prerunner404

im thinking about rebuilding my 350 to a 383 since i have all mounts pullys ect already on motor or would i be wasting my money and should i just go with a 454? would the weight and power of the 383 save me vs the weight of a big block? thanks in advance. also its going into a 24' sleekcraft enforcer open bow.

hondahp4

whats the weight on that boat? i would guess somewhere around 3600lbs??? the 454 will give you the added torque and lower rpm power. the problem is the alpha drive behind the bbc. i run a formula 242 with 454 and alpha, and haven't had any problems (as most dont have problems with their 242's). my boat is significantly heavier than yours too. its all about the nut behind the throttles. if you're conscious about holeshots and airing the boat, you usually won't have problems. the added weight may become a problem for the boat too with the bbc. it may change the handling and reaction to steering. you will also have to have a complete 454 for all mounting and parts, which could get out of hand quickly. on the other hand, you have a good 350, and the stuff to do up a 383. those strokers can pump out some massive power and relatively easily make 450hp. the motor will be lower torque than the bb and a lil easier on the drive but still give you the wtfo power.

Fenderjack

iTrader: (2)

A mild/stout 383 is what I would do.. It's a small boat, you can ring 400 hp out of a 383 no problems.. Not to mentions everything for them is cheaper then a BBC... No hole shots, and actually drive the boat, don't leave the sticks to the dash when you air the boat, you shouldn't have issues.. We are currently doing a 355 on 12psi, going to run it through a alpha, on my 202 stinger to see how long it will last.. Ran a solid 2 seasons, beat the hell out of a alpha good, before it broke with a 400hp sbc, when it did, it was not the shaft breaking, it looks like it was caused by a existing problem that we never seen.. Just my op, but sb's will surprise you if you do them rite..

John jr

Dennis Moore

I would suggest a 383 with a light weight 12 pound flywheel. The lightweight flywheel will be much easier on the drive.
For the price of a changing to 454 you could buy small block aluminum heads, aluminum exhaust manifolds, aluminum circ pump (and of course an aluminum intake manifold) and with that 12 pound flywheel pull a bunch of weight out of the back of the boat. It will jump up on plane much faster than with a fat (Big) block!!!

Invest in a good roller camshaft and you will have something that runs like a big block but will be 100's of pounds lighter.
Dennis Moore

Trash

I recently just went through the same dilemma. I chose to rebuild my 350 Mag and utilize my EFI system, accessories and exhaust. The real killer is the amount of money you have to spend on exhaust once you use a big block. That added significantly to the build cost. The big block also presented unknown issues of fitment within the engine compartment.

I built a brand new motor (block, crank, rods, pistons, heads etc) and utilized my old EFI system, valve covers, GLM exhaust, accessories etc. I ended up with a 377 and installed a fairly stout hyd roller cam. The power increase is SIGNIFICANT over the old motor and I'm just in the initial tuning stages.

GPM

Some people use a 3.875 crank with a 5.85 rod and make it a 396.

prerunner404

well im sold then ill do the 383 it seem to make more sense to me. right now my boat only runs about 35-40 with the 350 i have it has about 350 hrs on it so i know she is gettin tired i have to run it at wot(4500rpm or so) just to get any where and that yeilds me about 35 mph. im looking to get the boat to run in mid50's to low 60's. im always easy on outta the hole take offs so i think i can baby the drive for a few seasons.

its a tbi motor so can i reuse the tbi? or do i have to switch over to carb or multi port injection?

prerunner404

ill look to do the light flywheel as well.

prerunner404

also what style piston should i use

GPM

That might take a lot of HP.