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buggered engine

Flying Kiwi

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Hi all, Have just pulled the 383 out of my 72 RR, it should be a 400 I know but that was what was in it. to do engine bay for the resto. found a whole lota crap in the thermostat housing, so had it stripped down to get cleaned. Hmmm seems it a mess crank moves 3-4 mm back n forth etc it is 30 thou over. so needs completely doing. the thing is it going to cost approx $15000 nz to do. I would prefer to put in a 400 but are like rocking horse shit here. Ive found a 440 for 6grand that is only done 1000 miles since recond or a 1972 413 out of a Winnebago for $3000 no heads tho. and my 383 1s are totaled says engineer. what do you think is my best solution. what if im able to find a 400 in the mighty US of A what would I be looking at dollero wise.
 

Russ69Runner

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Just what my 383 used block that was in stock condition never bored. 400 dollars plus shipping. This was a bare block. We only had to go 20 thou. over. With these blocks becoming rarer to find sure the cost is going up. Good luck on your hunt for a block. Found mine on E bay.
 

MoparDan

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Hi all, Have just pulled the 383 out of my 72 RR, it should be a 400 I know but that was what was in it. to do engine bay for the resto. found a whole lota crap in the thermostat housing, so had it stripped down to get cleaned. Hmmm seems it a mess crank moves 3-4 mm back n forth etc it is 30 thou over. so needs completely doing. the thing is it going to cost approx $15000 nz to do. I would prefer to put in a 400 but are like rocking horse shit here. Ive found a 440 for 6grand that is only done 1000 miles since recond or a 1972 413 out of a Winnebago for $3000 no heads tho. and my 383 1s are totaled says engineer. what do you think is my best solution. what if im able to find a 400 in the mighty US of A what would I be looking at dollero wise.
A bare 440 block here are now $1400.00 and up. Buying a 50+ year old block is kind of a crap shoot. A built running 440 for 6k may sound like a lot of money but if it comes with any guarantee, it may not be a bad deal. By the time you are done building a 440 it is going to cost around that kind of money. I couldn't imagine what the shipping cost from the US would be.
 

Flying Kiwi

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Hi all, Missed out on the 440 for 6 k, found another a 1976 1 . costing 12k to rebuild but was still std. however I need a new Damper for it. It has the cast crank. can't find 1 here in NZ where could I find 1 in the USA. Oh the Joys of motoring. hope you all are keeping well
 

Flying Kiwi

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Cheers Sponge Bob, To do the 383 with a stroker kit was going to cost an xtra 10 grand. The 440 is at an enginre builder now but we cant find a damper. The Coyote is bloody starting to catch up to me.
 

torredcuda

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400s used to be plentifull and cheap as they were considered low compression smog engines but now they are very popular for building strokers so harder to find and more expensive. I think you can still find fairly reasonable if you look around though. I have one but it`s going in my `73 road runner which is originally a 400, four speed car.
 
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