I am planning on doing a 5.3 to a 383 stroker conversion, and I am looking for pro's and con's of doing so. I am looking for reliable performance and more torque. If this is not a good setup then what would be and why? Please feel free to put your .02 in. I would love to hear from those of you who have done this and what are your opinions on it. Thanks in advance.

 

Find an LS1 and do a rebuild it to a 383 from the bottom up. Crank, pistons, heads, cam, etc... You're gonna have to remove the engine anyway, might as well start with one that's not in the truck, IMO.

 

Other than the cost of it I think it's a good idea. It's a good way to pick up almost 60 cubes.

 

Well as of right now, there is a 4.3, with a 5 speed in the truck. I just got a really good deal on a 5.3 and I know it can be bored out to 3.905, so I plan on putting a stroker kit in it and hopefully will come out with a strong engine with a bit more torque.

 

I would source a 6.0 to stoke so you can avoid a valve shrouding issue that the smaller bore would ceate. Also if you plan on using stock heads you can put bigger valves in a bigger head, and the smaller cc's on a long stroke can be a bit of a hassle getting a streetable compresion ratio.

Also I have seen 408 short blocks for about 4g's which would save you all the hassles.

 

Double check on the 3.905" bore idea by having your 5.3L block sonic tested prior to machine work. Some can't go out that far. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a 382ci motor because the over-bore stopped at 3.898". Just tell your buddies "It's not a five point three, it's a six point three!"

I would personally take a stroked LS1(383) over an LQ9/408 every single day for a daily driver. The 383 has greater potential to return better gas mileage than both the LQ4/9 and the 408 when all are built for the same purpose. You have a better chance making more peak horsepower with a 370/LQ4/9 but you'll have more average torque with the 383, which is what a truck and DD needs most.

I'm building a 382 for my wife's grocery getter SUV/5.3L, PM me if you'd like.

 

Just curious why you state the 383(2) can make more hp/tq than a 408. Maybe I'm reading you wrong. Not trying to start a **** fight. I've always thought that bigger is better when you need to make the power down low.

 

I think what he is saying is more cubes is easier to make PEAK HP. Where as the 383 is less cubes but due to the stroke(stroker), the 383 will have a better TORQUE CURVE. He's not saying that the 383 will outperform the larger CI motors, but simply be better suited for this application which is what im looking for.

 

What is the stoke of the 382 relative to the 408? Stroke on the 408 is 4" if I'm not mistaken. I'm thinking the extra cubes of the 408 will more than make up for a slightly longer (if any) stroke on the 382....but I've been wrong before.

 

Both use the same crank. The 382 is just cheaper because you don't have to buy a 6.0L block which can often be though to of as gold for some damn reason.