AM>-=> Quoting KEITH SCUDDER to ALAN MORRISON <=-
AM> KS> 70's and a fondness for Chevy's. :) You know the 383 you mentioned
AM> KS> was accomplished by using a 400 SB V-8 with the crankshaft of a 350
AM> AM>At .030" overbore the above would be a 377.  A 4.155" bore and a 3.48"
AM> AM>stroke.  The 383 is the other combo with the 400 crank in a .030" over
AM> AM>350 block.  So it's 4.030" bore with a 3.75" stroke...  a stroker 350.
AM> KS> We only had some align-boring done on the block and the normal honing
AM> KS> of the cylinders, stock in size.
AM>So it's a 4.125" bore and 3.48" stroke for a total of 372 cubic
AM> KS> The speed shop's car ran high 12's while everybody else in it's class
AM> KS> were in the 13's. It was sold as a brand-new car from Chevy, just
AM> KS> alittle changed with the normal warranty also!
AM>The really BAD Camaros could be spotted when it had only mini center hub
AM>caps. Looking inside for the 'radio delete' confirmed L-88 or ZL-1 models.
Around where I lived we just called them "nasty". All their cars came
with a little circular decal right behind the engine size (on the
fenders) and were noticable rightaway. We had a guy right in town had a
full roll-cage installed by the same speed shop AFTER he purchased
the car. They couldn't install it before, due to some Dealer room
policy.
AM> KS> What was real nice right from a Dealer was the SS 454 V-8 Chevelle in
AM> KS> 71'. It was just about the same engine as the 460 HP engine offered 
n
AM> KS> the Vette of the same year and same engine size.
AM> AM> It lost some compression and a fair amount of power after 1970,
AM> KS> What was the main reason the 70's cars lost so much HP in their
AM> KS> ratings? Was it because the engine was tested different?
AM>Yes, but it also lost a lot when the compression was forced lower by the
AM>low-lead gas requirements.  As far as HP measurement, it went from Gross
AM>HP, (at the flywheel with no accessories driven) to Net HP, which was more
AM>like it would be installed in a vehicle (driving WP, alt, smog devices, 
nd
AM>stock exhaust system.
Sadly I saw that between the 71' engines and the 72's there was a big
drop inpower, but I worked on a 72 SS Chevelle with a 454/270 HP engine
and it ran nice even though I actually didn't try it far as I was only
bringing the car in for some work.
Keith......................................................
BTW, I have the book "50 years American Automobiles", but it only
goes up to 1989, is there a newer book?
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 * OLX 2.1 TD * E-mail address:  kas@juno.com
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