383 V8 light modification potential

[Crooked]

Was the 383 ‘B’ that went into dodge Monaco or coronet ever capable of producing 400Hp at the flywheel or more with light modifications such as bolt ons and cams? If so what would be required for 400 or more at the flywheel?

 

[Davea Lux]

With the right cam, and updated intake and carb, a port job on the heads and a set of quality headers, it would be fairly easy to get to 400 horses. Getting to that number will also involve going to a higher stall speed on the torque convertor and tweaking the transmission valve body and governor for modified shift points. You would also be looking a possibly changing the rear gear ratio to take advantage of the extra horsepower. A sure grip rear end would also be advised. You would probably want to make all these mods on a fresh rebuilt of the engine as well.

Dave

 

[CBODY67]

In about 1967, Hot Rod magazine did a dyno project on a '67 383 4bbl. It was a then-new short block when they started. As things progressed to about 425 horsepower or so, nothing seemed to help, until they "clearanced" the pistons a bit.

The old Street Hemi 284/284 Purple Shaft cam, using the Mopar Perf Head Porting Templates, an updated Edelbrock dual-plane intake, 780cfm carb (of your choice), headers or possibly the factory HP exhaust manifolds, 2.5" exhaust system with lower-restriction mufflers, in front of an upgraded TorqueFlite 727, probably about a 2600rpm stall converter, and 3.55 SureGrip would probably be a good package? There probably are better cams now, as Lunati has some that seem to be pretty good. Just as there are probably better-port heads readily available, too. KEY thing is to match all of the components to work together rather than just an "assemblabe" of parts.

THEN, upgrade the brake system and ensure the suspension components are in very good condition, too! Which can also mean better tires.

In some of the Mopar Perf Catalogs, there used to be a list of things to change in order to get close to particualr 1/4 mile ETs. Something like that might be helpful, too, as would be reading (AND understanding) the B/RB Mopar Perf Race Manual.

Enjoy!
CBODY67