Project 383 Stroker

Today on trucks. Everybody wants more horsepower. So we'll take you step by step through the pursuit of 450 horses as we build up a 383 Stroker.

After that, we'll take you for a rare ride down memory lane in a 1946 Hudson pickup.

Then it's back to the shop to finish up our three week series on paint

tech.

That's all today on trucks.

Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us for today's show. You know, the history of the do it yourself or was born from the ever increasing need for speed and performance, whether you're running down the strip or blazing a trail off road. Everybody, everybody wants more power.

The problem is there's so many ways to build an engine. You can go for high horsepower or you can go for high torque, concentrate on the bottom end or the top end. So the first thing you need to decide is what your application is gonna be

and whether it's gonna be used off road or on the street, what kind of transmission you're gonna use and of course, the real biggie,

how much money you're gonna spend?

Yeah, you know what they say. You can go as fast as your checkbook will let you. Now, the goal for our rebuild is to have about 450 horse on pump gas that we can drive every day without spending a whole lot more than three grand. So we're gonna take you through the build up of a 383 Stroker throwing in some high budget

creamer tips and some low budget beater tips while we're at it.

Now we got the short block for our 383 from Groom's engines in Nashville, Tennessee for about 1300 bucks.

Now they start with a season four bolt main block, then they clean it magna

it and a lion hone it. So the crank and bearings are where they need to be. Then they drop in a brand new 400 crank and standard 5.7 rods

up on top. The block is square deck to give you a good seal for your head gaskets that ensures consistent pressure ratio on balance power from cylinder to cylinder. The cylinders have also been diamond hung and clean. The reason this is important is because dirty bores not only tear up rings, but they can also be a major factor in premature bearing failure.

Now, one of the biggest mistakes that people make when building an engine is they spend all their money on visual go fast goodies like intakes, carburetors and fancy valve covers. Now, granted those are important, but you've got to have a good set of pistons and rings.

So we had grooms install these Ross racing pistons and these total seal gapless rings.

Now, these pistons are forged 40 over flat tops.

They give you all the benefits of Ross's extensive racing history without putting you entirely in the poorhouse.

Now, just by putting in these gapless rings can grab you about 20 more horsepower.

And that's possible because of this unique two piece second ring that features a slant gap and

these two rings work together

to virtually eliminate any kind of blow by or cylinder leak down

while stace was filling in on the pistons and rings. I went ahead and bolted on the oil pump. Now, a common misconception is that you need a high volume pump for any kind of performance application problem is unless you're running a larger capacity pan,

a high volume pump can run it bone dry bottom line.

A stock pump is plenty for a hot street motor. Also, keep in mind if you're going to reuse an old pump, replace the nylon sleeve for the drive shaft.

Now, we come to a potential area of major screw ups and that's picking the wrong camshaft.

We're gonna go with Edel Brock's performer RPM because it's designed to work with their heads and intake and will give us a lift and duration that we're after.

Now, remember a motor that makes its power 6000 RPM will take a much different cam than one that will make power say at 4500 bottom line is bigger. Cam does not necessarily mean more performance. Do your research.

Now, when you insert the cam, make sure that you generously coat it with the supplied cam lube

and then slowly slide it in, making sure you don't nick any of the bearing surfaces.

A

lot of you guys are probably thinking $1300 is a lot of money to spend for a short block. But when you consider you can drop as much as a grand on the machine work alone, then still have to buy all the parts and assemble it. It's not hard to figure out. It really is the best way to go. Now that we have the camshaft in place, it's time to install the timing chain

before you can get the chain on. You need to make sure your first cylinder is at top dead center, then you can slide your cranks sprocket on and the timing mark should point straight up. We're using the zero for a standard straight up timing.

Now you can set the cams sprocket in place and line up your timing marks

once they're lined up, pop off the sprocket and put on the chain,

make sure to use lock tight when you bolt everything down.

Now without a doubt, the key to any kind of real performance is a good set of heads. So if you're gonna spend some money. This is where to do it.

And these aluminum metal brock heads feature, the big 202 intake valves, the 160 exhaust valves that have the undercut stems for better flow. And

these are fully dressed with springs and retainers as well as screwing studs and guide plates. And we'll talk about those later on

you ready for these ready.

Now, it's important when you both the heads on that, you follow the torch sequence in 30 pound increments, starting in the center and moving outward in a cross pattern.

Well, project 383 Stroker starting to look like a motor after the break. We'll continue our quest for 450 horse on pumped gas

later on trucks, we will take you for a ride in a pickup that most people don't even know existed. But before we do, we'll finish up our pursuit of 450 horses on pumped gas as project 383 Stroker continues.

Welcome back to the shop. If you're just tuning in, we've already put ac and headers on our short block and now we're ready to button up the bottom end. But before we do, we need to make sure everything's coated real good in oil. Then we can put on this polished aluminum pan from Mr gasket that not only looks cool but is gonna help our oil run cooler as well.

For Rocker arms, we're gonna use, er,

and roller rockers for a couple of reasons. First of all, with a 1.6 ratio that really make the cam come alive. Also because of the roller type design, they greatly reduce friction and heat in the valve train. All this adds up to about 20 more horsepower.

Of course, before states can put the rockers on,

I need to install the lifters. First thing you need to do is lo them up real good,

then you can just drop them right into the bore. Now, Edelbrock says you shouldn't pump their lifters with oil before you install them or you could bend the push rods. First time you put fire to the motor. Believe me, you definitely don't want that.

You about done with those push rods now, ready to go. All right.

Now it's time for the rocker arms, but before we put them on,

I wanna explain the reasoning behind screw in studs and guide plates.

Now, a high lift cam and stiffer springs can actually pull out a stock pressed in stud, a screw in stud will prevent that.

The guide plate that keeps the push rod from slopping around at high RPM

with the rocker in place. And the number one cylinder at top dead center

slowly turn the nut until you feel a slight drag on the push rod.

Then go an extra quarter, turn

now walk down the nut,

then do the same thing for the exhaust valve.

After that, you can do the rest of your valves just by turning the crank. And following the firing order,

this dual plane air gap intake is gonna give us great low RPM response. But it'll also pull all the way up to 6500 RPM. Keep in mind it's always a good idea to use a little adhesive to help hold your side gaskets in place.

Also, if you use the stock in gaskets,

make sure you apply a big dab of ceiling on both corners.

In our case, since we're going into aluminum heads, we need to use anise

on the bolts to keep from destroying the threads.

Don't forget to use the proper sequence

when you torque it down

while mill's finishing up the intake. Let me show you the distributor we're gonna use,

that's a mallory unal light

that uses this little light module to fire your plugs with the speed and accuracy of light.

The best part is once you have this little rascal in, you never have to mess with it again.

Now, we're using a mechanical advance because this cam only produces eight inches of vacuum.

Now, with your motor at top dead center slide, the distributor in until it sees all the way into the oil pump.

Then put on your cap

and mark your number one plug.

I've already put a vibration dampener on project 383 Stroker, but it's also gonna need a water and fuel pump.

We'll continue with the performer series. That'll keep our engine running cooler

while making sure it gets plenty to drink as well.

Now, I know you're thinking we forgot about the carburetor, but come on, we wouldn't do that. Now, this 750 performer should give us all the flow that we need.

The only trick to bolt one of these down is make sure that you don't over tighten the nuts or you could crack the housing.

Of

course, the crowning jewel to our engine is this angry mega scoop by B and M nestled between classic thin valve covers.

Now that our motor can suck it in, it needs to be able to blow it out. There you go, man.

That's where the Sanderson block hugger headers come in.

They have thicker fangs to prevent warping along with the best investment you can put on a set of headers and that's jet hot coating that won't burn off.

We're also gonna run these copper seal gaskets from Mr gasket that'll prevent leakage. And if you think this is cool, what do you see the transmission that goes behind it? And you have to wait for another show for that. Stay with us. Trucks will be right back after this.

Later in the show. We'll finish up our three week series on paint tech, but up first it's time for a ride in a 46 Hudson the pick up. That is

welcome back. Everybody. Now you've seen plenty of Ford Chevy and Dodge pickups rolling down the road, but this is probably a first for you,

the 1946 Hudson pickup, by the way, you can put your checkbook away because this is owned by Paul Miner of Franklin Tennessee and he's not selling Franklin.

This little classic is pretty close to what it looked like when it rolled off the assembly line back in 46 except for a few accessories like this tool box that has a little bit more finish than the plate, metal ones you see today.

Now, the original Hudson came with a metal bed, but as you can see, they've laid down wood planks to capture that vintage look.

Some of the other options you could get from the dealership or chrome turn signals, wrap around bumpers and fog lights and let's face it. You just don't see a classic front end like this anymore.

And speaking of good looks, the lines on this thing look like it's been chopped and channeled, but it hasn't. That's exactly the way it came from the factory. A lot of you guys probably figured the forward tilting hood was reserved for sports cars like the vet and T bird in the fifties, but Hudson was way ahead of that game.

Now, you old NASCAR fans will no doubt. Remember this power plant, it's the Hudson Hornet straight six that dominated what's now the Winston Cup Series in the early fifties, 308 cubes and with the twin carburetors, the twin H power,

it'll go about 100 and 60 horsepower,

which a lot of horses back in those days,

but it had a lot of torque

won a lot of races, especially on the quarter mile ovals.

And more than once, it beat out the Rocket 88

S V8.

Now, everybody's familiar with the late model truck interior. A lot of plastic, a lot of vinyl, but years ago, it was mostly chrome, brass and metal, all designed to follow a common theme.

Now, this is a cool option. The early beginnings of a cup holder strategically located right close to your girlfriend's legs. Perfect for the drive in

a power steering. That wasn't an option in 46. So Hudson took care of that with this huge steering wheel and this spinner knob,

of course, this old Hudson is mostly metal, which means a whole lot more weight. So it doesn't handle quite as well as the trucks we drive today. But a spinning heads is what you're after the 46 Hudson is definitely what you want.

I see. I'm very proud of it, you know, and, and I enjoy showing it off

if I could call back in my, in my teens,

I'd be out Saturday night cruising in this thing. I think it turns the girls heads. I'll tell you once they get a look at me though, they look the other way.

I tell you what man, all he's driving around is, uh, made me a little hungry. Yeah, me too. Let's go hit the piggly wiggly man. That sounds good to me. Don't go away. We got more trucks for you. After we eat

up next, we'll show you how to lay down the final coat in paint tech

and Stacy has this week's quick tip for you.

Thanks for staying with us. Everybody. Now, the last couple of weeks we showed you how to strip and primer your project.

This week, we're gonna show you how to block sand. It shoot on some color and buff it out to a final high gloss finish. Like we said before, block sanding is the key to a show quality paint job. Now, if you were with us last week, you saw us lay down the primer coat on our hood, which means it's had plenty of time to dry and we can start wet sandy.

The reason you need to use water is because it lubricates the paper and prevents it from clogging, which allows it to cut, better use a block on flat surfaces.

But around corners, you need to use your fingers. Remember if you can feel it, you'll be able to see it in the final coat.

Now that the surface is ready, it's time for the base coat. This makes everything one color.

This is important when using a candy pearl like the one we got from house of colors because the base coat reflects up through the final color

the second stage is the color coat. Now, this is where gun technique is critical, too dry equals an orange peel effect and too wet equals runs.

And if you run a pearl or a metallic, you have to reshoot it.

A solid color can be sanded out. So it's much more forgiving for the novice.

Finally, the third stage is your clear coat.

You need to be real careful here because it's hard to see which makes it easy to run.

But there's good news. This stage can be sanded and buffed out.

This next step won't work unless you allow proper drying time. So we're gonna go ahead and show you how to color sand on the hood of project sports Sierra.

This step allows you to get rid of any runs or imperfections that somehow always seem to find their way into your final coat

once again using water and a very fine grit, sandpaper, cut out any imperfections that you can see and feel.

Now, some of you are probably thinking, man, they totally ruined that paint job, but don't worry, the shine is there. We just have to go get it. We're gonna use this three M rubbing compound and a wool buff,

do small areas at a time, applying medium pressure at first and then lighten it up.

Make sure you use a low speed or you'll burn the paint

and work it until you see the gloss up here.

Hit it with a high quality wax

and you're done

well over the past three weeks, we've shown you just a few of the numerous tips that are involved in laying down a signature paint job. Keep in mind there's always variables, but one thing remains constant practice makes perfect.

Oh

Yeah.

Now everybody's familiar with the benefits of sandblasting, whether you use a cabinet like this or a portable unit. A lot of people don't realize that if you use the wrong media, you can mess up your part. Now, some of the media that's available is silicon carbide, which is the most most aggressive and it is great for removing rust or etching glass. Then you have aluminum oxide which is milder, but it lasts longer.

And then for softer metals, you've got glass beads. So the tip here is to leave the sand at the beach

and use the right media.

In 1965. The combination of Bill Maverick Golden, a 426

hemi and a Dodge, a 100 pickup known as the little red wagon, introduced the world to wheel standing

and now truck, gear, parts, tools and equipment for pickups and sport utilities.

The first thing we want to show you today is perfect for anyone who doesn't need the storage space of a big box in the back of their pickup or

maybe even needs a little extra space. Either way, this lockable tail box by Carlson product is a great way to go. It stores and displays all your tools and emergency equation

or basically any item you can imagine for work or play. It's made of aluminum diamond plate to support heavy loads and all you need to install it is a drill. The tail box comes in black powder coat or polished aluminum and can be purchased through steel horse automotive for about 250 bucks.

Now, nothing in the Caviar truck makes quite the statement that a cool steering wheel does. And since you have your hands all over it all the time, it helps if it's comfortable.

Well, Grant has hit the best of both worlds with their signature series steering wheels. They're available in three or four spoke mahogany or leather

and this banjo style is very cool

and because they make so many different models, you can afford a Grant wheel no matter what your budget that's gonna do it for truck gear. Here's a peek at next week's show.

Next week on trucks, Mel and Stacy, get the suspension on Wicked Willies ready for the trail in the rear. It'll be a high pinion nine inch board while a Dana 44 leads the way in the front. After that, they'll take a look at a rare bow tie the 57 cameo.

Then it's time to show you how to build a sturdy set of sawhorses for your shop. That's all next week on trucks.

Well, that's gonna do it for this week's show. We look forward to trucking with you again next week. Hey, Stace, I'll play a game of trucks for that motor, man.

You'll lose.

Well,

let's

find out here we go. All

right

from the line here.

Uh,

hello,

this is gonna be like taking candy from a baby man.

That

oops.

Two.

Ok. A little granny style actually, man, I'm over here.

We Rick Barry from off center.

No,

nothing but Air Man

trucks is an RTM production.