383 Pistons

Does anybody make a good zero deck 383 piston any more? I don't care if it's cast or forged, just not a hypereutectic piston.

Did they ever?

IMHO your best bet is one of the aftermarket specialty forged piston makers.

R.

Well per the 330hp vs 335hp thread it seems they did... some even over the deck for couple of cents

( not me, just what I read there even I began the thread )

If the after market ever did, it was before 1977.

Its been awhile since I've looked so you should look to see what might be out there now. The old Speed Pro 2315 is tall enough to get you to zero deck with some deck machining, and proper gasket selection. It'll be 0.010" to 0.018" below an uncut deck.

I agree with BSB67's comment about the TRW 2315's . My Bee's original 383 motor had .008-.016 deck height with 2315's after cutting the decks .010.

One option would be to run the old 2315 TRW's, do a light cleanup cut on the decks, and have the crank slightly offset ground to push the piston to zero deck height. Problem is that factory rod lengths are all over the map so getting close to zero on all 8 cylinders will likely take 2-3 sets of rod cores and/or some selective machining.

The cost to correct the machining of factory parts really starts to eat away at the cost delta of a stroker kit.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbt...tml#Post1686955

Kevin

Thanks to everyone who responded. A huge help!

The guy who really knows this is JohnRR. Maybe a PM to him is in order.

IMHO by the time you get done messing around trying to make this or that piston work, you will be within spitting di$tance of a custom forged piston which will be exactly what you need. Trying to find a new set of old TRW slugs is a hassle, buying a set of Speed Pros will cost more than you think. Either choice will be incredibly heavy, because the OEM pistons were heavy. The TRW or Speed Pro pistons were built to replace stock pistons. You should be able to save over 100 grams per piston with a custom forged piston from one of the companies I mentioned in my last post.

Really check your options before buying a piston.

R.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbt...tml#Post1686955

Unless you're trying to make some fairly serious power, and/or turn a lot of rpm, the 2315's will work just fine.
Easy balance job on the crank since the weight is close to the OE pistons.

Got 'em in my 383....... Stock rods w-arp bolts...... Goes 7100 through the lights on a good weather day.

The "mike s" pistons were promising when he had a Compression Distance of 1.930", but as of late, they are 1.920". These are not game changers. It’s unfortunate someone can’t simply produce a copy of a 68/69 HP piston with modern ring packs and modern alloy. My belief is that a majority of people building stock stroke 383s are doing so for restoration or nostalgia purposes and not for max power/torque; too many stroker kits for that.

I'll be ordering a semi-custom set of pistons to get exactly what I want for my 383. Poor, poor, pistons choices everywhere else...

1.920 cd flat top
1/16-1/16-3/16 ring pack
valve notches
accumulater groove
4032 alloy
std 1.094 pin,press or float with forced pin oiling

What's not modern?

I'm with you.

You can get to zero deck easy enough, valve notches, 75cc aftermarket aluminum cylinder heads and good quench for a motor that has been out of production more than 45 years. The 383 never had it so good.

Piston weight on a 3.38" stroke 383 is really a none issue.

If you are looking for or expecting more than this, you really did not want a street 383 anyway, IMO

When the summer comes, I'm going to take a close look at these pistons. Just the facts that they have an accumulator groove and the 1.920 compression height are big pluses in my book.

I agree exc for one thing. The piston weight makes a huge difference.

I am having issues posting the pics, so far I can not attach any to my posts. When you see them judge them. Email me for pics threerail@msn.com

The only other thing not modern about them besides the pin is the shorter 1.920" CD. A lower than stock CD; lower compression aftermarket pistons which have plagued 383s for decades.

Why not start with the factory 68/69 HP CD of 1.932", and IF there is a concern of lower deck heights on a particular block, one can simply deck the pistons to the desired CD. Right!? Because you can remove some material from new pistons but cannot add new material to a block.

Not for what we're talking about here.

A 1.920c/h piston, 1/16 rings, 1.094 pin, with valve pockets sounds good to me.

That's only .014 down the hole, and I'm going to deck the block anyway, so it's an easy zero deck combo.

Mike S-

To post a picture -
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Thanks!

Very nice. Were do we get them?

Thank you,just email me @ threerail@msn.com

BTW the +.040 pistons weigh 636g pin is 192g

did a 383 last summer with the 2315's. they were .008" in the hole on an uncut block.

i have a 69 383 RR 335hp eng with them... have 4 spars i bough off of eBay 11 years ago... I bought the eng with the # 8 piston replaced/head was damaged... anyway they replaced the piston with a normal one.all the others were zero deck... so i had to search around for the zero deck piston.. what i remember it was 1/8 in higher then the one i removed... put it in.. new rings & heads and I've been driving it for 11 years in my 67 satellite

Diamond has a few 383 combos. One thought I had was to offset grind a stock 383 crank to 3.550 @ BBC size and run Hemi length BBC rods with Diamond 51952 pistons, deck ~.020. 415 cubes, plenty of compression, 500 grams, modern rings. Lightened wallet, but not too bad.