would a BB 383 in a 72 duster be a good street/strip cobination? Or is it even worth the hassle?

my opinion is that this is a good combo, afriend has that set up in a 70 its panther pink caged has 32x14 slicks and 4.88 gears . whats the length of your track ours is a 1/8 mile . these cars are great drag cars as they are light and parts are easy to find.

360 will give you the same hp and go fast with less weight and less special parts. It will also fit a lot easier. I've built both and am a firm believer in small block power.

we run 1/8 in douglas ga,my car is still a project ,never fired the engine up,got ported and polished 440 heads,509 mopar cam,trw pistons .30 over,performance rpm high rise,tci build tranny with 2800 stall,i have no clue how its gonna run

i was getting a 400 but the guy sold it before i did,so i took the 383 off his hands

My opinion: You'll go faster, easier, with a big block. I also think it's worth your wait to find a 400 block. If you want to build on the cheap, find a forged 383 crank to put into the 400 block. The bigger bore is worth its weight in flow capabilities. Or, if a little more cash is at hand, find an RB crank and go the 451 route. All told, the RB crank route will cost you about an extra $700 in parts, but makes for a real killer, and maybe most important for an A body, its a lighter motor than a 383 or 400. If you stick with a 383, the argument for a 360 gets pretty strong, although the 360 is never gonna be Big Block cool

My experience is that all this stuff can be found fairly cheaply on Craigslist, if you just look for a while.

Put the 383 in for now. Any other swap to a 400-based stroker will be easy at that point. We have built two 383 A-bodies, one four speed and one auto. We never got the auto car fine tuned, but it was fun. The four speed car was even more fun. We've done the same with a 440/4sp setup in two cars, even more fun.

My sons Dart had a mild 383 in it and now has a solid cammed 400 in it. Neither are stroked and the 383 was still the stock bore.
Depending on how fast you want to go and if you want to drive the car alot will determine how nasty you want to go. Are you looking for 12's or 11's or faster. I only ask as you can run 12's in a very stock 383 Dart with just some bolt on's. Unless you want to go 10's you dont have to build a stroker. A stock stoke 383 or 400 can put a Dart in the 11's or 12's with ease. Not that stroking the 383 or 400 is not the best way to go but a stock stroke 383 or 400 will run good also. We ran 12.30's in this Dart with a very mild 383. We stepped it up a tad with a stock stroke 400 and have hit 11.40's in it using 3.91's. And it is a street car that he drives to the track. So I say yes a 383 Dart will run good with the right combo. Ron

I put one in a 70 - fun and different.