http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/arasko1/Caterror/383001.jpg
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/arasko1/Caterror/383008.jpg

Yaikes!.... forged pistons and crank... low compression I assume and some sort of mechanical device to shove air down the throat of the meighty L81??? My goodness man.... thats the last thing in the world I expected from you...


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What increases in power are possible with this upgrade?

Oh boy I think I counted wrong... there are 8 spots for connecting rods on that crankshaft... I think his V6 has been infected with radiation and it grew an extra pair of cylinders...

Yaikes...!

Here's another one to see what is happening
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/arasko1/Caterror/383009.jpg

It's a simple setup: cast steel crank, forged rods, hypereutectic pistons. 10.5-11.0:1 compression. 350 block, 383 stroker kit. Everything blueprinted, balanced; block bored, honed, decked etc...

Nobody interested in the 450+hp Catera build? :confused::hmm:

What increases in power are possible with this upgrade?
close to 500 when I'm done :devil:

dont be surprised most people peek but dont bother to post something, I ahve posted so many threads and they end up with 300 vies with 0 comments...

Try the OOF, or the cateraowners.forumotion dot com

What other plans do you have?

How are you going to get electronics to work have you made plans?

My next step is cam and heads. Accessories and stuff like that I am not very worried about at this moment. The transmission choice is 700r4. Headers will be made locally, so is the driveshaft and the axles. I am thinking using GTO differential. As far as electronics go, I am going carbureted. We have people locally that specialize in wiring and such, so hopefully I will even have A/C. If it comes out to be purely a driver's car- so be it. I have another Catera for a daily driver. I know a lot of the parts are going to be custom, but I believe I have the right man for the job, and he knows the right people.
I will keep everybody updated. I know how many of us wanted a V8 in a Catera, so now that it is happening people seem to have lost interest. Maybe because the other V8 projects are getting old and left unfinished.

I will enjoy following this thread :D

Do you have any timeline you are planning on? Or a rough estimate?

Damn you are all the way down in GA, if you were any closer to MI I would have come over and given you a hand with whatever it is that you need help with....

If you are gonna go carbureted I think you will be in good shape, the ECU will be almost useless but it will still need to be in the car because it controls some of the body stuff... hope your guy knows his stuff.

So, It has to be a Gen II or III block, the only ones for first Gen 350's that I can tell produce anything close to those numbers are the ZQ3 and the L46. Is it the LT1 block?

4L60, used in Cameros and Corvettes. Should be able to handle the torque...other than the gto shocks, any other suspension mods or drive train mods planned?

It sounds like you're swapping a setup from a Camero/Firebird. Both used the LT1, and the 4L60(700R4). Why not go the extra mile and throw in a T-56. lol...This should be interesting....

I'm defiantly watching this one. I bought one of the swap kits for a cat but wouldn't life happen and soon after my motor locked up in my 67 olds and the rebuild on it tanked my bank account. But i'm on the final stages of my olds rebuild and should be back round to searching for a shell car soon. The gou i bought the kit from said he'd e-mail me a bunch of info he'd found on the swap but wouldn't ya know as soon as i got home after picking it up i couldn't ever get a hold of him again. go figure. :ill:

So, It has to be a Gen II or III block, the only ones for first Gen 350's that I can tell produce anything close to those numbers are the ZQ3 and the L46. Is it the LT1 block?

It's a Gen-1.

The Gen-1 small block Chevy is the engine that invented the aftermarket. Permormance parts are cheap and the choices are endless. Building a 450hp + 383 should not be too difficult nor expensive.

My next step is cam and heads. Accessories and stuff like that I am not very worried about at this moment. The transmission choice is 700r4. Headers will be made locally, so is the driveshaft and the axles. I am thinking using GTO differential.

Lingenfelter had a whole bunch of V8-Omega diffs and driveshafts. Unfortunately they sold off their whole inventory of remaining parts a while back. I would suggest emailing them and asking for the contact info of the buyer. I'm sure the buyer would sell you a diff+driveshaft.

The V8-Omega diff is a direct bolt-in. Though the rear sub-frame of the Catera and GTO is similar, our cars use a MUCH superior diff mounting design.

You may save some time and money rather than adapting the GTO diff.

If you can't get a Omega-V8 diff, why don't you adapt a Ford Cobra/Explorer 8.8 diff instead of the GTO diff. They're all aluminum, common, relatively cheap on eBay and have planty of aftermarket parts available. They're also much stronger than the GTO diff.

I thought the gto was a direct placement form the holden, same setup at our cats so it would be a direct fit?

Ok. Here's some answers. Yes, it is Gen I block. It was either a used LS1 or a brand spanking new built 383 with more power and cheaper maintenance.
I am aware of the Lingenfelter kit. And right when I wanted to get one- BOOM!- last one sold. Even here on the board.
I was thinking using a late model Mustang Mach 1 rear end (posi traction, 3.4? gears), but changing only the diff is less problematic. I am still not decided. I will need more than the 3.08 gears from V8 Omega to keep the 4000lb pig moving. That also dictated my head choice. The driveshaft is only about $300 to build here locally, so... Transmission, the 700r4 will give it streetability and better :) gas mileage. 4L60E is electronic, and I'm trying to get away from all that crap. Plus, again, more money for used stock stuff... I will have my transmission available though ;)
Suspension-wise, I have GTO shocks, shock bar, lowering springs. I may have to refresh the shocks and maybe get a set of drag bags. I believe the front to be OK witn new struts, lowering springs, links, ball joints. I also have a strutbar. I may need new stabiliser bar bushings and stuff like that, but that's minor stuff.
Once I get that animal under the hood, imagine the possibilities. Oh, and the guy at the machine shop told me he was able to balance the lightweight rotating assembly for super quick revs and responsiveness :)
Once again, I will keep everybody updated. Meanwhile, check out some clearance stuff on our favorite site ;)
http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1025211&m=wc&l=en&html=true

Sweet, keep the pics coming as you do it.

You upgrading the brakes also?

I already have GTO 2 piston calipers with Corvette pads by Hawk. They tend to slow the car down pretty well from a 100mph :)

Ok. Here's some answers. Yes, it is Gen I block. It was either a used LS1 or a brand spanking new built 383 with more power and cheaper maintenance.
I am aware of the Lingenfelter kit. And right when I wanted to get one- BOOM!- last one sold. Even here on the board.
I was thinking using a late model Mustang Mach 1 rear end (posi traction, 3.4? gears), but changing only the diff is less problematic. I am still not decided. I will need more than the 3.08 gears from V8 Omega to keep the 4000lb pig moving.

On the rear end dilemma, are you wanting to keep your irs or go with a solid axle? Only reason i ask this is because the mach's are solid axles with 3.55 rear end gears. The 03-04 cobras on the other hand had an irs for the rear suspsension and i believe their gears were a 3.55 as well. Although i have no idea how much custom fab work would be required to get either to work. I would assume alot. But if your up for the challenge i applaud you.

Ok. Here's some answers. Yes, it is Gen I block. It was either a used LS1 or a brand spanking new built 383 with more power and cheaper maintenance.
I am aware of the Lingenfelter kit. And right when I wanted to get one- BOOM!- last one sold. Even here on the board.
I was thinking using a late model Mustang Mach 1 rear end (posi traction, 3.4? gears), but changing only the diff is less problematic. I am still not decided. I will need more than the 3.08 gears from V8 Omega to keep the 4000lb pig moving.

On the rear end dilemma, are you wanting to keep your irs or go with a solid axle? Only reason i ask this is because the mach's are solid axles with 3.55 rear end gears. The 03-04 cobras on the other hand had an irs for the rear suspsension and i believe their gears were a 3.55 as well. Although i have no idea how much custom fab work would be required to get either to work. I would assume alot. But if your up for the challenge i applaud you.

I have talked to some GTO owners and they say that the Mach 1 rear end is a common swap on the GTOs and doesn't require extensive modifications. From what I understand, it is also posi-traction. I still believe that just a diff swap would be easier and it can be upgraded to posi-traction from limited slip later. But... that issue is still rather distant. I am talking to people about it though.
Coming this week:
bottom end being put together and probably ordering cam,lifters, timing set

Badass. :thumbsup:

Nice!
spend a little extra and get a roller cam, more power and more reliable. the oil these days are not flat tappet friendly. do lots of research on the heads and cam. For 450+hp you'll need at least aluminum fastburn heads or better aftermarket.
th700r4....... get the one with the better oil pump (cant remember but think its 86 and newer) do the standard upgrades, vette servo shift kit... but dont spend too much money. if you drive easy it'll last a long time, if you drive it hard... well i killed 2 in my trans am, a friend of mine went thought about 1 a year in his sleeper 383 vette for a total of 9 (he ran low 12's and basically every weekend)

My block is 1992, so it is a hydraulic roller. That is the way I am going. Heads of choice- AFR :D I talked to them a few times already. Also talked to Comp and have chosen a cam as well. Manifold and the carb I have a good idea bout. The whole setup is going to be done early 90's style with serpentine belt kit etc...
Anyway, gotta run get some prices and run the cam specs by the mechanic ;) Might snap some bare finished block pics