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The Chevrolet 383 Stroker is a hot rod engine never truly created in normal production for use in a specific car. The engine is a General Motors Chevrolet engine that is made for hot rod enthusiasts who love to modify their cars and add some extra power.
Although this engine was never offered in normal production in any cars, there are many vehicles where you may find this engine installed, particularly at a hot rod car show. Some common applications for this engine are the classic Chevy Nova, Chevy Camaro, and almost any other classic Chevy body.
The creation of the Chevrolet 383 Stroker was born out of creativity. The engine is essentially a Chevy 350 block, but uses a modified crankshaft from the Chevy 400 for increased stroke and as a result increased displacement.
The Chevy 350 block was first made in 1967 and at some point not too much later the engine started being modified into the 383 stroker. It is not clear exactly when this first modification occurred, but it was some time in the 1970s.
As mentioned, this engine was never in production; however that may be slightly misleading. It is now possible to by a 383 Stroker crate engine directly from the Chevy performance website. A brand new 383 crate engine can be purchased there for just under $8,000.
The 383 Stroker is popular for people with the Chevy 350 blocks who want a little more power. Another reason for the popularity is that this range of Chevrolet engines are able to easily swap parts from one engine to another, making it easy to work on and customize the engine just how that enthusiast wants.
Hot rod guys in particular love creating their very own engine, and this interchangeability helps to allow that.
383 Stroker Performance Specs
Since most of the Chevrolet 383 Stroker engines are modified, the performance specifications would also likely vary considerably. To make it simpler, I will just talk about the specifications of the 383 Stroker that can be purchased as a crate engine from Chevy.
The latest version of this crate engine is able to reach 450 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. Chevy does recommend that this engine be paired with a Holley 4-barrell carburetor to ensure that the maximum performance specifications are reached.
As you might guess from the name, the displacement of this engine is 383 cubic inches (6.27L), thanks to the longer stroke provided by the Chevy 400 crankshaft. This engine has a bore of 4 inches with a stroke of 3.8 inches.
Head and Block Construction
Again for the materials I will just focus on the crate engine currently offered from Chevy, although other material options are for sure available. The block is constructed of cast iron and mated to a fast burn aluminum head.
The pistons are formed from hypereutectic aluminum and moved with connecting rods created from heavy-duty PM steel. The crankshaft is of forged steel construction. The valvetrain uses a conventional camshaft in the block pushrod system with 1 intake and 1 exhaust valve per cylinder, for a total of 16 valves.
The Chevy 383 Stroker is a great engine for people who love to work on their hot rod and make adjustments on their own. The fact that this engine was basically invented by people who love working on their cars in the garage is a testament to the kind of engine this is.
The flexibility of this family of small block Chevy engines allows for a lot of interchanging of parts and experimenting to get the engine just the way you want it. The crate engine from Chevy provides an impressive 450 hp, plenty to have some fun in an old muscle car and brag to your friends about.