What's with the 283 and all the stories I hear from the old timers? Growing up I heard all sorts of stories from the old racers about how the 283 was something pretty special. Granted, it's maybe not a replacement for modern technology but man, all the stories I remember were pretty cool. So hear I sit years later with my young son and a 283 with no clue how to make those stories into reality. I kind of screwed up, I should of asked more questions and I should of paid attention instead of chasing girls. Unfortunately those that told them have since passed away. I don't have a hot rod but what I do have is a 283 block and crank. I also have a set of powerpack heads that are 60cc. What I'm thinking of is building a light weight car like a T-Bucket but not sure. The plan is to just build the 283 and see where it takes me from here. I did a lot of research here on the HAMB but it seems like I'm getting some conflicting information when it comes to cams etc. It's kind of frustrating trying to remember all the stories of yesterday and trying to figure out how to make those stories come to life in an engine combination that's period correct. So my question is this. Do any of you old schoolers or guys with experience with 283's want to share some stories about the old school engines you built? Any combinations you built that worked well or didn't work so well? What were these guys doing in the 60's to these little small blocks? I'm not afraid to spend money where it matters in fact i would like to build it then take it and put it on a dyno to see just what the combination actually produces. Not only would it be fun but it could be pretty educational as well. I would also be willing to do a video of it running on the dyno etc. Any of you up to the task of talking about the old school builds on the 283? Mike
Had a 61 Chevy Impala hard top (2dr)......The engine was a 283 with a 4 barrel (I understand this was considered a "power pack"....Something different about the heads too).......Haven't researched the "power pack" in awhile but there wasn't much on it 4-5 years ago........My car had no air and was a 3 speed stick shift......IIRC the HP was about 220 or so, as was.......While in the USAF I put dual exhaust on it (w/long glass packs) I suspect the HP was upped to about 240-250........Beautiful sound....... The 283 was a solid, tough, reliable engine and ran great........Once a year ( for 4 years) I drive home to Texas from Las Vegas..........."Never missed a beat"........The 283 was originally 265 and went to (IIRC) 305, 327 then 350......... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_small-block_engine The 283 is really the small block basis that now is the Corvette (If I'm not mistaken).........Of course the current unit, I believe, is all aluminum, FI, Electronic Ignition, etc, etc........ I've never torn one down or rebuilt it........but watching Horse Power and others there is nothing magical about a rebuild.......... It's ashame Ford shelved the 289 60 degree V8 used in the early Mustangs.........It was a great little engine too.
Aside from the FI version, the dual quad 270 hp 283 was a terror in it's time. As I recall, the cam to run was the Duntov 30-30 cam. Don
The 283 WAS one of the fastest things around ... In it's time ... The problem is ... it's time is past. The 283 is still a good engine but it's days of being the fast thing on the street and the track is long gone by 40 years or more. It costs basically the same $$$ to build a 283 as it does a 327 or a 350. Cubic inches wins almost every time. Now if you just want to ride and have a neat little engine ... the 283 is a perfect candidate. I had one in a 1940 Ford coupe and it was perfect for the car. V8 sound, decent power and decent fuel mileage. Mine was a 283 bored .060 over ( already had the .060 over pistons ) .030 would be just as good. It has the factory Duntov " 097 " solid lifter camshaft. 1957 staggered bolt pattern heads a Aftermarker Weiand aluminum intake a Edelbrock carb ( a copy of the famous AFB ) a small body MSD HEI distributor ( looks like a old style points type ) Never on the dyno but I guess it to be in the 240/250 horsepower range. It was basically a duplicate of the factory 283/270 horsepower engine but with only one carb. It sounded NICE, run cool and never gave me any problems. I did built it fresh ... with a lot of good machining ( balancing ect ). It would pull a light car real nice. But a BIGGER engine in the same light car would outrun it
Have a 57 Chevy with a 283 hp 283 with rochester fuel injection--3 spd and 3:70 posi--this was the hot setup 50 years ago and is still fun to drive but not fast compared to todays stuff--my 40 Ford coupe with a mild 350 will easily out perform it.
Well there weren't many chevy V8's in rods when I got my first Chevy motor in 56.. It was stock 265 in my Model A 2dr. It did ok but mostly quik out the gate, [but a some 235 6's could give it a go] The 265 kicked butt with the dual quad setup which came out at the very end of 56 production. Then when the 283 came out it got even better, along with more performance parts by the end of the year. The next step up was a homebuilt .125 bored block which we called a 301 in the day. They were doin really good. One story was a guy I knew that bought a new 64 Nova and spent a ton of money on a bored and stroked 283[to 326 ci], only to see the 65 come out with 327, and then the next yr. 66 with a 350ci, 350hp,. for a small amount of dough. But the 283 was a big deal, it's what really put chevy on the performance map!
An old tract racer/mechanic told me that he has bored them .125 which is max & raced all nite long & never over heated.
I built a .040 over 283 in about 1969. Had 327 heads, Duntov cam, AFB 4bbl, three-speed stick and 4.11 posi in a `54 Bel Aire HT. Would have gone quicker in a smaller car, but lots of fun! It revved to the end of the tach every time I drove it. Gotta admit, I wouldn`t build another one. A 350 or 400 is the same visually, and will make twice the power for your buck. Just tell the Lookielou`s that its a 283, they won`t know the difference!
I was around them a lot in high school, but never could afford them. Had a few in early marriage days, (like in a '59 Chevy) and they ran like a clock. My current driver is somewhat similar to your thinking, but in a heavier car ('63 Biscayne 2 door) I have a 283 bored .60 over, 305 HO heads, L79 Corvette cam, Elelbrock dual plane intake, and Edelbrock 550 carb, and 2 1/2" Corvette Ram Horn exhaust, with full 2 1/2" exhaust. Running a Saginaw 4 speed with 3:11 first gear, and a 3:36 rear end. This is no big block, and not fast by today's standards.....but is a BLAST to drive....runs like a jewel, sounds great. I love driving it, and it will really bring back sweet memories every time I wind it up thru the gears.... Also will get about ~14 mpg if I drive it decent on the road (60mph or so) Don't know the HP, but guessing around ~280+, and with that cam it has pretty decent low end torque, and very nice mid range torque....I don't rev it much over 4000-4500 rpms, as I can't afford to break it Good luck, and if you want a great little engine to run, that will perform consistently as well as be COOL for the old time factor, you can't beat that little 283. Cheers..........
I built a 283 that I put into a 1964 Nova and it ran very strong. I had a block bored to 4 inch bore (.125 inch), 11 to 1 Jahns pistons, Duntov cam, solid lifters. The combination of bore to stroke made it a very quick winding engine. But perspectives change. Some of the stories people offer for even older technologies don't add up. If you build this engine make sure to pad the other side of the equation with reduced weight. In other words make the car as light as possible to improve the HP to weight ratio. You can make it run, but it is a small engine. Have Fun ~Alden
I run a 283 in my daily driver and have for years. It isn't the hottest thing on the road by any means but it is dependable and fun to drive in my '58 Apache. The thing nobody has addresses on here is the fact that the 283 only has a 3" stroke compared to the 3.48" in the 305/350 engines. The longer stroke makes a world of difference in torque and power numbers. The 327 has a 3.25" stroke making it a stronger performer than the 283 also. A good though not well thought of compromise was the 1968 (only) 307 which had the 283 bore and 327 stroke. After 1968 though the 307 started getting emission modifications that killed it. Building a 305/350 is cheaper than building a 283 because parts are more available so you might consider that if price enters the equation. As for heads all of the 283 (to the best of my knowledge) had 1.72/1.5 valves which don't breath well at all. A compromise to help them was to get a set of 461 (double bump/FI) heads from a 327 because they had 1.94/1.6 valves in the early heads and the later ones had 2.02/1.6 valves. Some people say you can't use the 2.02/1.6 vesion on a 283 because they were designed for a 4" bore. I am getting ready to find out just how true that is and what mods I have to make to run a set. I really like my 283 and plan on keeping it in the Apache for several reasons one of which is that it is I don't like making claims that aren't true (to the best of my knowledge) and saying it was a 283 when it wasn't... well it's a quirk of mine. Also I am getting (documented several times) 20+ highway mpg with a T-5 and 3.73 gears, which is nice when gas prices are near $4 per gallon. I wish you well which ever way you go.
i had a few 283s back in the day. loved every one of them. and they were all in heavy cars.they werent no street terror but they were fun to drive and sounded good.ive just put one in a 67 impala. .60 over, isky cam polished dual plane intake edelbrock carb.and some chrome headers.power pack heads.wont be fast but in will look good sound good and hopefully be dependable(hope so, we are planning a trip down 66 in a few weeks with it).if you plan on going fast build a 350. if you want a good runnin sweet sounding sbc build the 283.but do put it in a light car.but it wont ever relive its day.
The 283 is one of the great engines of all time. I had a 59 FI vette that would turn 7000 RPMs from the factory. That was on heard of back in the day. 283 are a RPM engine not torque engine. To make them run strong you need a low gear in the rear axle. I like the double camel hump heads with bigger intakes, and 097 cam with 2 -4 carbs and a 378 or 4-11 gear. Depends on the weight of the car. But if you do not want to run a low gear or have a heavy car do not use the 097 FI cam. You might like the 250 HP cam.
Back in the day I had a 56 Chevy with a worn out stock 265 with a 4 barrel and a three speed. Replaced it with a 283, with what they called a Duntov cam, solid lifters, Mallory Mag Spark ignition ( distributor and transformer), and three Rochester 2 barrels. It was a lot of fun in those days and fairly reasonable using Chevy parts.
In '61 I bored my 265 to .125, for 283 cubes at the jr. college shop, as far as I knew most all engines back then could go.125, found a set of big valve heads [Caddy valves from a dragster] at J&M speed shop, also bought 10.5 comp Merryman pistons, 30/30 duntov cam, corvette dist.,and had it balanced. A lot of Chevies ran 4:56 gears, was a lot of street racing then. Then in '62 the draft was after my a-- so I joined the Navy and went to an LST out of Yokosuka for 2 yrs. For some unknown reason I sold my engine to a buddy while I was overseas, and when I got out I then sold my Duece Tub project. GADS! WHAT WAS i THINKIN! [I wanted to get a '61 Pontiac Ventura] Anyway I drove my buddy,s 56 Chevy with my engine in it and that thing just hauled a--! I was empressed and also remorseful. those were good days bak then, and we kinda took em for granted, everything was pretty well available and affordable.
The thing about the old school stories is that they were comparing the 283 to a flathead, and the flatheads came out a distant second Given near-equal displacements the old flathead might get the jump off the line with it's torque but the 283 would rev and rev and rev. . . For what it cost to build a hot flathead -- porting and relieving block as well as speed parts to bolt on -- one could now have a killer Chevy and money to spend on the girls. Also if you threw a rod through the flathead block all that work had to be done over compared to getting a new chevy block and bolting on the good parts. We've got better parts now, and WAY bigger engines compared to back then but the sound of those early OHV's putting away flatties was awesome for a kid.
I run a 283 in my coupe.........its a 64 block ,powerpack heads,bone stock. it never fails me and i drive my coupe every day
back in the late 70's a buddy was always talking about his other buddies Chevelle and how hot his 283 was. guess he poured a bucket of cash in it and had all the latest trick stuff. I got so far ahead of him in my GTO I actually let off the gas to let him catch up and then jumped on it again. 283's are cool little motors, but it takes torque to move a big car like a Chevelle.
To be fair flatties were already out of the way, [cept for maybe Genes brake shop special 313 flatty] being passed by, 302 GMC 6's, 354 olds,356 Cad's,and 392 Chryslers. These all were seen on the streets by 1957. I had to find that out the hard way in my 265 powered duece 2dr, by having a little 'to do' with a lone stock looking 37 Dodge sedan, which with standing start I easily pulled 2 car lengths. ! was very quikly 'dusted off the road' as the old Dodge finally got traction. [found out he was from LA ] It was blown Chrysler powered.
You also need to remember that ... All these old stories " from the day " are not always true. Stories get IMPROVED ... and memories are sometimes NOT as they were. I know you have heard about " The older I get ... I faster I was "
<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5; COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->My SS/J, 283/ 220 hp rated(NHRA) left the line @ 9,500, shift @ 8,500 10.90's @ 127 and change..... HARD on Ring and Pinions.... <!-- / message --><!-- attachments --><FIELDSET class=fieldset><LEGEND>Attached Thumbnails</LEGEND> </FIELDSET> True story here...........
I had a '57 Chevy 150 2dr back in the day ('99). It had a warmed over 283, camel hump heads, edelbrock intake, holley double pumper, headers, and a mild cam, backed by a Muncie 4 spd, and 3:50 rear gears. I don't know all of the specifics because the motor was already in the car when I bought it. It was surprising how well that little motor would move that big car. I decided to really get on it once, launched it hard, pitched it sideways when I hit second, and back the other way when I hit third. It might not of had much torque, but it had enough to grenade the spider gears in the rear. I actually prefer the small Chevys, I had one to run in a '29 Coupester project, and one in my daily '64 Chevy pick-up.
Charlie Hill / Pork Zartman "Filthy 40" ran a 283.... around 10k rpm .. Since this is the hamb... I can admit that I really like the early sbc's, but not so much on the later ones.
In 1970 I bought a used Chevelle SS with 283 and 4 speed. It was a stock "power pack" version and ran very well. Put a 650 Holley on it and a set of headers, and it became even better! 1/8 mile street racing was going strong in rural areas and the Chevelle would beat most the 396 Chevelles in 1/8 mile, but got smoked by them in the 1/4. Lost the Chevelle to a guy who turned left in front of me, but bought the wreck back for $200 to get the engine and trans. Pulled the engine, trans, rearend, and everything I could use out, and sold the rest. Picked up a '55 Chev business coupe and proceeded to build the 283. when I pulled the engine apart it measured out good, so I simply honed the cylinders and put in a set of TRW 10.25-1 forged pistons. The rest the bottom end got stock bearings and crank, nothing exotic. Up top I dumped the power pack heads and went to a new set of 2.02"/1.60" camel hump heads, and a soild lifter 30-30 cam. Intake was a old Edelbrock a neighbor had and I switched the carb to a Holley 780 double pumper. Dropped the engine and trans into my '55 Chevy with side mounts, and a new trans crossmember from the Chevelle. The '55 had a chrome tube straight axle, and a posi out back with 4.11 gears. To say the 283 was a surprise is an understatement. I never expected the stock bore and stroke engine to be so much faster than it was in the Chevelle! The little '55 would launch the front end off the ground about 6"-8" and turned times in the low 12 sec. 1/4 mile. That's probably my favorite car/engine of all time, and if some bastard thief had not decided they wanted it more than me I'd still have it. Never saw it again.
High ! I LOVE to talk about 283's, Yes, I'm Old School...... I ran'em in a '61 Vette, (5) 57 Chevs. Most of what's already ben said.......097 cam was great, with heads at 56 cc's, all balanced, deck clearences correct, would turn 72000 r'pmmm's. I was introduced to a Roller Cam by RACER BROWN !!!! Wow!.......8500 rpms, and smooth idle......no BODY could figger it out. Ran 4.56 or 4.88 on street, Listen !.......5.38 on Strip, Wind-it up like a high dollar clock.....topped out in Quarter, and, Oh Yeah, sucked tha' Headlights outta' lotta' 348' and 409's.............Loved'umm Smokey2
I love 283s and can't wait to fire mine. Been modded like this for good street performance/efficiency: 283 +.040 balanced 9.8:1 CR bowl ported 305HO heads, thin steel shim head gaskets Cal Custom finned valve covers Cal Custom finned alum oil pan hyd stick 210/216@.050 with .450/.475" lift 1.6 rollers modded 57 chevy cast iron dist with elec ign guts port matched Weaind WC4D intake with 4 fresh 97s ported Corvette rams horns twin 2.25" mandrel bent exhaust Rat
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