Don't "Over Cam" a 283, it will become a real turd because of the short stroke. They don't like too much duration. Don't dismiss the idea of a 350 [unless you want to keep it a "matching numbers" family heirloom] Me being "the king of cheap" would hunt down a late model roller 350 cam shortblock and "ring and bearing" the shortblock . [you will need a flywheel for a one-piece rear main crank flange] Then shift everything over from the 283 to the 350 [Heads, Intake, Carb , Exhaust, Waterpump, Pulleys, Oilpan, Rocker Covers, Distributor, Mounts etc etc ] You will also need a compatible Dist Gear for the Roller Cam, and You will need to Drill a hole in the intake for a "PCV grommet" Paint it Chevy Orange and use some repro 283 decals [use a silver sharpie on the rocker cover scripts] A 8.5:1 Compression 350 will net about 9.5:1 to 9.8:1 compression with 283/327 power pack heads. Keep the small valves and 2 barrel carb and the engine will be really "crisp" at low RPM's There will be no issues with wiping out lifters, AND no oil leaks
Bought my parts from our local engine parts supplier. Prices were as good as online. Cam came from orelies. Got it cheaper from them than online. EZ to rectify issues. The cam showed up in 2 pieces. Had a replacement the next morning.
Nothing in life is 100% guarantee [except death, taxation, and the girl of your dreams eventually causing grief] If reliability was our motive, a Prius is the answer [but that wouldn't be fun!]
This is it, at Jegs. I looked at Summit, they mainly have Speedmaster stuff. https://www.jegs.com/i/Dart/301/01311111/10002/-1
Oh ok...obviously wouldn't work on the 283...I've looked for kits like that and havnt found anything compatible with a 283...ill post what summit suggested when I called them about it
My advice if the motor is still together check a few things before dis***embly. I would check the side clearance on the rods and check the end play on the crank.
My recommendation is probably going to be something far different than what most others will suggest. But, my advice is based upon my own personal experience. Many years ago, I bought a 1968 GMC 1/2 ton pickup. The truck had been converted from 6 cylinder to a 283 V8 by the selling dealer at the request of the original owner. After many miles & years, the 283 was getting tired. I decided that torque is what I wanted & needed. After all, torque is what you feel. I used a Crane Cams RV/Fuel Mileage cam & a 450 cfm Holley Spreadbore Quadrajet replacement carburetor (on an old cast iron 4bbl carburetor intake (designed for the Quadrajet). I absolutely loved the results. My truck ran original 4.10 gears & 3 speed manual transmission. My fuel mileage improved, the increased torque was fun (smoking the tires was easy). When I hooked to a loaded trailer, it moved the load easily. The engine idle speed was around 450rpm. This is an inexpensive type of build that results in a fun, docile, driving vehicle that works well for enjoyable drives.
As far as the 283 vs 350 thing goes, the reason why many 283's are sitting around and still available is because they got pulled out and replaced by 327s and then 350s. 283s only made a comeback when they began to be "nostalgic". I remember buying a 327 shortblock from a local guy who had replaced the 265 in his 56 Chevy. He changed the oil every 1,000 miles. It had about 50k on it. It was still perfect but he bought another oem shortblock to replace it simply because that was what he wanted to do. Don't remember if he upgraded to a 350 at that time or not. He told me if I could get a s****ful of sludge out of the engine he would give it to me. I paid him and took the prize shortblock with me. Virtually Nobody ever pulled a 350 and installed a 283..........till nostalgia became the buzzword instead of performance. Note, I did pull a 427 BB Chevy out of a Camaro and put a smallblock 283 (I think) in it. Thats because a friend was trading the Camaro in and they wouldn't give him any additional trade in value for the big engine he had specially installed in it. He told me if I wanted the engine, just put something else in it so he could trade it in. I jumped on that deal.
Thanks for all the insight! I do have a book I've actually read about 5 times over a few years lol..something similar to that. Basically gave me an idea of what I'm getting into...but doesn't walk you through like an instruction manual.
Just an FYI, you'll find that unless you have a roller-bearing in the fixture when doing the big-end (to take out any drag at the pivot), you'll not get repeatable weights when weighing the ends of the rod (especially when the fixture is reversed and you're weighing the small end). I tried multiple types of fixed pivots (for the big end) and then took a set of rods on/off them multiple times and the grams of the small end kept changing. Then I made a roller-bearing based pivot - problem solved. Also, having the pivots fit the rod bores very closely ensures that the weight is always distributed the same - rod to rod. I make new pivots for different types of rods. Also, make sure your scale has enough resolution to get down to tenths of grams. Also, you have to balance each end of the rod - both ends need to match across the rod set. And then the totals should match as well. Here is what I ended up with for my setup:
To check if rods/crank are reusable? What other things should I check/ measure tearing down? thats a good point..
I may be better off leaving that to the machine shop unless I should double check it after machining. I would probably have the shop ***emble rods to pistons and handle all balancing
I like to check the rod side clearance before teardown for reference, if it is excessive it will bet worse if you have the rods resized. If the crank has a lot of end play and the thrust bearing is not worn the crank probably is. This would be more common on a stick shift car, where every time you push the clutch in you are pushing the crank forward against the thrust bearing. It would be a shame to do all your work ***emble it and discover the crank is worn out or the rods have more side clearance than you want, or maybe they could be on the tight side. Take your time and look things over and get all your stuff hospital clean for ***embly. Read about deburring a block , etc. nothing trick just basic clean up. Write it all down , it is interesting to check ring end gap to, just for your own benefit.
Yes double check all work, the best machine work in my days has come from shops where there are two guys who do it all. But for the most part where I live those guys are long gone. Most modern shops don't even want to see the primitive stuff we are talking about.
Something to note . . . I've been heavily involved in some very high-end machine/engine shops. I can tell you that in most cases they HATE it when somebody delivers to them a basket of parts and then wants them to build an engine and ***emble it. They end up finding that some parts were damaged during the prior dis***embly, parts are missing, labeled incorrectly, etc. I'd chat with whoever you're pondering doing the machine and potentially ***embly work before you tear into things. Also, if you don't have the necessary micrometers, tools and knowledge, then you are actually better having them check everything out. If you've never built an engine and don't have a mentor who has, then really think about "doing it yourself" - as to do it right, you need quite a few tools and the knowledge of how to use them. Also, if you're not building multiple engines, buying all the tools for "one use" doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just p***ing along some well learned advice. One shop I know will NOT even take in a dis***embled engine - as it has become way too much of a h***le trying to locate all the parts that are either missing or damaged. They will just turn that work away . . .
Yeah I understand the need for a lot of special tools..I do plan on building more for fun as time and money allow . I have used micrometers, and dial indicators more. Not very often w a mic though..so will need to practice some to be confident with a mic... There are a couple more shops I need to talk with and make sure they are willing to work with me
If you want alloy heads for the baby 283 ,the best bang for your $$$ is a 1990 L98 Corvette Heads 58cc Chambers and 1.94" Intakes, 1.50" exhausts [hardened seats] raised "D" port exhausts They flow about 180-190 CFM [210 with a decent compe***ion valve job] That is enough for 300 honest horsepower [and be streetable] The only downside is the FUGLY centerbolt rocker covers , but there are adaptors available [or weld on some bosses] Combine this with a "Faux" LT1 intake ,aka Holley street dominator [with the Holley Logo ground off] The last pair I purchased cost me $350
It is not all that easy (unless you're very experienced) to measure a bore or bearing ID accurately with just a 2-point mic. A snap-gauge is better - in that you take it back out and use a mic to get the dimension, but a 3-point mic or 3-point dial bore gauge is what you really want. The only problem with 3-point dial-bore gauges is they are very expensive!
Wow enough there to start a machineshop! Yea that stuff is not cheap. I do have an old set of Starrett bore gages
They flow about 242 CFM which is good for 350 hp https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech-general-engine/542380-trick-flow-175cc-heads.html To get 350hp from a 283 is going to require RPM for the old air pump to start breathing It is depending on what you are trying to achieve. Drop those heads on a 400 sbc with a "torquer cam" and you will have a real stump pulling "boulevard bandit" On a baby engine you will need some gearing to get it up there. If you want to keep your car nostalgic look at trick flows aluminium double humps https://www.trickflow.com/parts/tfs-30210003 On the street "lazy cubes" is far better than a high strung animal. If you want to keep it matching numbers, then consider sonic checking the bores and going out to 4" bore.
Yep, it's like free hp. Shameless repeat alert. My second car in high school was a 57 BelAir with a a tired 283 out of a 64 Impala, first thing I did was swap the three speed for a T-10, snapped an axle first, then the spider gears in the rearend were next, the only rearend in the wrecking yard was a 4.11. What's a guy to do, man, talk about waking up that tired 283.
Nothing is free! Horsepower is the size of the bang x the number of bangs per minute A 283 with 4.11s should breathe the same as a 350 with 3.31 gear at the same equivalent speed. And a 283 at 7500rpm is breathing the 350 at 6060rpm But the High strung animal needs some serious quality components to stay together ..And it's life expectancy is reduced exponentially I love screaming "small" race engines especially if they can stay together for longer periods than a 10 second quarter [10000rpm Swiss built Morand Chevy F5000 engines ] But this sort of engine soon tests your hearing/patience driving on the interstate
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