It’s kinda entertaining when things don’t go to plan and Nick gets flustered 🤣 it’s like watching my dad but without all the cussing and throwing stuff!
Watching nick problem solve is one of the best parts of the show. I really like that he’s not afraid to say “I’ve made a mistake”. Most people can’t do that. 😁
If it doesn't have 9.5 to one as commented on , it's not going to make 425 ft pounds of torque . If it's an 8.7 to one, which is the 2 barrel rated compression for 1970 it's making the correct power and torque for that compression ratio .
Tips >>> Back in 1973 Hot Rod magazine published a hot rod article on a 383 build which we copied. You need to get the compression up and the article said to mill the head .060" and take .073" off the intake side of the head. The head and intake matched up near perfect. A small carb spacer and a bell intake horn on top of the carb will help a ton. The carb should be flow tested with a emphasis on matching the flow. The distributer rotor should be tested for phasing. Dissect a cap to show rotor and post and see if the arc centers on the post when fully advanced. Grind flat spots on the weights so the distributer locks in at speed. Recommend a carb in the 700 to 780cfm range. The choke horn should not be milled off. Defiantly CC the heads as I remember our heads had a lot of variation. Just watching your video shows the back barrels dumping fuel 23:15 . Rear seal leak >>> had a terrible leak on a motor I couldn't fix. Cure>>> I put a dial indicator on the seal area of the crank and found it to be .008" out of round from the main journals.
We've all had those types of days where you gotta step back then come back fresh with new ideas. Nick's got something that should work better. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
That's the one thing about this guy he's too smart for his own good he'll work on a problem until he solves it that's dedication that's why people bring these cars to indy auto in laval qc from all over the world
Nick, to prove your theory that sunk valves are the issue, you may want to consider flow bench testing the heads. If they flow poorly, then you found the problem. However, if they flow well, then the issue is somewhere else. This could save you a lot of time and customer expense searching for heads that may not be needed. Another option to consider if it is the heads, is to install oversize valves and cut new new seats. Much cheaper than installing new seats. Good luck, and we're anxious to hear / see what you find!
Dana "60" Glass. Nick, you're simply "The Best". You give your Customers, and us the Viewers everything you've got. I'm glad you're not giving up on the 383. Powerplants for Police cars, everyday dependability, and made the Road Runner the low cost street killer of its day. Looking forward to more torque. Maybe try a factory grind cam from 1968.
I knew Nick wouldn’t let this rest - I can’t wait to see where he takes this. I’m not sure if it’s possible but if you’re able to show flow numbers on these heads versus a replacement set I’d love to see that (I’ve never seen flow bench testing). I’m all ears on this one - thank you!
A pair of mule-heads would come in handy, just like Nick's collection of mule-carbs. Swap in a known-good assembly that's been characterized and see what happens.
Valves are bouncing because springs are shallow. I have built racing engines 60+ years. During this time dyno numbers don't lie. Either shim for the valve seat and face being off or run stronger springs with enough spacers to pick up the spring pressures. Also rocker angles will be a problem because valve stems will be to high and angles will be wrong. Put on a set of adjustable 1.5 rockers, run them loose and you will see I'm right. Do that to just confirm what I'm telling you. Proper fix is a set of seats and valves with stronger springs. You are on the right track hound dog, just keep going! Don't coil bind the springs. Putting to much shim can be bad also, to much spring will run good but not long. To much spring will wear out the can lobes.
Working on my 67 cougar 289 this weekend, put in new fuel pump, junk! Had to put another one in, put on new alternator, junk had to get another one! Its getting hander as i get closer to 70
We all are having issues with bad parts because most of the stuff is being made in China now so the quality control has went way down . I'm helping a friend of mine build a 67 Mercury Cougar as well who he is a body man for years and even taught body shop classes at the university of Eau Claire in Wisconsin but we turned his cougar into a fast back & updated the whole suspension in it to independent with disc brakes on all 4 corners but instead of using the original 289 we ended up using a GM 5.3 LS to power it because they make good power & it will have better fuel mileage to be able to drive it in comfort and get good fuel mileage to enjoy the car more & it might eventually get a turbo put on it. We have the original engine but the rings are stuck so it has no compression and we have 3 or 4 302s in the shop plus a couple 5.3 & 6.0 GM LS engines so after thinking about what engine to use we made the choice of the 5.3 . It's getting close to completion other than the interior right now but she looks beautiful in gloss black straight as a arrow . We have a friend who has a 68 Plymouth GTX convertible and he wants to race the Cougar because the Plymouth is a 440 car that he built the engine for it a relatively mild 440 that dynoed to 400 HP and he seems to think he can beat the Cougar but it's a B body car & they aren't that light even though it's a unibody car & I think the Cougar is going to beat the Plymouth because it's a light car not much over 3,200 pounds so as long as the Cougar can hook up I think it should smack down the Plymouth lol . Hoping by end of summer the cars are done to see this happen.
@@peteloomis8456 another Greek here,I volunteer in a restoration shop for the last 7 years in the San Francisco Bay area ,we do a lot of mopars, the boss is a mopars expert, he's also Greek, but we work on cars from 1924- 80s we are doing a 65 mustang right now putting in a 2019 Ls motor with mustang 2 front end. Lucky us, these are California rust free cars that we do the restorations on, there is still many old cars just sitting in storage in our area, you name I've seen it, the owners have us look at these cars to get them started, but will never sell, man, hemi cars, corvettes just sitting! Thanks!
Know Nick for a long time, he's a master and never gives up, does the absolute best for his customers to make them happy. His passion is unmatched No doubt He will get to the goal of 425
Get mad Nick! Found out what's wrong with this 383. Every body a Hero! When things work out! But, The real Hero's fix the problems. That's you Nick! Our Muscle car. HERO! 😊 SHAWN.
Very similar build to my 68, 383 out of our D 200 truck that Nick built that engine makes 401 hp and 425 pounds of torque took a little bit of tuning from Nick but this engine should be making close to that. There’s gotta be something holding it back ? But every engine has its own quirks, and is its own animal! Our engine loves 36 (Edit Total) that is where it’s happy which is where Nick set it up in his final tune and it still is today. I tried a couple different timing set ups. Once it was in the truck and hooked the transmission etc.. Ended up back on 36 because that’s where she’s happy:) Nick you’ll get it this 383 dialled in too👌
My friend has one and it's one of the best running engines I have ridden in and I have ridden in a lot of Chrysler products over my 40+ years in the business.
Hi Nick, George & Manny, This 383 is named correctly! I'm anxious to see why this engine will not make torque. Happy to be here for another Monday video. Here We Go!!!
@@LaineHarbaughAll the B & RB engines use the .904 lifters . That was a secret that the Mopar guys knew that gave them a edge over the GM and Ford guys for many years because with the .904 lifters you can run cams that have much faster ramp speeds which opens & closes the valves much faster . Some cam manufacturers were grinding cams for the Chrysler B & RB engines & were grinding them with Chevrolet style lobes and those cams hurt power big time in these engines back in the day because the Chevrolet cam lobes have much slower ramp speeds. The Chevrolet & Ford guys found this out & today they are on the older Chevrolet small block and big block as well as the older Ford engines they are having the lifter bores opened up and bushed for the .904 lifters so they can run cams that have much faster ramp speeds so they make more power . There's a book on big block Chrysler B&RB engines and they talk about this very same thing with the lifters used in these engines but I don't remember the name of the person who wrote the book but you can still buy the book if you look on Amazon or eBay and you will recognize the book because it has a modified Chrysler wedge engine on the cover that's being used in a dragster that has 2 big Holley Dominator carburators on a tunnel ram style intake with headers on it so if you see this book that's the one with the article talking about the lifters used in the big block Chrysler engines . I bought mine probably over 30 years ago because I was building a 440 for my 71 Dodge utility line pick up which is basically what Chevrolet & Ford call there truck short box step sides . I lowered mine and put a shortened 8&3/4 rear end with a 3:55 sure grip with a built 727 transmission with a manual valve body & a 3,000 flash speed converter to power it and she gets up and hauls the mail as they used to say . I had the door handles shaved off and the front and rear bumpers removed & roll pans put on & the rear roll pan I grafted in 68 Dodge Super Bee tail lights . I put Torque thrust rims on it 15 inch with the 50th anniversary center caps back then which they only made so many of that cost 200.00 each & got big wide meats on the back with pizza cutters up front . It's a radio delete truck as well which is uncommon and I still have the truck to this day .
Maybe it's cam timing... I've had camshafts that when installed straight up didn't run right. You'll get it figured out Nick, you're the man! Much respect to you and your team. Cheers!
One thing I like about these segments is the camera being left on for what appears to be throughout the process. Such as in this camshaft change. I couldn’t be wrong in the previous statement digital cinematography and editing is way more advanced than I can imagine. I noticed a couple of details that I think could add up to loss like this. First thing is the same timing set appeared to have been used on both cams. Second the intake centerline references were not verified by the footage of this video. I’ve built a few performance engines in my days and here lately it seems to be that there are more and more timing assemblies that have poor timing references on them. A few have been to the point of detrimental. Even that cam manufacturer can be capable of slightly misaligning the cam gear dowel pin. Either way the 175 lbs of cranking compression is a questionable metric due to sheer starter speed cranking the engine over. With that battery charger sitting in the dyno room I’m betting there is absolutely no chance of falling short on cranking amps. The starters always seem to work well in these video footages. In conjunction with what I’ve stated the next question is pushrod length. More directly lifter preload. Milling those heads .020” will get you more lifter preload. Especially if the valve stem tips were not adjusted. Directly speaking towards the last 383 Chrysler engine I machined. I found that the two heads had a 10cc difference between the two straight off the engine. The particular chamber size on that engine required .006” of milling to remove 1cc of chamber volume. It was verified with a burrette. So obviously one head had been taken off and milled .060” more than the other this was a numbers matching engine with matching casting numbers and dates and by all metrics we could obtain it was the original set of heads. Either way the valve stems were the same length on both heads. Not to say the lifter preload was the same it was vastly different when checked closer. When we do not take care in adjusting our valve stem lengths on these heads with non adjustable rocker arms we introduce all kinds of inconsistencies to our valve seat timing and it can flat work to squish out the performance of an engine just like this. I’d be for scrutinizing the timing assembly as well as the valve stem lengths. Not the lengths on just each head but cross verifying valve stem length with the same intake valve measure in both heads to make sure we understand that valve spring heights and seat depths are somewhat consistent. The fact is we’re dealing with an engine that doesn’t flow much air especially with the stock manifold. There isn’t a ton of compression to play with. The cubic inches aren’t huge by large. So this makes valve timing events that much more critical to scrutinize. A few degrees here a couple of inconsistent valves tips there. It can all be seemingly innocent to the point of permissible and give results just like this. That engine sounds nice. It’s just being verified in the overall without details being verified from what I can see. I enjoy the content and I hope this advice is taken positively and further I hope it helps out.
I would use a checker pushrod that is adjustable in length. Extend the pushrod to zero valve lash then remove the rocker arms and measure the length of the pushrod. You can check as many as you like this way and verify stem height consistency if the rocker arms are somewhat consistent in ratio. In either event doing it this way will show you if there is a deviation in rocker arm ratio or valve stem length. If you find gross inconsistencies you can move a previously checked rocker arm over to the suspect package and see if anything changes. I do not expect stock rocker arms to be dead on consistent only somewhat. A person can be accused of overthinking these situations but the chances of someone machining on these parts who wasn’t thinking enough is often the highest of possibly. At this point you’re forced into some serious thinking anc checking. Nothing outside of the box rather detailed checks for fundamentals that can take time. I’ve seen shims under rocker shafts and stands quite a bit in my experiences. I’ve just ran into these inconsistencies more often than I want to. There simply plenty of lifter travel to play around with and things seemingly work fine until the dyno is applied.
I had a 69 383 that gave me a very similar issue after a rebuild. Turned out to be a crank/ cam gear indexing issue. Changed over to an indexable/ adjustable timing gear set.I forgot what Isky cam I put in it. It ended with an increased to 507/horse 517 torque. Tuned Thermoquad, Iron heads with new valves and cleanup porting in both pockets. A set of long tube Hedmans modified from the 90s with 3 1/2" diameter collector with 2" deeper barrel added to collector( cut and weld) kind of like what TTI does now.
My brother had for a while as one of his many horse traded cars back in the 70's a 383 road runner with 4.10 and automatic. The thing would rock, gapping most cars in the Woodward stoplight grand prixs, except things like 440 six packs, hemi's, and solid lifter BBC's. It would routinely rip motor mounts out, and finally had to be chained down. One thing he said he had to do though, was keep the thermoquad carb. For some reason, the power just plain died when he tried to go to a holley carb for more power, no matter what tuning and adjustment. Put the thermo back on and it was back to being a hooligan. As far as I know, the rest of the engine, cam and all, was stock.
A apologize for the delay in getting the numbers. They are a dished type piston sitting .014 below deck on this '68 block and it has never been decked. I have no idea if they are forged or not. Being a dished style I have no doubt you have no interest in them. I've held onto them for so long only because they are still good pistons and there will come a day when somebody will want put to their stuff back together in numbers matching fashion. These are just one more part in a list of oddball rarities, like the super commando cam this engine has. I hope that helps you reference whatever issue you are dealing with on this weak 383.
Hey Nick thanks for sharing. I couldn't remember if you milled the head or the block. But if the piston is still .050 in the hole, not really that good...But you know that..Hope you figure it out!
Looking forward to part 3. I am surprised that Nick didn't look over the valves/seats while the heads were off the engine. If the other shop who built the engine was supposed to be a performance builder, then I hope that Nicks passes along the problem and the fix. Having the right seat angle and valve angles and valve setup is an important part of building power. A tiny amount of bowl and short radius cleanup will go a long way toward Nicks goal of 425+ torque.
Very exciting. I love a mystery and can't wait to see this engine on its way back to another Nicks Garage proper running engine. Incredible to follow this. Thank you Nick and crew
Hey guys!!!! It’s ol’ retiree JJ here 😅😅😅 This is an interesting challenge on the 383: I heard Nick and Manny talking about sunken valves: maybe Nick could explain to the viewers what that is and how performance could be affected. Great content as always and great week, all!!!!
The valve seats are worn out and pounded in from high miles and probably lack of the lead in the fuel that these older engines need to help cushion the valves and seats . All they have to do is find a reputable cylinder head shop or machine shop that can cut the old seats out and check the heads for cracks and if ok install hardened intake & exhaust seats with a good set of stainless steel valves and preferably go the big valve upgrade with a 3 angle valve and seat to get those 906 heads to breath better with a bowl blend back & port gasket match on the intake & exhaust ports . I've been watching a UA-cam channel called Jim's Machine and it's a father son team that owns a machine shop that does a lot of automotive engine machining and he just built a Chrysler 413 for a guy & had a video of the machining done on the engine so look for him because they do some really nice work and explain what & why they are doing things in a particular way & if not done at all or done the right way how it can lead to engine failure & damage .
Sunken valves reduce compression. Then you have to cut the valve stems to compensate for the sunken valves. This also affects how far the valves open. As Nick said, the heads were worked over. In his testing, he had the heads milled .020 Added thinner head gaskets That brought up the compression ratio Abit. I would be surprised if he has the heads reworked to the correct valve seat heights. Installs new valves too. Then the process of checking valve heights. Push rod length. Rocker arm travels on the tip of each valve. Checking how far each rocker arm moves/travels to open each valve. Checking the center line of the cam. Does the cam needs to be advanced or retared? Or basically degreeing the cam. Some one told me, never believed on what they tell you on a engine. Do your due diligence and find out your self. I had a neighbor that was having idling problems with his Chevy engine. He asked me to look it over. He was bragging the engine came out of a HP car and a so call race cam? The engine had a rump rump sound as if it had a big cam? Took me about an hour of checking and tuning. Found wires swapped. Timing was moved. After my tuning. Engine ran smooth
.. I believe ,from what i've seen, it's ignition (cap/rotor/plug wires) also that's not nearly enough cam for the 383. Just my opinion.PEACE GRD Thanks for airing the videos, they're fun. You're common sense is quite refreshing, (watch the aggravation, it's a peice of metal , it'll do what you tell it, no more!) again PEACE
Although it is frustrating and a lot of extra time X 3 or 4 guys, the 383 was always a good torquey engine and high revving. If it wasn't, tens of thousands of guys would not have had them in their Mopars. It has gotta be the valve train that is not up to snuff. Thank you for two very insightful videos George.😊
It's a lot harder to get 9.5:1 compression with 906 heads on a 383 than most realize. With low compression, cam events have less effect on the overall HP and torque curves. You could advance the cam timing some to help the torque, but you'll lose HP in the process. Other than an intake swap, this engine is what it is. The only thing that can help it is more compression.
The 440 had the383 covered big time. In the early 1970’s I had a 1968 Charger with the 440 /auto trans in high school. Only car that came close to the Chargers performance was a Mustang with a 428. The 383 just didn’t have the torque or hp needed to be a serious muscle car.
As a Mopar guy, you do not have to pull the intake manifold to pull the lifter out and put them back in, remove the rocker shafts and they will come out through the push rods hole. Especially on 906 or 452 heads.
There was a reason these engines came from the factory with thermoquad carbs. Heavy cars w/poorly designed motors needed small primary carb throttle bores to make low end torque. Short stroke and big bore needs camshaft, big carb, big heads and high rpm to make any power.
The short stroking Mopar 383 engines were NOT known for huge amounts of Torque... Mainly because of the short 3.375" stroke... The earlier long stroking (3.750") 383's did create higher torque because of the 0.1875" radius increase , which gave that engine crank higher leverage at lower rpm. even with the stock 4.030" cylinder bore diameter on this early RB engine that was introduced in 1959... But the later B Series engines (361 & 383) which were introduced in 1964, the stroke and deck height were reduced... This also reduced the maximum torque, but increased the maximum horsepower available that this displacement put out... BTW, Just about ALL of the naturally aspirated engines built during this era used MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure -.AKA: Manifold vacuum) to drive several Accessories including the brake boosters . There was a different kind of vacuum that was used to operate the distributor timing advancer units... It was known as 'Ported' vacuum (AKA as: Dustributor vacuum, Venturi Vacuum) which did the REVERSE OF WHAT MAP does... It increases with higher Throttle opening, where MAP decreases with higher throttle opening...Hooking this up correctly - could ensure higher numbers on the dyno testing process...
Is it possible that the engine had 1.6:1 rockers on it and when he had it rebuilt could they have put stock 1.5:1 rockers? That could be the torque difference.
Just a guess like everyone else. But I am thinking valve springs. I know Nick will find what the issue is. They will redo the heads and get the valves right and springs right. Then we shall see. The good feeling will come when you get the torque you are looking for. That is a good feeling you get when you accomplish your goal. Good luck Nick. I will be watching this with anticipation.
honestly, if this was a matching numbers car, i would spend the money and have seats put in the heads, i don't know about Chryslers, but on Big block Chevy's, they have date codes cast in the heads, and they should line up within a few days of the casting date one the block, and all of them should have been case a few weeks before the car was built. example my 71 Camaro SS 396 4 speed was built first second week of January 1971. but the engine block was cast first week of December of 1970, and the heads were first week of December of 1970. intake and water pump were also first week of December 1970, but the exhaust manifolds were 2nd week 1970. even the carb had 1970 manufactured date, but my carb was built in late November of 70, which is a little early, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility since they only made 1533 396 Camaros that year, and very few of those were probably stick shifts cars. but the numbers all match up. and the dates are very close. so in the case of old weaky, i would do valve seat, pull the engine down and fix the issue with the piston quench distance properly. with either a better set of pistons, decking the block (if that doesn't destroy the vin of engine codes stamped on the block like a chevy, another option is offset bushing on the connecting rods. to give you proper quench distance. I like mine about .015 in the hole, and a .030 head gasket. for .045-inch quench distance on high-performance engines driven on the street, and the same for the marine engines i build. but i have seen a tight as .035 quench distance on some drag race engines.
Last week Nick was not happy with the result of his toil "Old Weaky" started to make his blood boil and was leaking oil Nick hasn't got time to frown and he's not gonna let any engine treat him like a clown So it's all hands on deck for a dyno room tear down To identify the loss in torque Nick's Garage walks the walk Why and how? Hes shaved the head down 20 thou Formulating a brand new plan Nick is installing the clients original competition cam Manny and Maverick are on hand Nick's Garage is skillfully manned They've finally found the leak from last week Nick has gaskets in stock for rocker covers and head or block so he can do quick changes when there are horses to seek Nick speaks from his heart he can't hide his dissapointment that's why he's respected by clients and fans alike and so popular you gotta book an appointment Nick's Garage is flexible They'll do further research and development cuz giving clients what they need pays the rent Minor setbacks Nick's confidence will never dent Thanks Nick George Manny and Mav All fantastic friends to have
Other than being down on power that engine runs like a sewing machine. No ticks or strange noises and it looks as if it is very well balanced. I’m with Nick on the heads. Sunk valves equal shrouded valves. Either that or the wrong numbers were put in to the setup on the dyno program.
Drill a hole in the plug tower from old cap when you know where #1 is, advance distributor until the rotor end disappears. It will start happy if something else is not messed up.
Back in the 80's when 60's when I could afford a good Chrysler product, one of the weakest 383 l owned was in a 69 Roadrunner, and the strongest was a 66 Belvedere and both were 4 speed Vehicles
From a Mopar engine builder on the other side of Canada. One option which would be much more effective. Cost and performance minded. Instead of completely redoing another set of heads. A set of larger valves would be a much better option. 2.14-1.81's wake up the old cast heads and will renew the seat height to factory spec. 28 degree back cut on intake for increased low lift flow. Along with the proper bowl blend of course. Don't forget to account for possible different pushrod length with the 0.020 milled heads. Or we can shim the rockers up. My first real engine I built decades ago was a pump gas street 383 which made 515hp using 906 heads I (fully) ported. Along with all the other goodies of the time. The larger valve size will also clear 4.25 bore especially with the moderate under .500 lift cam being used. Increasing the bowl size with the larger valves but still keeping the runner volume the same size will boost TQ and HP right from off idle and throughout the modest RPM range of this 383.
@@mickangio16 I hear you. I'm not talking full port job. Just a slight step forward to what's already been done. Super conservative blend just to help it shine. May even help others see the potential of the 383. A true A/B with only a valve change which many other Mopar people could do with existing heads they have. Helps save other heads just like it all around the world. At least the same heads which could be the originals can still be used and be made back to original seat heights. Seems a bit of a waste to junk these heads and start all over again. If just the bowl was blended to the larger valve and kept super simple at the very least the factory numbers will guarantee to be achieved . It'll help the little 383 to at least be all it can be. The Camshaft isn't stock either are the pistons so one extra little internal variation will just help the all around driving experience without affecting anything else.
@@dannyfasttcars8612 Yessir. It's easy to get respectable power out of one of these things with common hotrodding techniques & bolt ons, but trying to do it as a stock appearing resto would be a lot tougher.
Nice video Nick. This is off topic, but I had to charge the battery in my show car the other day and I wanted to share. The clamp would not go over the positive clamp bolt because of a ring connector on it. I put a small pair of Vice Grips on the bolt and then the clamp on the pliers. Worked great without scratching the battery cable ends. Just following your tips.
It seems that back in the old days some motors simply had "it" and some didn't. Most times you couldn't put a finger on the reason why. I can't wait to see what you find is behind this doggy 383.
I know what you mean. I remember two guys who bought the same cars in different colors. Same engine, same transmission. One ran like a scared jack rabbit and the other could barely get out of its own way.
Take an underwhelming 383, order a 489 stroker kit (4.280 x 4.250) and hang on to your socks! It's been a few years, but the last one I did was a drop in, no clearancing required to the block. The customer supplied the kit from 440 Source, Icon forged pistons/H beams/steel crank. It's cool that you're bound and determined to hit a goal with a relatively stock engine, manifolds included.
Pistons and rods original and located in their original positions? Rings doing something wonky in the ring lands during high cylinder pressure events? That great of loss seems almost fundamental/foundational. Looks to be running really well at lower cyl. pressures. A lotta oil pressure there, as well, eh?
Wallace compression calculator shows. 8.45 CR. With Negative 0.050 deck. 0.020 gasket. 84 CC Cylinder Head. Not sure of head cc on your engine. Worth checking out. Really enjoy watching your show
We learn a lot from Nick keeping the classic muscle up and running. When those heads come off and an inspection of the valves should reveal something. There used to be 'towing' or 'torque' cams that had less duration but higher lift. Maybe one of those would help?
It’s kinda entertaining when things don’t go to plan and Nick gets flustered 🤣 it’s like watching my dad but without all the cussing and throwing stuff!
sounds like my dad! lol. back in the 70's, dad would blow a gasket over anything!
Watching nick problem solve is one of the best parts of the show. I really like that he’s not afraid to say “I’ve made a mistake”. Most people can’t do that. 😁
If it doesn't have 9.5 to one as commented on , it's not going to make 425 ft pounds of torque . If it's an 8.7 to one, which is the 2 barrel rated compression for 1970 it's making the correct power and torque for that compression ratio .
🤣 my Dad the same.
Same and he’s greek lol😊
Tips >>> Back in 1973 Hot Rod magazine published a hot rod article on a 383 build which we copied. You need to get the compression up and the article said to mill the head .060" and take .073" off the intake side of the head. The head and intake matched up near perfect. A small carb spacer and a bell intake horn on top of the carb will help a ton. The carb should be flow tested with a emphasis on matching the flow. The distributer rotor should be tested for phasing. Dissect a cap to show rotor and post and see if the arc centers on the post when fully advanced. Grind flat spots on the weights so the distributer locks in at speed. Recommend a carb in the 700 to 780cfm range. The choke horn should not be milled off. Defiantly CC the heads as I remember our heads had a lot of variation. Just watching your video shows the back barrels dumping fuel 23:15 . Rear seal leak >>> had a terrible leak on a motor I couldn't fix. Cure>>> I put a dial indicator on the seal area of the crank and found it to be .008" out of round from the main journals.
Nick will get it right.... He's "OLD SNEAKY"!!
I have full confidence that Nick and friends will solve this even if it takes a total rebuild.
We've all had those types of days where you gotta step back then come back fresh with new ideas. Nick's got something that should work better. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
Finding new valve cover gaskets in the dark! Nick knows his way around the shop for sure!! Hang in there guys! 😺
Nothing better then Nick's garage that's for sure
Nick and VGG are faves
*Than, not then.
This is why I watch Nick, not when things are easy but when they are not. I learn more in ten minutes from Nick and friends than anybody else
Ole weakly is gonna get some tweaky. Nicks determination to figure this problem out will prevail, ready for part 3 !
Part three will be epic.
A new aluminum heads with bigger valves ,YES 😊
Dr. Nick, never gives up, never.
That's the one thing about this guy he's too smart for his own good he'll work on a problem until he solves it that's dedication that's why people bring these cars to indy auto in laval qc from all over the world
Nick, to prove your theory that sunk valves are the issue, you may want to consider flow bench testing the heads. If they flow poorly, then you found the problem. However, if they flow well, then the issue is somewhere else. This could save you a lot of time and customer expense searching for heads that may not be needed. Another option to consider if it is the heads, is to install oversize valves and cut new new seats. Much cheaper than installing new seats. Good luck, and we're anxious to hear / see what you find!
I have faith Nick will handle it. This is real life & Nick is such a wonderful person. Pleasure to watch him work.
Dana "60" Glass. Nick, you're simply "The Best". You give your Customers, and us the Viewers everything you've got. I'm glad you're not giving up on the 383. Powerplants for Police cars, everyday dependability, and made the Road Runner the low cost street killer of its day. Looking forward to more torque. Maybe try a factory grind cam from 1968.
I knew Nick wouldn’t let this rest - I can’t wait to see where he takes this. I’m not sure if it’s possible but if you’re able to show flow numbers on these heads versus a replacement set I’d love to see that (I’ve never seen flow bench testing). I’m all ears on this one - thank you!
A pair of mule-heads would come in handy, just like Nick's collection of mule-carbs. Swap in a known-good assembly that's been characterized and see what happens.
Hey, don't call them mules
Hi Nick, the Ford guys send best wishes to you and all the crew
im a ford guy race with the ford FE engine
Thank you.
Valves are bouncing because springs are shallow. I have built racing engines 60+ years. During this time dyno numbers don't lie. Either shim for the valve seat and face being off or run stronger springs with enough spacers to pick up the spring pressures. Also rocker angles will be a problem because valve stems will be to high and angles will be wrong. Put on a set of adjustable 1.5 rockers, run them loose and you will see I'm right. Do that to just confirm what I'm telling you. Proper fix is a set of seats and valves with stronger springs. You are on the right track hound dog, just keep going! Don't coil bind the springs. Putting to much shim can be bad also, to much spring will run good but not long. To much spring will wear out the can lobes.
Working on my 67 cougar 289 this weekend, put in new fuel pump, junk! Had to put another one in, put on new alternator, junk had to get another one! Its getting hander as i get closer to 70
We all are having issues with bad parts because most of the stuff is being made in China now so the quality control has went way down . I'm helping a friend of mine build a 67 Mercury Cougar as well who he is a body man for years and even taught body shop classes at the university of Eau Claire in Wisconsin but we turned his cougar into a fast back & updated the whole suspension in it to independent with disc brakes on all 4 corners but instead of using the original 289 we ended up using a GM 5.3 LS to power it because they make good power & it will have better fuel mileage to be able to drive it in comfort and get good fuel mileage to enjoy the car more & it might eventually get a turbo put on it. We have the original engine but the rings are stuck so it has no compression and we have 3 or 4 302s in the shop plus a couple 5.3 & 6.0 GM LS engines so after thinking about what engine to use we made the choice of the 5.3 . It's getting close to completion other than the interior right now but she looks beautiful in gloss black straight as a arrow . We have a friend who has a 68 Plymouth GTX convertible and he wants to race the Cougar because the Plymouth is a 440 car that he built the engine for it a relatively mild 440 that dynoed to 400 HP and he seems to think he can beat the Cougar but it's a B body car & they aren't that light even though it's a unibody car & I think the Cougar is going to beat the Plymouth because it's a light car not much over 3,200 pounds so as long as the Cougar can hook up I think it should smack down the Plymouth lol . Hoping by end of summer the cars are done to see this happen.
@@peteloomis8456 another Greek here,I volunteer in a restoration shop for the last 7 years in the San Francisco Bay area ,we do a lot of mopars, the boss is a mopars expert, he's also Greek, but we work on cars from 1924- 80s we are doing a 65 mustang right now putting in a 2019 Ls motor with mustang 2 front end. Lucky us, these are California rust free cars that we do the restorations on, there is still many old cars just sitting in storage in our area, you name I've seen it, the owners have us look at these cars to get them started, but will never sell, man, hemi cars, corvettes just sitting! Thanks!
I thought we already knew this. Wake me up when you really get to the teardown.
Know Nick for a long time, he's a master and never gives up, does the absolute best for his customers to make them happy. His passion is unmatched No doubt He will get to the goal of 425
Get mad Nick! Found out what's wrong with this 383. Every body a Hero! When things work out! But, The real Hero's fix the problems. That's you Nick! Our Muscle car. HERO! 😊 SHAWN.
Very similar build to my 68, 383 out of our D 200 truck that Nick built that engine makes 401 hp and 425 pounds of torque took a little bit of tuning from Nick but this engine should be making close to that.
There’s gotta be something holding it back ? But every engine has its own quirks, and is its own animal!
Our engine loves 36 (Edit Total) that is where it’s happy which is where Nick set it up in his final tune and it still is today.
I tried a couple different timing set ups. Once it was in the truck and hooked the transmission etc..
Ended up back on 36 because that’s where she’s happy:) Nick you’ll get it this 383 dialled in too👌
36° initial, or total?
@@mickangio16 good catch total is def what I meant Iwas probably paying too much attention to the video while typing lol not initial😂 my bad lol
Nice to hear how your install went and happy to get a good report😊
@@mickangio16 ...Total.
Cant wait for part 3.
Nick won't be sleeping until this gets resolved....:)
Same, that'll give some answers.
Nick, Manny, Maverick and George. Great to see you guys persevere. You will get it. Great video!
I know you won't give up until you are satisfied and that's a good builder
My friend has one and it's one of the best running engines I have ridden in and I have ridden in a lot of Chrysler products over my 40+ years in the business.
Maybe you could buy a set of oversized valves which would raise them up on the existing seats
It was like watching three Flashes building an engine! A blur of mechanical excellence!
Hi Nick, George & Manny, This 383 is named correctly! I'm anxious to see why this engine will not make torque. Happy to be here for another Monday video. Here We Go!!!
@eugenecastles7475 how do you like your car? You burning the tires off! 😂
Is the can ground for 904 diameter lifters or the.stand .842. Alot of torque can be gained by the hydraulic intensity of the lobe.
@@LaineHarbaughAll the B & RB engines use the .904 lifters . That was a secret that the Mopar guys knew that gave them a edge over the GM and Ford guys for many years because with the .904 lifters you can run cams that have much faster ramp speeds which opens & closes the valves much faster . Some cam manufacturers were grinding cams for the Chrysler B & RB engines & were grinding them with Chevrolet style lobes and those cams hurt power big time in these engines back in the day because the Chevrolet cam lobes have much slower ramp speeds. The Chevrolet & Ford guys found this out & today they are on the older Chevrolet small block and big block as well as the older Ford engines they are having the lifter bores opened up and bushed for the .904 lifters so they can run cams that have much faster ramp speeds so they make more power . There's a book on big block Chrysler B&RB engines and they talk about this very same thing with the lifters used in these engines but I don't remember the name of the person who wrote the book but you can still buy the book if you look on Amazon or eBay and you will recognize the book because it has a modified Chrysler wedge engine on the cover that's being used in a dragster that has 2 big Holley Dominator carburators on a tunnel ram style intake with headers on it so if you see this book that's the one with the article talking about the lifters used in the big block Chrysler engines . I bought mine probably over 30 years ago because I was building a 440 for my 71 Dodge utility line pick up which is basically what Chevrolet & Ford call there truck short box step sides . I lowered mine and put a shortened 8&3/4 rear end with a 3:55 sure grip with a built 727 transmission with a manual valve body & a 3,000 flash speed converter to power it and she gets up and hauls the mail as they used to say . I had the door handles shaved off and the front and rear bumpers removed & roll pans put on & the rear roll pan I grafted in 68 Dodge Super Bee tail lights . I put Torque thrust rims on it 15 inch with the 50th anniversary center caps back then which they only made so many of that cost 200.00 each & got big wide meats on the back with pizza cutters up front . It's a radio delete truck as well which is uncommon and I still have the truck to this day .
DETERMINATION! You go, Nick😊
A wise man once said, well, nothing. He just rolled up his sleeves and did it.
Sure is a great LOOKING engine. I'm rootin' for ya, Nick
Thanks 👍
sounds good too 👍
@@NicksGarage my dad doing a 383
Now that's dedication and professionalism!!!👍💯%
Awesome to see it!👍
Evenin Mr George an Mr Nick! Have a Great week!!
Don't worry Manny is here
19:35 voice over " Nick has said it a thousand times, just do it your self
I definitely GUARANTEE you that 383 is going to be woken up by Nick!
God bless nick. It leaves the shop correct. Thats why u have a great world wide view.
God bless nick and friends)
Mick Australia 🇦🇺
Thanks 👍
Insightful..Awesome..So MUCH KNOWLEDGE!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome!! A part 3. Hopefully you'll fix it Nick
Maybe it's cam timing... I've had camshafts that when installed straight up didn't run right. You'll get it figured out Nick, you're the man! Much respect to you and your team. Cheers!
Nobody on the planet id trust more to build me an engine than Nick"s garage!!!
I have owned and driven three 383 powered 1968 Mopars. Absolutely loved all of them.
One thing I like about these segments is the camera being left on for what appears to be throughout the process. Such as in this camshaft change.
I couldn’t be wrong in the previous statement digital cinematography and editing is way more advanced than I can imagine.
I noticed a couple of details that I think could add up to loss like this.
First thing is the same timing set appeared to have been used on both cams.
Second the intake centerline references were not verified by the footage of this video.
I’ve built a few performance engines in my days and here lately it seems to be that there are more and more timing assemblies that have poor timing references on them. A few have been to the point of detrimental. Even that cam manufacturer can be capable of slightly misaligning the cam gear dowel pin.
Either way the 175 lbs of cranking compression is a questionable metric due to sheer starter speed cranking the engine over. With that battery charger sitting in the dyno room I’m betting there is absolutely no chance of falling short on cranking amps. The starters always seem to work well in these video footages.
In conjunction with what I’ve stated the next question is pushrod length. More directly lifter preload.
Milling those heads .020” will get you more lifter preload. Especially if the valve stem tips were not adjusted.
Directly speaking towards the last 383 Chrysler engine I machined. I found that the two heads had a 10cc difference between the two straight off the engine. The particular chamber size on that engine required .006” of milling to remove 1cc of chamber volume. It was verified with a burrette. So obviously one head had been taken off and milled .060” more than the other this was a numbers matching engine with matching casting numbers and dates and by all metrics we could obtain it was the original set of heads. Either way the valve stems were the same length on both heads. Not to say the lifter preload was the same it was vastly different when checked closer.
When we do not take care in adjusting our valve stem lengths on these heads with non adjustable rocker arms we introduce all kinds of inconsistencies to our valve seat timing and it can flat work to squish out the performance of an engine just like this.
I’d be for scrutinizing the timing assembly as well as the valve stem lengths. Not the lengths on just each head but cross verifying valve stem length with the same intake valve measure in both heads to make sure we understand that valve spring heights and seat depths are somewhat consistent.
The fact is we’re dealing with an engine that doesn’t flow much air especially with the stock manifold. There isn’t a ton of compression to play with. The cubic inches aren’t huge by large. So this makes valve timing events that much more critical to scrutinize.
A few degrees here a couple of inconsistent valves tips there. It can all be seemingly innocent to the point of permissible and give results just like this.
That engine sounds nice. It’s just being verified in the overall without details being verified from what I can see.
I enjoy the content and I hope this advice is taken positively and further I hope it helps out.
Good info. Thank you. When I mill heads or decking, I use Rocker shaft shims to make up what was milled. Too much preload is no good.
I would use a checker pushrod that is adjustable in length.
Extend the pushrod to zero valve lash then remove the rocker arms and measure the length of the pushrod.
You can check as many as you like this way and verify stem height consistency if the rocker arms are somewhat consistent in ratio.
In either event doing it this way will show you if there is a deviation in rocker arm ratio or valve stem length.
If you find gross inconsistencies you can move a previously checked rocker arm over to the suspect package and see if anything changes.
I do not expect stock rocker arms to be dead on consistent only somewhat.
A person can be accused of overthinking these situations but the chances of someone machining on these parts who wasn’t thinking enough is often the highest of possibly. At this point you’re forced into some serious thinking anc checking.
Nothing outside of the box rather detailed checks for fundamentals that can take time.
I’ve seen shims under rocker shafts and stands quite a bit in my experiences. I’ve just ran into these inconsistencies more often than I want to. There simply plenty of lifter travel to play around with and things seemingly work fine until the dyno is applied.
Nick is the Wedge Whisperer 😊
I had a 69 383 that gave me a very similar issue after a rebuild. Turned out to be a crank/ cam gear indexing issue. Changed over to an indexable/ adjustable timing gear set.I forgot what Isky cam I put in it. It ended with an increased to 507/horse 517 torque. Tuned Thermoquad, Iron heads with new valves and cleanup porting in both pockets. A set of long tube Hedmans modified from the 90s with 3 1/2" diameter collector with 2" deeper barrel added to collector( cut and weld) kind of like what TTI does now.
Good times 🎉 I liked the teamwork. Working together in perfect unison 🎉
I'm not an engine builder but on all the TV engine shows they make a big deal out of degreeing the cam, never saw them do that
My 340 6 pack Dart Swinger had polyurethane bushings throughout.And they all squeaked. I called it old "squeaky" LOL😅
My brother had for a while as one of his many horse traded cars back in the 70's a 383 road runner with 4.10 and automatic. The thing would rock, gapping most cars in the Woodward stoplight grand prixs, except things like 440 six packs, hemi's, and solid lifter BBC's. It would routinely rip motor mounts out, and finally had to be chained down. One thing he said he had to do though, was keep the thermoquad carb. For some reason, the power just plain died when he tried to go to a holley carb for more power, no matter what tuning and adjustment. Put the thermo back on and it was back to being a hooligan. As far as I know, the rest of the engine, cam and all, was stock.
A apologize for the delay in getting the numbers. They are a dished type piston sitting .014 below deck on this '68 block and it has never been decked. I have no idea if they are forged or not. Being a dished style I have no doubt you have no interest in them. I've held onto them for so long only because they are still good pistons and there will come a day when somebody will want put to their stuff back together in numbers matching fashion. These are just one more part in a list of oddball rarities, like the super commando cam this engine has.
I hope that helps you reference whatever issue you are dealing with on this weak 383.
Hey Nick thanks for sharing. I couldn't remember if you milled the head or the block. But if the piston is still .050 in the hole, not really that good...But you know that..Hope you figure it out!
Looking forward to part 3. I am surprised that Nick didn't look over the valves/seats while the heads were off the engine. If the other shop who built the engine was supposed to be a performance builder, then I hope that Nicks passes along the problem and the fix. Having the right seat angle and valve angles and valve setup is an important part of building power. A tiny amount of bowl and short radius cleanup will go a long way toward Nicks goal of 425+ torque.
Timing in the cam might help 😄👌
Very exciting. I love a mystery and can't wait to see this engine on its way back to another Nicks Garage proper running engine. Incredible to follow this. Thank you Nick and crew
Good thing Manny is there..
Love this...people need to understand that taking old cars and refurbishing them....
Hey guys!!!! It’s ol’ retiree JJ here 😅😅😅 This is an interesting challenge on the 383: I heard Nick and Manny talking about sunken valves: maybe Nick could explain to the viewers what that is and how performance could be affected. Great content as always and great week, all!!!!
The valve seats are worn out and pounded in from high miles and probably lack of the lead in the fuel that these older engines need to help cushion the valves and seats . All they have to do is find a reputable cylinder head shop or machine shop that can cut the old seats out and check the heads for cracks and if ok install hardened intake & exhaust seats with a good set of stainless steel valves and preferably go the big valve upgrade with a 3 angle valve and seat to get those 906 heads to breath better with a bowl blend back & port gasket match on the intake & exhaust ports . I've been watching a UA-cam channel called Jim's Machine and it's a father son team that owns a machine shop that does a lot of automotive engine machining and he just built a Chrysler 413 for a guy & had a video of the machining done on the engine so look for him because they do some really nice work and explain what & why they are doing things in a particular way & if not done at all or done the right way how it can lead to engine failure & damage .
@peteloomis8456 yes, I've seen that site you're talking about. It's a very good one. There's a plethora of automotive enthusiast web pages these days.
Sunken valves reduce compression.
Then you have to cut the valve stems to compensate for the sunken valves. This also affects how far the valves open.
As Nick said, the heads were worked over.
In his testing, he had the heads milled .020
Added thinner head gaskets
That brought up the compression ratio Abit.
I would be surprised if he has the heads reworked to the correct valve seat heights.
Installs new valves too.
Then the process of checking valve heights. Push rod length. Rocker arm travels on the tip of each valve.
Checking how far each rocker arm moves/travels to open each valve.
Checking the center line of the cam. Does the cam needs to be advanced or retared?
Or basically degreeing the cam.
Some one told me, never believed on what they tell you on a engine. Do your due diligence and find out your self.
I had a neighbor that was having idling problems with his Chevy engine.
He asked me to look it over.
He was bragging the engine came out of a HP car and a so call race cam?
The engine had a rump rump sound as if it had a big cam?
Took me about an hour of checking and tuning. Found wires swapped. Timing was moved.
After my tuning. Engine ran smooth
.. I believe ,from what i've seen, it's ignition (cap/rotor/plug wires) also that's not nearly enough cam for the 383. Just my opinion.PEACE GRD Thanks for airing the videos, they're fun. You're common sense is quite refreshing, (watch the aggravation, it's a peice of metal , it'll do what you tell it, no more!) again PEACE
The music and suspense in Ni c k's garage deserve recognition, and a new category of show biz award.... Where's Leo?
Leo got a job with the Coast Guard!
Although it is frustrating and a lot of extra time X 3 or 4 guys, the 383 was always a good torquey engine and high revving. If it wasn't, tens of thousands of guys would not have had them in their Mopars. It has gotta be the valve train that is not up to snuff. Thank you for two very insightful videos George.😊
It's a lot harder to get 9.5:1 compression with 906 heads on a 383 than most realize. With low compression, cam events have less effect on the overall HP and torque curves. You could advance the cam timing some to help the torque, but you'll lose HP in the process. Other than an intake swap, this engine is what it is. The only thing that can help it is more compression.
I second that statement.
Old engines are like good women. Little stubborn every now an then )
Awsome Monday dyno , this is why I had a 440 swapped in my old 69 roadrunner lol... Good job fellas 👍 ☕️
The 440 had the383 covered big time.
In the early 1970’s I had a 1968 Charger with the 440 /auto trans in high school. Only car that came close to the Chargers performance was a Mustang with a 428.
The 383 just didn’t have the torque or hp needed to be a serious muscle car.
As a Mopar guy, you do not have to pull the intake manifold to pull the lifter out and put them back in, remove the rocker shafts and they will come out through the push rods hole. Especially on 906 or 452 heads.
Nice video Nick and friends.
There was a reason these engines came from the factory with thermoquad carbs. Heavy cars w/poorly designed motors needed small primary carb throttle bores to make low end torque. Short stroke and big bore needs camshaft, big carb, big heads and high rpm to make any power.
You guys are Litterly engine masters !!!!
Thank you!
Well Manny id rather see you backing up Nick than anyone. You and George are awesome msinstays to the team. And Manny was very patient!
I could a major change when Manny did that last adjustment to the distributor at 21:30. She popped to life
The short stroking Mopar 383 engines were NOT known for huge amounts of Torque... Mainly because of the short 3.375" stroke... The earlier long stroking (3.750") 383's did create higher torque because of the 0.1875" radius increase , which gave that engine crank higher leverage at lower rpm. even with the stock 4.030" cylinder bore diameter on this early RB engine that was introduced in 1959... But the later B Series engines (361 & 383) which were introduced in 1964, the stroke and deck height were reduced... This also reduced the maximum torque, but increased the maximum horsepower available that this displacement put out...
BTW, Just about ALL of the naturally aspirated engines built during this era used MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure -.AKA: Manifold vacuum) to drive several Accessories including the brake boosters . There was a different kind of vacuum that was used to operate the distributor timing advancer units... It was known as 'Ported' vacuum (AKA as: Dustributor vacuum, Venturi Vacuum) which did the REVERSE OF WHAT MAP does... It increases with higher Throttle opening, where MAP decreases with higher throttle opening...Hooking this up correctly - could ensure higher numbers on the dyno testing process...
Is it possible that the engine had 1.6:1 rockers on it and when he had it rebuilt could they have put stock 1.5:1 rockers? That could be the torque difference.
I don't know for as good as this guy is supposed to be he sure does like to do things over and over
Simply like that attitude Nick and having that you will get your 425 plus toque I'm sure, have a beaut week ahead till next time Nick & Team.
Just a guess like everyone else. But I am thinking valve springs. I know Nick will find what the issue is. They will redo the heads and get the valves right and springs right. Then we shall see. The good feeling will come when you get the torque you are looking for. That is a good feeling you get when you accomplish your goal. Good luck Nick. I will be watching this with anticipation.
honestly, if this was a matching numbers car, i would spend the money and have seats put in the heads, i don't know about Chryslers, but on Big block Chevy's, they have date codes cast in the heads, and they should line up within a few days of the casting date one the block, and all of them should have been case a few weeks before the car was built. example my 71 Camaro SS 396 4 speed was built first second week of January 1971. but the engine block was cast first week of December of 1970, and the heads were first week of December of 1970. intake and water pump were also first week of December 1970, but the exhaust manifolds were 2nd week 1970. even the carb had 1970 manufactured date, but my carb was built in late November of 70, which is a little early, but not entirely out of the realm of possibility since they only made 1533 396 Camaros that year, and very few of those were probably stick shifts cars. but the numbers all match up. and the dates are very close. so in the case of old weaky, i would do valve seat, pull the engine down and fix the issue with the piston quench distance properly. with either a better set of pistons, decking the block (if that doesn't destroy the vin of engine codes stamped on the block like a chevy, another option is offset bushing on the connecting rods. to give you proper quench distance. I like mine about .015 in the hole, and a .030 head gasket. for .045-inch quench distance on high-performance engines driven on the street, and the same for the marine engines i build. but i have seen a tight as .035 quench distance on some drag race engines.
The problem with 906 cyl heads is that they don't provide any quench. I like the idea about offset wrist pin bushings.
On Bb Mopar, try for 0 deck.get that piston out of the hole first off.
With the forged pistons, that might be doable. But decking the block means tearing the whole engine apart.
Last week Nick was not happy with the result of his toil "Old Weaky" started to make his blood boil and was leaking oil Nick hasn't got time to frown and he's not gonna let any engine treat him like a clown So it's all hands on deck for a dyno room tear down To identify the loss in torque Nick's Garage walks the walk Why and how? Hes shaved the head down 20 thou Formulating a brand new plan Nick is installing the clients original competition cam Manny and Maverick are on hand Nick's Garage is skillfully manned They've finally found the leak from last week Nick has gaskets in stock for rocker covers and head or block so he can do quick changes when there are horses to seek Nick speaks from his heart he can't hide his dissapointment that's why he's respected by clients and fans alike and so popular you gotta book an appointment Nick's Garage is flexible They'll do further research and development cuz giving clients what they need pays the rent Minor setbacks Nick's confidence will never dent Thanks Nick George Manny and Mav All fantastic friends to have
Other than being down on power that engine runs like a sewing machine. No ticks or strange noises and it looks as if it is very well balanced. I’m with Nick on the heads. Sunk valves equal shrouded valves. Either that or the wrong numbers were put in to the setup on the dyno program.
Wow ! You’ll get it mr nick!
Drill a hole in the plug tower from old cap when you know where #1 is, advance distributor until the rotor end disappears. It will start happy if something else is not messed up.
Check the crank indexing...
Are you talking about the harmonic balance shifting?
@@jeremiahchamberlin4499 No, throws may be out of whack but that's also a good point.
Back in the 80's when 60's when I could afford a good Chrysler product, one of the weakest 383 l owned was in a 69 Roadrunner, and the strongest was a 66 Belvedere and both were 4 speed
Vehicles
Nice all hands on deck!
Indeed!
From a Mopar engine builder on the other side of Canada. One option which would be much more effective. Cost and performance minded. Instead of completely redoing another set of heads. A set of larger valves would be a much better option. 2.14-1.81's wake up the old cast heads and will renew the seat height to factory spec. 28 degree back cut on intake for increased low lift flow. Along with the proper bowl blend of course. Don't forget to account for possible different pushrod length with the 0.020 milled heads. Or we can shim the rockers up. My first real engine I built decades ago was a pump gas street 383 which made 515hp using 906 heads I (fully) ported. Along with all the other goodies of the time. The larger valve size will also clear 4.25 bore especially with the moderate under .500 lift cam being used. Increasing the bowl size with the larger valves but still keeping the runner volume the same size will boost TQ and HP right from off idle and throughout the modest RPM range of this 383.
Ah, the voice of reason.
I don't doubt for a second, but I think Nick is mainly trying to get the numbers with factory stock spec 1970 engine.
@@mickangio16 I hear you. I'm not talking full port job. Just a slight step forward to what's already been done. Super conservative blend just to help it shine. May even help others see the potential of the 383. A true A/B with only a valve change which many other Mopar people could do with existing heads they have. Helps save other heads just like it all around the world. At least the same heads which could be the originals can still be used and be made back to original seat heights. Seems a bit of a waste to junk these heads and start all over again. If just the bowl was blended to the larger valve and kept super simple at the very least the factory numbers will guarantee to be achieved . It'll help the little 383 to at least be all it can be. The Camshaft isn't stock either are the pistons so one extra little internal variation will just help the all around driving experience without affecting anything else.
@@dannyfasttcars8612
Yessir. It's easy to get respectable power out of one of these things with common hotrodding techniques & bolt ons, but trying to do it as a stock appearing resto would be a lot tougher.
Nice video Nick. This is off topic, but I had to charge the battery in my show car the other day and I wanted to share. The clamp would not go over the positive clamp bolt because of a ring connector on it. I put a small pair of Vice Grips on the bolt and then the clamp on the pliers. Worked great without scratching the battery cable ends. Just following your tips.
Putting on my racing harness and helmet...Lets go
The best nick meltdown is when he gets a ford motor that wont start. Ford motors are his nemesis and his phobia 😂
It seems that back in the old days some motors simply had "it" and some didn't. Most times you couldn't put a finger on the reason why. I can't wait to see what you find is behind this doggy 383.
I know what you mean. I remember two guys who bought the same cars in different colors. Same engine, same transmission. One ran like a scared jack rabbit and the other could barely get out of its own way.
Back in the day was easy. Now we dont use gaskets and a computer tells us. He was good back in the day but would be lost now.😊
Take an underwhelming 383, order a 489 stroker kit (4.280 x 4.250) and hang on to your socks! It's been a few years, but the last one I did was a drop in, no clearancing required to the block. The customer supplied the kit from 440 Source, Icon forged pistons/H beams/steel crank.
It's cool that you're bound and determined to hit a goal with a relatively stock engine, manifolds included.
Pistons and rods original and located in their original positions? Rings doing something wonky in the ring lands during high cylinder pressure events? That great of loss seems almost fundamental/foundational. Looks to be running really well at lower cyl. pressures. A lotta oil pressure there, as well, eh?
Wallace compression calculator shows. 8.45 CR. With Negative 0.050 deck. 0.020 gasket. 84 CC Cylinder Head. Not sure of head cc on your engine. Worth checking out. Really enjoy watching your show
Deck is .015 below. Not .050 Chambers are 83 cc.
Nick, you are doing the same thing I would do keeping at it till it is where you want it Right on👍
Years ago I had a 69 mk3. Rusty old Lincoln 460 used to blow the doors off those roadrunners 🥳 17 mpg hwy reg gas 😮
and it's a shame that the engine doesn't work as it should...and it's so nicely painted orange 🤔🙂
Great tip for valve covers never would have thought the manifold would push the tabs over
Nice job Nick...good to see Manny....great content and thanks 🔧🔧👍
I have one of those German torque wrenches. Brand is "gooden--tight" brand.
We learn a lot from Nick keeping the classic muscle up and running. When those heads come off and an inspection of the valves should reveal something. There used to be 'towing' or 'torque' cams that had less duration but higher lift. Maybe one of those would help?
Those Canadians can work fast it must be the coffee hahaha go Nick go