i don't know. i can appreciate both the 'gearhead' side and the 'correct zip tie' side, but i honestly think us guys in the middle would not see much of a difference, performance wise, between a 440 and a 383. except for when it comes to finding and paying for one.

Well, there's a LOT of talk about stroked 383's..............

I'd never take a 383 over a 440. You're giving up at least 40 hp and a probably a good 60 ft-lbs of torque. If the cost is the same, why take less hp and torque? And believe me, there is a BIG difference between the two engines. A properly tuned 440 can be scary fast. Hard to make a 383 that fast. Just my take on it.

The answer lies in my illiterate username

I read this quote somewhere, not sure where exactly but it went something like this..

A Body - Small blocks only
B Body - Go big or go home
E Body - Flip a coin

i thought 69 1/2 was first year for a 440 in a rr. if you are building a pretty much stock street car motor, meaning adding headers and a intake either the 383 or the 440 will work just fine. you will not be using all the power that either of these motors will produce. you are driving it and once in awhile burning the tires. if you think that you need a little more power build either one. i like the 383, doing it over i would have used our 426 street wedge.

440, same cost (except for up-front cost) but same parts net much more power and torque. Go big or stay home

I'd go with the 383, for me it's just iconic to the name plate.

I would build a high compression 383 with good parts and ported edelbrock heads so you can stomp the crap out of most stock and maybe stock 426 cars on the street and make them all mad....
use a good cam to spin it over 6grand and runn the hell out of it !

I'd never put a RB motor in an original B motor car. Keep a B motor in it but not a 383. A 400 block out to 511 inches is the way to go.