Here goes nothing!
I got a 68 383 block that was rebuilt with new bearings, 9:1 pistons, bored .030.
I got 452 heads, a tunnel ram, two 600 Holley carbs, Accel distributor, and misc other parts.
I still need a bunch of parts, including timing chain, cam, lifters, pushrods, rockers, and an oil pick-up.
The goal is to pull the stock 383 and replace it with this engine, which I won't be so concerned about blowing up, although I do want this engine to run well.
I considered different heads, including the original ones on the car now, and decided on the 452s because they will work with unleaded gas without extra work/cost, they are in good shape and were at a good price.
The first issue I see here is the more than likely lack of compresion in the engine. Perhaps, a set of closed chambered heads would help this. Maybe milling what you have?
I am not sure if they will work well with the rest of the combination, but I am told they should.
So, I have a few issues to sort out:
1) What cam/lifters/pushrods would work best?
What is the goal of the engine? Total streetabilty or street strip, race only? The choice of cam duration will be narrowed down to what RPM you plan on driving in.
2) I'm going to pull the valves out to check them out and put in new seals, can I use the stock springs, or should I get different springs?
The new cam should be matched with the new springs recomended by the cam manufacturer.
3) Is a stock timing chain a good selection?
Nothing beats a new timing chain. Double roller.
4) What rockers should I use?
Stockers are OK for a stockish build. Aftermarket units like Pro Mags from Comp Cams or Hugesengines are a inexpensive but a quality part and wise choice.
5) This is a 4 speed car, and the crank is not drilled for the input shaft. Taking the crank out to bring it to a machine shop and have it drilled out is not ideal for me, nor is bringing the entire engine to a shop. Can this be drilled out at home, using a jig of some kind and/or a drill press, or should this be left to a machine shop? (I will not be cutting the input shaft!)
Disasemble the engine and bring the crank in for work.
I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to engines, I'm just not experienced in the selection of parts to make a combo work well.
Most every performance part sold has a RPM range that it works in. (Not timing chains and valve seals) so from there, you can narrow down your selection to workable parts for a basic, but probably not well balanced combonation of parts.
Missing info besides the intent of the car is gear ratio, tire size, wanted engine output etc...
