I am planning on putting a new 350 or 383 crate motor in my '72 vette. Any suggestions or recommendations would be very cool. Also, I would like any advice as to additional parts like headers, exhaust (i think side pipes would be neat) carbeuretors etc. My budget is about 8k to 9k for this project.

Thanks kindly in advance for any information, website links etc. that could help me out.

Chris N.

 

Welcome to the Corvette Forum.

Factory sidepipes rule. Of course they would probably break your budget unless you go w/ the fiberglass covers instead of the chrome ones which have become very expensive.

Good luck w/ your project. Keep us updated and post some pics.

 

Although my replacing the drive trane is a ways down the road, as my engine still runs great and no oil burning issues, etc., but when I do go through it, I'm going to make sure I install something that makes my 'Vette run like a real 'Vette. I DON'T want to get blown off by a stock 6 cyl. foreign job or some stock pick-up. It's happened to me in the past and is imbarrassing. IMO a 383 is a good option. If higher octane fuel was still available, I'd go w/ a pumped up 350 using the stock size crank, but now days we have to stop at about 10.25 to 1 and even be careful there. Good heads and a streetable roller cam is a good way to go, and still have a daily driver.
Anyway, just my opinion. I will say that w/ 8 or 9 Gs, your options are many. Have fun doing it and Good Luck.

 

IMHO, ya ought ta go with the 350.
Build it yourself, so ya know what ya got.
You can get a lot of horses out of well built 350, to be sure.

....unless 6 to 8 hun HP is too tame for ya.

.....then go BB. [sm=icon_rock.gif]

 

I did a 383 using a late one piece rear seal, factory roller cam block, from there a forged stroker crank, 4340 H-Beam 6.00 rods. 8cc dished pistons (to keep compression at 10.5:1 with the 64cc heads), Comp Cams XR 288 HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, Edeldrock Performer RPM air gap intake, QuickFuel 830 double pumper carb, MSD Streetfire billet HEI ignition, Flowtech headers, 2 1/2 exhaust with Flowmaster Super 44 mufflers.
With this combination the car is very streetable and has run as quick as 12.54 @ 114mph with the factory 2.73 rear gears

 

GM has lots of crate engines to look at.
I have a 385hp fast burn 350 crate engine that cost me $4600 from Summit.
I pumped it up to approx 450hp with a high energy Comp Camp etc and I can run on 93 octane pump gas.
The car is scary fast and sounds real nasty with the Flowmaster exhaust system.

Never had one single problem with this engine, always starts and runs like a champ.

Schoon

 

From all the replies to this topic, it looks like the 350 block w/ the 3.75" stroke crank (400ci engine crank) is the chosen road to take if you want your 'Vette to have a runnin' small block in it. I remember in High School, the 350 being the newer small block when 327s and 283s were still being run regularly, you could use the stock stroke350 crank and install dome pistons w/ all the other relative components and w/ Sunoco 260, you could run better than 4.00 to 1 gear ratio "w/o floating valves" and have a heck of a running quarter mile car. Now, w/ the low octane fuel we're stuck w/, and therefore having to go w/ the lower compression ratios, the longer stroke is the best running thing going f/ the 350. ie: an article in the "Chevy Performance" magazine tests a 385 engine w/ AFR heads and a Comp Cams roller cam set up, w/ about 10.25 to 1 compression ratio, and the other relative components, and the engine dynoed at 523 hp. Basically over 500 hp isn't hard to get and is streetable w/ the 3.75" stroke crank at the base of it. And if you've been into any drag racing, you know if you can plant that 500 plus hp to the pavement w/ traction, your 'Vette will come out of the hole quick enough to blow away the foreign jobs and new pick-ups.
* I have nothing against the foreign cars, as you have to admit that many of them are engineered very well and WELL worth the money they're selling for, but I just don't want one of those foreign cars blowing off my AMERICAN 'Vette. (My brother told me about a kit they sell in Montreal, Canada, around the universities, that contains a Canadian flag and other items that you stick on your back pack, etc. when traveling through Canada so that you hide the fact that you're American, so you don't get alot of attitude from the French Canadians.He thought this to be somewhat of a good thing. I hate to argue w/ my brother as we're super close and I love him and have been geographically far apart for decades and I miss him alot, but I had to tell him that it would be a "Cold Day In Hell" before I'd ever hide the fact that I'm American. In fact, I'd stick the American flag on my pack while going through Canada. I've been half way around the world in the military (and in about three quarters of the USA) and have always found plenty of reasons to be glad and proud that I'm an American and from the "upper 50." I respect other's lands when I'm visiting, as "while in Rome-do as the Romans, it's only right and correct, but rather than deny that I'm American, I show them what a good, strong, honest and respectfulAmerican is.-Hope my "pro-American" view doesn't offend anyone on here, and if it does...I mean it in a nice way.)