H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.

Rich Biebel · 07-27-2019, 07:48 PM

The block you chose to use had a cam hole that appeared to indicate the block had a lot of core shift and the cam and crank centerline were offset to one side. Pictures were not real clear but it looked like that block was offset at the cam hole.....

Combine a block with this issue and some aftermarket rods with much larger big ends than stock and you may have had something hitting in the bottom end.

I built a 383 for a street car and ran into this problem. Had to use different rods to get comfortable clearance. Rods hit block on one side badly and cleared no problem on the other bank....Grinding the block may have hit water...

A 383 with even a stock rod will hit the cam on 2 cylinders every other rotation....I built a lot of them....

I always checked them with cardboard strips where the rods would nearly hit the cam on those 2 cylinders. Always Ground the rods at the inner bolt for clearance.....and that was with stock 5.7 rods...

Don't know if that had anything to do with your blow up but I thought I'd mention it since I saw the cam hole issue way back....

07-27-2019, 07:48 PM	#11
Rich Biebel VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern New Jersey suburbs Posts: 2,315 Likes: 25 Liked 544 Times in 213 Posts	Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit. The block you chose to use had a cam hole that appeared to indicate the block had a lot of core shift and the cam and crank centerline were offset to one side. Pictures were not real clear but it looked like that block was offset at the cam hole..... Combine a block with this issue and some aftermarket rods with much larger big ends than stock and you may have had something hitting in the bottom end. I built a 383 for a street car and ran into this problem. Had to use different rods to get comfortable clearance. Rods hit block on one side badly and cleared no problem on the other bank....Grinding the block may have hit water... A 383 with even a stock rod will hit the cam on 2 cylinders every other rotation....I built a lot of them.... I always checked them with cardboard strips where the rods would nearly hit the cam on those 2 cylinders. Always Ground the rods at the inner bolt for clearance.....and that was with stock 5.7 rods... Don't know if that had anything to do with your blow up but I thought I'd mention it since I saw the cam hole issue way back.... __________________ Rich Biebel S/C 1479 Stock 147R Last edited by Rich Biebel; 07-27-2019 at 07:52 PM.