383 Dissasembly

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69'Barracuda

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Hey all, just got my 383 in the mail yesterday, and I'm excited to rebuild it. This will be the first engine I have disassembled/ rebuilt so I was looking for tips on doing it, I know an engine is a lot of parts. I know the engine ran, but I am also wondering if while it's apart if I should clean it or have it professionally cleaned by a machine shop, (it's already bored .030 over and I don't plan on boring it anymore) before I have it painted and rebuild it with new parts. Thanks for the help in advance. Any other tips/ tricks/ advice on disassembling or reassembling or having an engine machined/ cleaned are welcome.
 
I suggest you disassemble the engine. It's not a race, take your time, examine each piece closely, make yourself aware of wear patterns(usual and unusual), feel free to take notes and pictures. Bag and tag small parts. Take extra note of oil gallery plugs and where they need to go before reassembly. You can let the machine shop do the major cleaning, but you can do the final cleaning before reassembly. Invest in some brushes for cleaning oil galleries and small holes. Get some bottoming taps or thread chasers to help cleaning blind, threaded holes.
If you do not need to rebore, I suggest machine honed cylinders with torque plates in place, to get the cylinders really round and straight for the best ring seal.
 
You are building this to compete with a Chevy 454 right?

Glad to see you pulled the trigger on a second block if you found a period correct one for a restoration. I picked up a 383 in Oregon for $100.

At a minimum I would pull the heads and look at the bore. You may not want to "over bore" but the ridges may dictate otherwise.

I disassembled my 383 and had the shop Hot Tank, check the deck, align hone the mains, and will be boring once the pistons come in. As part of their block "prep" flat price they will be installing expansion plugs and new camshaft bearings.

The benefit if it all checks out is replacing new bearings and pistons rings anyways! Second, even if it is perfect I would recommend having a shop balance the rotating assembly.
 
You are building this to compete with a Chevy 454 right?

Glad to see you pulled the trigger on a second block if you found a period correct one for a restoration. I picked up a 383 in Oregon for $100.

At a minimum I would pull the heads and look at the bore. You may not want to "over bore" but the ridges may dictate otherwise.

I disassembled my 383 and had the shop Hot Tank, check the deck, align hone the mains, and will be boring once the pistons come in. As part of their block "prep" flat price they will be installing expansion plugs and new camshaft bearings.

The benefit if it all checks out is replacing new bearings and pistons rings anyways! Second, even if it is perfect I would recommend having a shop balance the rotating assembly.
I currently do t have enough money for a second block so this is the same block I was going to build up (the accurate for restoration) but I think I'm changing routes a little bit, so I'm just going to build it up a little bit nothing crazy so I don't ruin the block and can always put it back to original, I think that's the best option at this point. And then when I have spare money buy a 383 or 440 to compete with the 454.
 
I suggest you disassemble the engine. It's not a race, take your time, examine each piece closely, make yourself aware of wear patterns(usual and unusual), feel free to take notes and pictures. Bag and tag small parts. Take extra note of oil gallery plugs and where they need to go before reassembly. You can let the machine shop do the major cleaning, but you can do the final cleaning before reassembly. Invest in some brushes for cleaning oil galleries and small holes. Get some bottoming taps or thread chasers to help cleaning blind, threaded holes.
If you do not need to rebore, I suggest machine honed cylinders with torque plates in place, to get the cylinders really round and straight for the best ring seal.
Stop right now, buy this book first!
How to Build Max-Performance Mopar Big Blocks | AR Engineering
Use the information to build a stock or modified engine.
I'll definitely buy that. Thanks!
 
I suggest you disassemble the engine. It's not a race, take your time, examine each piece closely, make yourself aware of wear patterns(usual and unusual), feel free to take notes and pictures. Bag and tag small parts. Take extra note of oil gallery plugs and where they need to go before reassembly. You can let the machine shop do the major cleaning, but you can do the final cleaning before reassembly. Invest in some brushes for cleaning oil galleries and small holes. Get some bottoming taps or thread chasers to help cleaning blind, threaded holes.
If you do not need to rebore, I suggest machine honed cylinders with torque plates in place, to get the cylinders really round and straight for the best ring seal.
I'll make sure to do that. Thanks a lot.
 
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