Need help with building 1963 383

[peakandscoot]

I have a 1962 fury convertible its been In the garage for over 50 years. My dad changed out the 318 with 3 speed to a 63 383 with an automatic push button trans back in 64. i dont have original 318 or 3 speed and am doing a restomod on it. Thats the back story. I want to build the 383 the only thing i would really require is fuel injection. I want to build a engine that will have performance with reliability. Not going racing but want a nice 383. my dad changed the engine to make it a street rod so i want to keep that spirit. How do i go about building a solid engine without just mismatching engine components.

 

[FU64RY]

Pictures of the car

 

[peakandscoot]

Here is one before it was dissembled completely and one dissembled. It currently is 100% striped and and bolted up to my rotisserie. it was supposed to go to blasting on Wednesday but the warehouse i was going to be storing it afterwards was damaged by a forklift so hopefully next week or the week after. I have all the trim and interior ready to go back in when ready. Once the body is ready i need to start on the power train. The only reason i am blasting is my uncle thought it was a good idea however never finished so now i have some surface rust on the under carriage but none on the rest of the body. It was in pieces but garage kept since 67 it has 33,000 on it.

 

[lewtot184]

i think the #1 rule for a 383 is not to over cam. next would be piston/head selection to build a quench in the combustion chamber for pump gas. in my opinion; i'd take the money to purchase fuel injection and put it to use some where else.

 

[black64]

Plenty of cams out there for the 383 so talk to a cam manufacturer about your needs. The push button trans had limited selection on torque convertors so watch that with cam selection unless you change out the front input to a later one for better convertor selection. Nothing wrong with building it to the 335 HP engine specification those were reliable and plenty of power on the street. Is the 383 you have a HP engine to begin with? Aluminum intake and new carb plus electronic ignition would make the engine reliable. Good luck on what you decide on.

 

[dvw]

Plenty of cams out there for the 383 so talk to a cam manufacturer about your needs. The push button trans had limited selection on torque convertors so watch that with cam selection unless you change out the front input to a later one for better convertor selection. Nothing wrong with building it to the 335 HP engine specification those were reliable and plenty of power on the street. Is the 383 you have a HP engine to begin with? Aluminum intake and new carb plus electronic ignition would make the engine reliable. Good luck on what you decide on.

The 63 trans can be inexpensively modified to take the 67 and up common converter, 30 minute job once it's on the bench. I wouldn't use the original heads. They are restrictive. If you don't want to spring for aluminum heads I'd check the variors forums. More than a few sets of rebuilt later heads cheap. Performer RPM intake. I personally think the fuel injection money could be better spent on the rest of the motor. A 600 Eddy carb will drive fine and they are cheap. Fined a factory electronic distributor and your choice of box, I'd recommend a MSD 6A. 3.55-4.10 gear depending on highway use. once you decide the compression and the gear pick a matching cam and converter.
Doug

 

[Furiousvip]

If you're anything like most Mopar junkies, you'll be happy with the 383 for a while...but eventually, you'll be wanting more. I have an original 383 in my 64 Dodge 440 and was also thinking about building it. But the way I see it, if I'm going to spend the $$ anyway, I might as well build it right the first time...so I decided to build a 400 Stroker(ie. 451 or 470 cid)...this way I can keep the original look of the 383, reuse many of the parts (ie Exhaust) and have more power and better reliability in terms of strength as it relates to high horsepower...Just something to consider before you start spending lots of money only to realize that you should have done something different from the start.

 

[peakandscoot]

Thanks to everyone for all the info. I had no idea about the torque converter. I have been thinking about aluminum heads and definitely electronic ignition. Yes it is an HP block. I have gone back and forth about changing it back to manual transmission but since i was a little i always thought that push button was so cool, now that the car is in my hands i dont think i can change it. Plus i live near the beach and it will end up to be more of a casual cruiser but i do want power as well.

 

[Xp29h]

FWIW, I just replaced an hp 383 for a 400 stroker to 512. 383 just wasn't doing it. Furious had a good suggestion. I actually had a Mopar guy tell me I dressed up the 383 a bit during the winter. What he didn't know it was not the 383. You can't tell the difference until you check the numbers! Just another thought for you. Good luck

 

[Rick Carson]

If you want to do the 383 and are puting pistons in it anyway you might as well up date it to 68 and newer pistons and go with the 906 style heads. They flow so much better than the 516's you would likely have now.I agree with black64,335hp for cruising is plenty and can be quite efficient. With right carb and intake and good headers can be more like 360 hp and trouble free.

 

[threewood]

Call John Cope, he can get 19 spline converters for the pushbutton 727. He has PTC make them to order.