383 Stroker

[Filthy Filbert]

As I am leaning heavily towards doing a gen 3 motor for my 70, I won't be needing the 383 stroker that I have built.   It's not the original block, so no worries there, that was long gone before I got the car.

What would be a better way to go, part out the stroker or try to sell it whole?    It's got edelbrock RPM heads, RPM intake, Comp camp with around 230 or so degrees of duration @ .050" and .525" total lift.  440 Source 383-->438 kit.

Engine was built and run for a few years in the first Dakota that I built.  has maybe 5000 miles on it.  All the machine work to the block was done by Kammer & Kammer in Dayton Oh, a well known mopar performance engine builder.    I did all the assembly after they did the machine work, checked out the heads, etc.   I then took it back to them for dyno time to break it in and tune it.   made 505hp and 535 tq, all below 6000 rpm.  torque curve was flat at or above 500 ft lbs from 3000 rpm and up.

It's been mothballed for about 10 years now however, and my plan was to tear it down, freshen it up with rings/bearings, clean it up and paint it turquoise for the cuda.   Might be neat to do up a static display of an "original" 383 2bbl  complete with the 2bbl carb and intake, just for "garage art"  however....That's a lot of expensive performance parts to turn into a static display. 

What's the market like these days?   Would the parts fetch more or less if I parted the motor out, or tried to sell as a complete engine?     If I did try to sell it as a complete engine, I would certainly not try to sell it as "ready to drop in and run" and suggest the buyer do a tear down and freshen it up.      I would entertain the idea of performing the refresh and selling it as ready to run, but I know most guys shy away from work that someone else performed.   

[Chryco Psycho]

My bet is you will do better selling as a complete engine with dyno sheets .
AT 5000 miles the ring should be basically seated in , why change them ?
I ran 9 years o my 440 shifting at 7200 RPM , the brgs looked new so unless there was an oiling issue they should be like new also .

[Filthy Filbert]

I might have the original dyno sheets around somewhere.   that was maybe 12 or 13 years ago.   The engine has been sitting on a pallet for the last 8 years--moved from my shop into storage while we moved into an apartment to build the new house, and then moved to the new house. Lots of time in a non-climate controlled storage. It never sat outside, but who knows what kind of critters or moisture may have found their way into it. Also, the rocker arms have not been touched, nor has the motor been turned over.  so the valves that were open, have had the springs compressed all this time. --that's why I would open it up and refresh it, just to be safe.

Even if it was freshened up, and re-run on the dyno, what would it be worth?  $3500? $4k?  It would likely set me back $1k just to freshen it up:  Ring, Bearing, Gasket kit, get the walls professionally honed with a torque plate, check/replace the valve springs, and dyno time.