The 383 is the original engine worked over. I have a place called Total Engine, that does my engines for me.
They took the original engine and bored, stroked and did the 4 bolt mains. They also converted to roller cam and added the forged crank and rods. We also added Air Flow Research heads and a Holley intake manifold with 8 injectors to take the place of the throttle body injector.
The first time around, I had a Vortech Supercharger on it in addition to Nitrous with 200 and 400 hp pills. It was pretty exciting. I quickly decided that Nitrous was too dangerous. It’s kind of like getting rear ended, when it comes on, but the limitations were frustrating. It’s never turned on when you need it, then you have to worry about how much nitrous is left in the bottle and if the bottle is the correct temperature. Then there is the chasing around trying to get the bottles filled. I also had some damage to the engine from the nitrous mishaps.
I decided I wanted to have a ton of power and not have to screw around with all the nitrous stick, so that is how the hair driers came about.
I have not finished turning these turbos up all the way yet. I am working on that now. First I had to make sure the trans would take another 300 HP from the 575 RWHP, where I’m at now. That required the 4L80e to solve that problem. I’m just sitting at 12 pounds of boost right now. I will be adding a electronic control on the waste gates to alter the boost. I’m planning on taking it up to just 20 pounds. They generally figure 50 HP per pound, so that should help with passing on two lane roads while pulling the Camaro on the trailer.
Cost wise, the superchargers are going to be the best buy for power. They are easy to install and you can take the power up in stages. I started out on a stock engine. That was an incredible jump from a stock 95. It required no changes to the computer, it had it’s own control for the added injectors that came with the kit.
Back to the subject. I drifted a bit.
If you want to get a noticeable change in horsepower, I would do a Supercharger kit. I’m partial to the Vortech, but there are many brands, out there.
That would jump you 100 to 140 in horsepower over a weekend. It can be strapped directly on your stock engine. You will be speeding up the clock for the eventual overhaul, but it is a very enjoyable way to go.
After the rebuild, you can still use the Vortech, but you can step it up to a higher pressure once you redo the engine for 8.5 to 1 compression. It is just a matter of changing pulleys.
As you remember from “Reciprocating Engine’s 101â€, the amount of horsepower is directly related to the volume of air brought into the combustion chamber. Just remember, if it is not Blown, it Sucks.
Sucking can never exceed the actual volume of the engine, where as Blowing, can force added air into the chamber. Let’s say you had a 350 cubic inch engine and you forced air into it at 15 psi. It would be the equivalent of a 700 cubic inch engine.
So what you need is a second job to start building up the Tahoe savings account. I don’t regret the butt load of money have spoon fed this Tahoe of mine. It is a heck of a lot more fun than a new “stock†Tahoe. I figure I would have spent the same amount if I had continued to buy a new truck every three years. Sorry about wasting so much ink. :lol:
P.S. I added a couple of amusing pictures for fun. Check out what nitrous can do to a piston. It actually burnt that piece away. It did not break off. Notice no marks from being chewed. Just say NO to Nitrous..........
