested
check and see if the valve springs have a dampner and report the size of the exhaust valve and the head casting number
manifold casting number and number off the carb tag
do you have the HP exhaust manifolds and dual exhaust? fan clutch? number of fan blades width of radiator
when you have the heads off cc the four end chambers
inspect the lifters / rockers/ pushrods but keep them in order- couple of egg cartons mark front etc what timing chain? can't believe nylon would last 40 years
let us know the rear gear ratio and how do you like it?

 

[BeepBeepRR]

My 440 was a 48k engine. After having the machine shop look it over it ended up having sag between the inner cylinders. The decks had to be machined to get it flat again. The bores were standard bore but had some pitting and had to be bored .30 over to clean up the pitting. My machine guy says that sag in the block is very typical. This is the reason for blown headgaskets. When the block is seasoned and the sag is done sagging it should be the block to build. When you take the heads off get a straight edge and run it across the cylinders end to end and check for block sag.

 

[wyrmrider]

you are right about the "sag"
IMHO it is because the two center exhaust valves run hot
but also you can be different end to end and side to side or both and not "square" with the crank say the exhaust side tilted up or down- seem all which ways
but not as bad as BBC for the most part- except for my personal motor home motor where we had to really cut the deck to get it squared up so much that I have to run .052 head gaskets (Victor Marine) to get .035 quench= that's right the 6 pack pistons come that far out of the bore about .016 out

 

[milit73]

Thanks for all of the responses. This was my dads car and has been in the family except the first year of its life. I have the numbers matching engine and trans sitting in my moms garage as I did not have room for it at my house. She is now selling the house in the near future so I thought it was time to rebuild and replace the "fun" engine and trans. It is not stock but seems to have less HP than my original. I will have to pay more attention during this teardown as it seems to May be different for these couple of years. Thanks again

 

[wyrmrider]

if there really was a sag the line bore would be off inspect the mains carefully
keep us posted

 

[69a100]

I put a 440 crank, 440 LY rods and custom pistons with a quench dome in a matching number superbird- still matching numbers compression down some for today's calif gas
put durabond valve seats and kline inserts in the heads and had them ported 2.14 x 1.81 valves did NOT fool with intake face gasket matching crap but did match the manifold
custom crower cam- similar seat timing to Magnum but more lift
I still have a spare piston somewhere I'll see if I can post it up

yes the teardown is like an autopsy
if you can do a compression check before teardown
drain the block both sides before taking off heads
check the deck clearance at all four corners and report as requested
check and see if the valve springs have a dampner and report the size of the exhaust valve and the head casting number
manifold casting number and number off the carb tag
do you have the HP exhaust manifolds and dual exhaust? fan clutch? number of fan blades width of radiator
when you have the heads off cc the four end chambers
inspect the lifters / rockers/ pushrods but keep them in order- couple of egg cartons mark front etc what timing chain? can't believe nylon would last 40 years
let us know the rear gear ratio and how do you like it?

you are right about the "sag"
IMHO it is because the two center exhaust valves run hot
but also you can be different end to end and side to side or both and not "square" with the crank say the exhaust side tilted up or down- seem all which ways
but not as bad as BBC for the most part- except for my personal motor home motor where we had to really cut the deck to get it squared up so much that I have to run .052 head gaskets (Victor Marine) to get .035 quench= that's right the 6 pack pistons come that far out of the bore about .016 out

Please, without some Capitalization & Punctuation, Your posts are very hard, if not impossible to read. But this is out of control!

 

[BeepBeepRR]

I got a disagree with my first post.. I guess by that they are saying just buy parts will-nilly and hope they fit the engine.. Without knowing if it needs to be machined. Sure go ahead and buy stock pistons, rings and bearings.. And cross your fingers the crank isn't going to need to be polished. But whatever.. My point was that just because its a stock engine and WAS running fine when you pulled it. doesn't mean its not going to need some sort of machine work. But if you are ok with tolerances being out of spec, then more power to ya.

 

[BSB67]

If you do tear it down I'm curious about the piston to deck height of it.

Me too. Some controversy over that, +/- .005"

 

[BSB67]

It has never been rebuilt and was running good when pulled. I will start the tear down in the next few months and have everything checked.

How do you know this. You the original owner, or in the family since new?

 

[milit73]

I am not sure if I offended someone or not but I want a good quality rebuild and will check all tolerances and specs.

This car has been in the family except the first years of its life and I know that it has never had a rebuild. They only reason I pulled the engine as the freeze plugs were leaking and had a bad front main trans leak. I bought a rebuilt engine with 6000 miles from a buddy that wrecked his truck so he had not use for it and then bought a rebuilt trans so the numbers matching things would be safe as I had fun with car so as not to worry about hurting these if I had to much fun. I may just find room and store these properly but I just can't decide.

 

[wyrmrider]

Hi milt- no idea what your are talking about- certainly no offense here
keep us posted
sorry about the dyslexia- I'll try harder 69

 

[65-440]

No offense at all .....