383 build.

A friend and I are looking to build up his stock numbers match 71 383 in his four-speed Road Runner. He's hoping for a relatively mild build with over 400 horsepower. It was rebuilt the stock specs about 10 years ago .Was thinking of taking some weight off the engine by using 440 Source Stealth heads, aluminum water pump and housing., TTI header's. It's an air grabber car and he is wondering what intake utilize the factory air grabber. So is anyone have any ideas for intake manifold and camshaft ideas?. And how are those heads Will work on a 383?? Thanks

Sounds like you're on the right track. Just get some measurements from the stock intake before you shop intakes and make sure the new one will work with the air grabber. The 440 Source heads should be good and they offer a good range of cams. His goals are easily obtainable. Enjoy the build.

I would use the low rise Holley Street Dominator on this build. Very low height (close to the stock intake I believe) and it makes a ton of power for what it is. It is a single plane but no real torque loss. It is the best shot at working with the air grabber with little to no mods.

use the KB/silvolite high compression pistons, assuming 10.1 use the performer RPM (if it fits) or a good ol' holley street dominator.

For a mild stock converter (and assuming a hydraulic Flat tappet) and 3.23-3.55 gears use the Crower 32242 222/234 .496/.486 lift on 112 in at 107

For a hot street motor with a stick or 3000 stall and 3.91 or better gears, run the (Bullet) Ultradyne 231/239 @.050 .490/501 lift on 108 in at 102, this is a total badass cam for any hot street mopar without being too radical.

These are good reads with a lot of info, maybe a little more than what you were looking for but a lot of good info.

http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/bb/25.html
http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/bb/26.html

I was thinking a good port matched Mopar M1 intake if I could find one. Any thoughts?

A port match is probably one of the least important things in building a good street engine, the color of the valve covers is almost as important.

Street Dominator ripped in my four speed 383 car. Some will say the CH4B is the choice, you need to explore the height issue for the AG. Dont let anybody talk you into less than a 750 carb. For some reason people think it will kill low end- it won’t. Not on a stock internal engine and certainly not on a built one.

I would use an old TM6, Torker 383 or Torker II b/4 an M1.

Anything taller than stock with a 383 air cleaner base is going to cause the base to crush the rubber gasket harder and potentially hit the hood, the OP is lucky that there is more height under the 71 Air grabber hood but on a 69 Dodge or Plymouth that is not the case. That said I was able to run the DP4B , low deck version of the CH4B , both of which are a 1/2" taller , I didn't touch the hood but the member I recommended he run the CH4B on his 69 RR/GTX did ding his hood. Only the standard performer and the old M1 dual plane are the same height as stock ,.. that I know of.

The alternative is to run the tallest you want , performer RPM , but to modify the base to clear , there are modified bases floating around waiting to be modified more for the likes of the RPM ... I have been sitting on a modified 69 base for decades ...

I assume you are talking about the no longer made M1 dual plane that was an exact copy of the 70 cast iron single 4 bbl ? That is definitely lighter and you can do a lot more than port match , but that will be $$$$ .

The performer RPM with a modified air grabber baseplate would be better.

I have tested them all on my 383's over the years. The M1 will work but can be very finicky with the tune-up. A torker or TM6 with a 1" spacer is just as good and much easier to tune. That said the M1 works better on 383 and 400's strokers that use the 3.75 crank.

Are there after market bases available for the Air Grabber? If so, you can fab a drop base air cleaner base into one. And then, maybe drop the K down with spacers. 1/2" is usually easy enough. Doing one or possibly both of those things will allow you to run just about any intake that you want.

I did that on my Cuda and have an Indy intake and Holley Dominator carb under the Shaker. Actually, the Dominator is IN the Shaker.

A 70-72 440 air cleaner base would probably gain enough clearance for that intake and maybe enough for a Holley SD.

explain-70-440-4bbl-oval-air-cleaners-w-air-grabber

air-grabber-69-70-383-440-base-question

air-grabber-difference 383-440

In order to fit an Air Grabber on my 440 Cuda with an Eddy RPM I bought a 383 AG and cut/modded the base plate horn to drop it down quite a bit. Works great.

I added some links to my last post

Only one good piston choice in my opinion. Icon IC687. Careful planning and measuring 10.5:1 CR with the Stealths is possible.

Have someone like PRH massage the heads/valves. No need for full on CNC porting.

Modified DP4B or an RPM Performer. Which ever you want to work with with your hood.

Cam intake in the 230 degree range,

I really like my small venturi (1.375") 950. Drives like a 750, runs like an 850.