Hey im looking at trading my 2000 silverado for a 88 chevy silverado with a 383 stroker. The engine and trans only have 3000 miles on them. How dependable are these 383 stroker or am i asking for trouble?

 

Built correctly, they are just as reliable as any other build. If you want to ensure you have a good reliable motor, have the cash and don't want what we would call a hard core motor, take a good look at the 383 from GM Performance. It's a good motor, that would last a long time in a daily driver application. The pistons are Hypereutectic, which will provide for a quite running motor and will even hold up to a small shot of nitrous. GM goes about it a little differently than what a traditional aftermaket build would consist of, they run a 4.00" bore x 3.80" stroke instead of the more traditional 4.30" bore x 3.75" stroke. The GM version has a 4340 forged steel one piece seal steel crank, PM steel rods, Vortec iron heads and a hydraulic roller cam that is small enough to be used with the factory controls in your truck. You would of course need to obtain a TBI Vortec intake manifold and have a chip burned for your 1988 model truck or it will not run right, unless your looking to go with a carburetor. It is rated at 340hp/435tq. If you felt the need to move up to an even stronger package, they have the ZZ383 which is built off the same short-block, but comes with Fast-Burn aluminum heads and a little more agressive camshaft. It is rated at 425 horsepower and 449 lb.-ft. of torque. Of course if you wanted to build one yourself, they aftermarket is flooded with possibilities.

 

I would be more concerned with the fact that you are buying a truck that is 12 years older that the one you are currently driving.

 

I like the looks of the GM crate 383's, especially the one with the fast burn heads and more aggressive camshaft

 

Ditto on this it's going to be a large difference in creature comforts going from '00 to '88. Now if it was a 96+ it would be alittle different but that's up to you do decide just be sure you consider this...

 

Good points...have you driven any OBS's for any period of time? It may be no big deal to you, or you may be surprised at how differently they feel in a daily driven situation...

 

I drove a 94 sierra for some time. And sometimes I miss the feeling of being "connected" to the road.

But, without a doubt, my 2004 looks better, has more power, more reliability, and better mileage. I don't have a toolbox with a few spare parts like I did with my 94....

The seats are far worse in the 2004 though.

 

Seats are far worse as far as quality or comfort?

 

Great frikin info.. You my friend are on the Ball

 

If I were to choose one of the older ’88 thru ’98 models, it would definitely be a ’96 to ’98. The interior is quite a bit nicer than the earlier models and the electronics are quite a bit better as well. It doesn’t take much effort to add a 411 PCM and better injection to allow for a pretty good running package. I think the things I disliked the most about the earlier models were the hoky dash, the door handles, hood latch handle (all the small plastic bits) break all the time, the ABS modules always seemed to go out, the front ends wore out very easily, and the models with the 700R4 just didn’t demand confidence.

On a positive note; they are relatively easy to work on, parts are cheap, you can replace the door hinge pin bushings (good thing as you will need to) and they can still be found in pretty good condition for a decent price. Also, the seats were still more comfortable than what’s in a Ford truck…..LOL