Have you looked on here or around for something already together? I only ask because you can save a bunch of money that way. You can find good deals on heads, intakes, carbs, short blocks and even stroker kits.

I really didn't know they were even made. Sorry. No engine builds over here in sometime and this car I am building has finally gotten painted after being off the road for 17 years. One of those projects that kept getting put off because other ones were more fun at the time. I just talked to a guy a reputable local machine shop and he said they did a couple with the Stealth head and he needed to rework them some that they are not a bolt on as they claimed. Something with the springs and retainers. He said that was a couple years ago and it makes good power and the guys are happy with them. He claims the Edelbrock is a bolt on but a little more money and less stock looking. Sorry I lead a sheltered life. I don't get to shows and stuff like I use to. I hope to change all that again. This car has to get finished!

On the other end of the spectrum, you can easily spend $10K on a carb to pan 383/451 stroker using all new parts that makes close to 600 HP.

$3K is a tight budget for a stroker; unexpected/corrective machine works tends to sneak up on you.

I am seeing that. It's nearly a couple hundred bucks to clean up a block and tell you if it's OK to even use it!

On the top of page 4 in the "Engines For Sale - Big Block" there's a 451 shortblock, fresh, $1800.00 in TN. Road trip??

I was hoping for short block at 3k or less.

Lots of choices... If you want or need to stay in budget, you can get a nice running stock looking 383. Compression around 9:1, no quench, iron heads, decent cam. Lots of fun to drive. Don't let me or others talk you out of it if that's right for your app. Care in piston choice and machine work will make it noticably stronger than original.

The next step up would be 440 source or Edelbrock heads. Next after that is a stroker.

I'll PM you the info , they are sort of used , I had the shortblock assembled then changed plans and upped the compression with a custom of the same piston with a dome .

john, on your 383 in your dart,where your pistons down in the hole? i hear alot of folks talking about poor compression ratio on these motors in factory form. i have 3 complete 383 magnums here(2 are from 2 different 69 roadrunners/ 1 from a 70 super bee) all were very low mile cars,untouched,all stock,and all 3 of them have the stock flat pistons in them and are zero deck.
just curious how much variation there could be.

I have not looked into doing a low buck 383 in a long time. I rebuilt the original 383 that came in my '71 Charger with one of the inexpensive Summit "kits" that was about 20-years ago, but the kit had forged flat top pistons and all the bearings, rings, and gaskets. I don't recall the brand or part number, but the pistons sat below the deck.
I used some 906 heads from a '68 383, and ported them using the Mopar templete kit, then had them rebuilt with new valves, guides, and hardened exhaust seats, and milled 0.040" to get back a bit of compression using the 0.040" thick Fel=Pro head gaskets.
The cam I used was the Crower Compu-pro 271HDP (271/284 adv duration, 222/234 @ 0.050" duration, 0.486"/0.496" lift, 112 LSA) It made good mid-upper power and I would shift at 6,000 RPM, but not much low end torque with the (maybe 9.0:1 compression or lower). I was using a stock 1800? stall converter and it just did not work well. I really needed a higher stall converter.
The valve train was stock rocker gear with slightly shorter Ford FE pushrods (same ball-ball ends, but oil through design and about 0.030" shorter than a stock 383 pushrod.)
I tried two different intakes, A Weiand Action Plus dual plane, which seemed to perform about like the stock 4-bbl, and a Weiand X-Cellerator single plane. The engine seemed to make more power with the X-Cellerator, but it also made the low end even worse. The performer rpm would have worked good on this engine, but it would be about 10 years before that intake was avaliable.
The carb was a Carter 750, and it had Hooker headers, and dual 2.5" exhausts with superturbo mufflers.
I had accidently over-reved the engine because of the stupid shift kit that lets you select first gear at any speed modification and worn out shifter bushings. Anyhow, I had a few intake valve hit the flat top pistons (the pistons had no valve reliefs), so I ended up with bent valves.

Anyhow, That 383 setup was the most dissapointing engine I have ever built.

At the time (early to mid 1990s) piston selection was really limited (if the affordable range anyhow), and aftermarket cylinder heads were pretty limited. This is when I bought my B-1 B/S heads. I was thinking of using them on the 383 short block because the heads have small 65cc chanbers which would bring up the compression ratio. After getting the heads with 1.6:1 rockers it was obvious the pistons would need valve reliefs, and I really did not want to tear a fairly fresh short block apart. Anyhow, the 451 strokers were getting some attention at the time, and it just made more sense to use the heads on the 451 stroker 400 block with Ross pistons that had plenty of reliefs so I could run a bigger cam.
Anyhow after going to the stroker, I totally lost interest in the old 383. The stroker was making almost twice the power as the old 383, and the rest is history....

Ok, I started looking to see what is avaliable and affordable. Here is what I came up with to build a decent street performance 383, that should make around 450 HP, and cost around $3,500.
The $3,500 does not include oil pan and pickup, Carb, ignition system, exhaust system, or cooling system.

So here is what I came up with (copyed and pasted from my spread sheet):

383 PARTS LIST
PART DESCRIPTION COST Notes:
Pistons KB-400-030 $345.99 9.5:1 to 9.8:1 Domed piston using 80-84cc head, 0.040” Gasket, 0.024” below deck.
Cam Kit Lunati 60303LK $209.95 Cam and Lifters, 3-bolt cam
Gasket Kit Fel-Pro QKS2110 $55.95
Rod Bolts ARP 145-6002 $61.31
Piston Rings Sealed Power ZE233K30 $48.95 Moly top ring, not file fit, mild performance app?
Main Bearings Clevite MS876P $62.95 Performance Set – standard size
Rod Bearings Sealed Power Z82320CP $64.95 Performance T-77 Set of 8 – standard size
Cam Bearings Dura-Bond PDP-17 $24.88 Prefered performance cam bearing for best fit
Freeze Plugs Sealed Power Z3818011 $12.99 Brass freeze Plug Kit
Valley Tray gasket Fel-Pro (112-1002) $19.95 440-source price
Oil Pump Melling M-63HV (440 S Price) $65.95 High Volume Standard Pressure Oil Pump
Oil Pump Bolt Kit 440 Source 109-1502 $9.95 Longer bolts for HV pump
Oil Filter Fram HP-1 $9.95 Oil Filter
Timing Chain Set 440 Source 102-1004 $74.95 3-bolt timing set, double roller
Timing Chain bolt kit ARP (440 source 129-1007) $8.95
Harmonic balancer 440 Source  200-1083 $89.95 High Strength Steel, non-sfi
Cylinder Heads 440 Source 200-1055 $995.00
Cylinder Head Bolt Kit ARP (440 source 129-1005) $79.95 440 source brand 109-1514 = 44.95
Spark plugs NGK $24.95 440 source – Champion 3/4” reach 138-1000 = 24.95
Intermediate Shaft Bushing 440 source 101-1001 $7.95
ARP Main Stud Kit 440 Source 129-1008 $59.95
Intake Manifold Edelbrock Performer RPM $239.95 440 source price
Sub-Total $2,575.32


Machine Work
Clean / Hot Tank Block $50.00
R&R & Fit cam bearings $30.00
R&R Rod Bolts and recondition rods $100.00
Align Hone Mains with ARP studs (if needed) $100.00
Mill / square Deck $100.00
Bore & Hone cylinders /w Torque plates $160.00
R&R pistons (press fit pins) $24.00
Turn / Polish crank ( if needed) $100.00
balance engine $200.00
Sun-Total $864.00

Total = $3,439.32

Power estimate using headers, and 750 cfm carb:
RPM HP TQ
1000 59 308
1500 95 332
2000 130 341
2500 180 377
3000 234 410
3500 278 417
4000 327 429
4500 388 453
5000 433 454
5500 452 431
6000 454 397
6500 445 360
7000 420 315

As you can see, not much torque in the low end.
If the deck is milled about 0.020" the pistons should be at 0.004 below deck (not the dome part) and that would boost compression to 10.27:1 and add about 10 ft/lbs of torque to the power band (and also tighten up the quench, but the dome would have to be checked for clearance.)
These power numbers were estimated using low port flow numbers that someone reported as out of the box numbers. with some port cleanup and the milled block peak power could be around 475 HP.
Numbers were generated with the Dynomation 5 sim, wave-action model, and when I tested larger cams, they seemed to really hurt low end torque even more.

I looked at my spread sheet briefly the other day but was to lazy to really go through it. Thanks for going through it and posting.

I would probably remove the APR studs, oil pump and RPM manifold and use the existing main bolts, add a high pressure spring to his existing pump, and buy a used DP4B. On the flip side, I don't see the intermediate shaft, and I'd add a windage tray, new stamped rockers, shafts and maybe pushrods. Are there valve springs in that kit? Shipping will be a little coin, and my machine work here is a little higher.