I was talking to a guy today and he said there was a way to tell if the 383 in my Dart I just bought is a high performance motor or not. Where would I look on the motor to see what it is. I know it is not the original motor, but supposedly it came out of a 69 Roadrunner. Thanks for any help you can give me on ID'ing the motor.

Ernie

 

I hope your engine is good and clean or your going to need a cleaning solvent and a rag. It's a little harder to find on the 361, 383 and 400 than it is on the RB's (440, 413, 426). The 361, 383 and 400 are located behind the distributor as you are facing the car from the front. You will need to go to the passenger side of the car to see it, it is located on a flat angled surface on the engine block just behind the distributor (it will be angled towards you like a drafting table, the same angle as the heads). The ID numbers are stamped into the block just like the VIN number is at the oil pan rail on the passenger side. The year, CID and version of the engine is usually at the top of the flat surface (example: 68 383 HP). There are several different things that can be here as well, but these are usually the only ones. If yours has HP2 that simply means that it is the high performance engine (HP) and that it was made on the second shift (2). The RB engines have a flat surface on the front top of the block on the drivers side in front of the intake manifold. It will be stamped in the same way as the 383's. Since I don't have a clear picture of this spot on the 383 I can only show a picture showing where exactly it is on an RB engine. Let me know what you find on yours.


[IMG]local://upfiles/193/F6710940459445DF879C0F7D899BA9E0.jpg[/IMG]

 

OK, I found the spot on the motor and cleaned it well.

It had the following:

B 8 3

3 3 2

R

Can anybody tell me what that means?

Thanks
Ernie

 

I was thinking of the RB engines ID on how it is laid out. Are you sure that the first digit is a B and not a 3? It is a 383, the 332 is the day it was built and the R, I believe, is either the year code or engine version. It has been a long time since I have done any of this. I do know that your 383 did not come out of a Roadrunner and it is not a high performance 383, it is a regular 383. If it were a Roadrunner or other high performance 383 it would have either HP or HP2 stamped into it as well. If I find my information on this, I will fill in the blanks on your engines ID, like what year the engine is for sure.

 

http://www.mymopar.com

This is a great site. Look in the tools and reference section for the casting numbers. Maybe this can shed some light on what you're looking for.