My GM 383 HT Oh YA!!!

[bodyworks]

Well here it is at 8000 miles! What a beautiful site, no really it is. This engine had timing issues from day one, No not the typical bonehead stuff but real issues. It suffered from cam walk, it would lose 10* timing and all because of cam walk as it warmed up you could hear it change timing. Was the block expanding because of lack of nickel and tin, who knows?? Discovered this when disassembling it. The timing chain was roller chain that you can find on many pieces of farm machinery. The cam walk measured 1/8", great. The block gave way at 10.30 at night on my way home from work,awesome. Yes this 383ht was new when installed 2 years ago with new distributer and mellonized gear. It never was hot nor abused, and GM claims never to have had issues with this type of motor, Even more great! Well I thought I would share this with all of you so becareful. No more GM performance for me.

[J Knight]

Sorry to hear about your motor.
Congratulations on your new found boat anchor.

[spudz]

Rip

[1986c10]

dear god that is awful. sorry for your loss

[bodyworks]

Does this mean I need a boat?

[Mrtn15]

I want the body of your truck(:
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[VA72C10]

Man, that stinks. Sorry about that.

[J Knight]

Ofcourse, new motor to haul your new boat and new anchor! LOL

All kidding aside thats messed up, GM should warranty that motor.

[iroc12valve]

If they'd written on it in English it would still be running.

[Your41Plague12]

GM should definitely cover that. That's awful. By the way, I agree with iroc12valve's comment!

[bodyworks]

Nope warranty denied engine is out of it because of time.

[Pop's C-10]

Poor block

[meter swinger]

Holy molten lava batman. That looks like whats left of the reactor core at chernobyl. You sure the rods wern't made out of plutonium? Maybe it was time to scram that sucker anyway. Hope it was fun
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[MalibuSSwagon]

You seem to be missing a piston...or is that it all over the oil pickup

[bodyworks]

No fun, I'll some photos of the mill soon. It's a killer 427 small block from Pro formance Unlimited. Only got 200 miles on it so far. WOW does it run awesome.

[manimal]

3rd pic says it all. I totally stay away from the mexican blocks/heads. They are thinner castings from what I have seen.

[JCampbell]

Originally Posted by manimal

3rd pic says it all.

EXACTLY what I was going to post.

[C-10 simplex]

Oh no!; This is one of the engines i was considering.

What mpg did you get?


Here is what happened with my crate 350 meximotor:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=422799

i don't know if it was my fault----replaced right bank head gasket due to misdiagnoisis of another problem(head gasket wasn't the problem----faulty trans vacuum modulator was---thus leaking into intake and causing smoke out the right pipe) and possibly didn't not seal the bolts properly (not sure how or why of this) OR the engine was just junk.

a) i was not the original owner and the engine is from 96 and i put at least 4-5000 miles on it. The engine failed after about2 yrs after i took the head off. So i'm thinking that right there points to me being at fault but then again.....

b) In contrast, the engine that replaced it, a 305 out of a 78 malibu which i had just lying around has, to the best of my knowledge, never been rebuilt and runs very smoothly.


Is the zz383 made in mexico or here?

[Low84]

How did this turn into a Mexico bashing thread? If I remember correctly, there was a thread a while back on this same site claiming these were the best castings to look for.

[Pyrotechnic]

With the cam walk and the timing be off, I wonder if detonation shattered that piston then the wrist pin knocked a hole in the block? Hyper pistons will shatter rather than melt like a forged will.

[manimal]

Originally Posted by Low84

How did this turn into a Mexico bashing thread? If I remember correctly, there was a thread a while back on this same site claiming these were the best castings to look for.

I have a GM crate 4 bolt block that was hecho en mexico, I refuse to use it. I know for a fact that the heads SUCK! They are very thin castings. I just dont trust them.
Now if I were building a Ford, I would be looking for a mexican 302 as they had more nickle in the casting and are much stronger than US or Canadian castings. That came right from Billy Glidden.

[72duraburb]

quit messin with those gas burners and go towards the light of turbo diesel power!

[Low84]

Aren't gm performance crate engine blocks manufactured in mexico as well as the heads (neither of which failed) but assembled in the u.s. (which apparently was the problem judging by the problem description/pictures).


From what I gather, the "010" casting in the 350 is a "high nickel" block

[SBTork]

Sorry you had this happen. GMPP now has a 2 year/24K mile warranty on all engines, maybe someone you know at a local dealer can have them grandfather it in. Their crate engine have had this warranty since the beginning of 2010 as far as I know.
I know you're going a different direction now anyways, but it can't hurt to ask.

[bodyworks]

What I think is the ad for this engine was more of a problem than anything. After being burnt a couple of times at local machine shops didn't help either. One shop took my virgin 400 on trade for a heavy weight 4 bolt block, but neglicted to tell me the heavy weight blew-up in turn three at last Saturdays dirt trackrace. Nice gouge in #5 cylinder. I took that engine apart on the stand the day I got it home and found the parts I paid for weren't there. So $2750.00 later I had had nothing, I sold that to 72duraburb for his rock crawler and ate 1750.00. The original 400 from Mungus went to another shop and I was told the bore taper was upside down. HA, That block I marked and made sure I got it back. That same shop was going to build a 383 for $6500.00 and I pulled the plug 3 monthes into that build, after finding they were using a Chinese intake-Professioal Products- No thanks. Paid the shop for its services $1750.00 and had parts. So the GM crate engine looked like a great option. Well it wasn't. Add that up,that sucks!! I'll post some photos of my 427 small block built by Pro-formance Unlimited soon. Doug gave me a 2year warranty and it run great. Becareful on what you are buying. Buy the way 72Duraburb is right it"s tough to beat 24 mpg and 887ft.lbs of torque. Love that Suburban!!!!