383 stroker?

[Willysman23]

Has anybody on here run a 383 stroker in their jeep?If so,what parts did you use and about how much power did it make?I have a 350 that I was considering for a 383 project for my cj7 buildup.thanks

[xjnation]

I had a carbed 383 in my old XJ.  SM465 to a NP-205 turning 3.08 gears/35" MT/Rs and would smoke acuras through second and third.  First gear drop the clutch and idle along all day off road without having to touch the gas.  Mad torque.  No HP #s but the motor was built for a mud truck.  Scary fast until I started pulling out the rocker arm studs from too much rpm.
Build it for torque, not HP.  Much more friendly off road.  RV cam, smaller carb, etc.

[Willysman23]

Could I use my stock heads and still get some performance out of it?Do you think I could build it for torque and still get HP numbers close to 300?It won't be revved more than 5500.This is my first PERFORMANCE engine build,so I have a lot of questions.Thanks

[xjnation]

Stock heads will work, vortec heads work better but $$$.  a 300 hp motor will have good torque #s, it just boils down to where the curve is in the rpm range.  The best thing you can do is to google " budget 383 build". I think EVERY car/truck mag has done a build at one time or another.  Read the articles, decide which way you want to go, and figure things you can skimp on.  Buying a new 383 crank can be $$, where finding a 400 crank and machining the journals dowwn COULD be cheaper.  But finding the 400 crank is not super easy.  Good luck and good reading.  Tim