Question for you small block Chevy experts

I'm building a 283 for my model A. All the engine parts came from different places. The casting # on the heads is 3890462. The casting # on the intake manifold is 3837109. When I put the intake on, the ports on the intake are quite a bit lower than those in the heads. The gasket is not going to seal. Do I just have the wrong gsakets or what?
Help me Hambers!

 

Sounds like you have the wrong intake? Ports should line up...

 

Sounds like you have a set of ported, milled heads....

 

The heads you have are the popular camel hump heads
3890462....66-67...302/327/350..Camel hump,no accessory holes,64cc chamber
I found that here http://www.geocities.com/meanracing/HeadCastingNumbers.html

that is just one of who knows how many Chev casting number listing sites on the net.

Get a set of intake gaskets for the heads and you should be ok. the gaskets should match the ports in the heads.
What you have now are most likely the 283 gaskets foe the 283 heads.
The intake has smaller runners so it may not be the most efficiant for the heads to work but it should function ok.

 

The intake you have is for a 265/283 from '56/'57. You can get a 327 intake pretty cheap. I'd go for at least a 327 or even 350 manifold. Lots of them around and cast iron versions are give away stuff.

 

Did the bolt holes line up? If the heads are to far apart and the intake is sitting to low then they must have been angle milled. I have glued two intake gaskets together to run angle milled heads. It works.

 

If you just sat the intake on with no gaskets then it may just be sitting too low . Line the bolt holes up and see where she sits . You would rather have the intake ports smaller than the heads intake ports so you don't create turbulence as the air is entering the heads . Best bet is to find a set of gaskets that best match your heads and port match the intake mainifold to mate up . A 462 casting is a good little street head that works well with 11 to 1 or lower compression without have to do a lot of port work . If the heads have had alot of port work and you plan on running in the lower compression range , those heads will kill your low-end and not start working effectively until in the upper RPM ranges . If you don't know what to look for , take them by a competent machine shop and ask if they have been hogged out ?

 

Your 283 isn't going to have much low-end torque with those heads.

 

for a fact 265 intakes are smaller , same bolt holes .

 

but it will have plenty of head to breathe well at 8000 RPM. if ballanced well the 283 will spin 8K all day long and 10 k when needed

 

The days of spinning a 283 8,000 RPM are LONG GONE with the newer technology out there ! Why twist an engine up with a small cubic inch anymore when you can build a lower budget larger cube engine and twist it 6,000 that will smoke it's *** ? High RPM is hard on parts PERIOD ! It may sound good to the local idiots that aren't helping you buy your engine parts when you ****ter it all over Main street U.S.A. ! This guy doesn't need to keep woorying about horsepower numbers as much as he needs to worry about his torque numbers . You guys are shoving this dudes head so full of **** he's not going to know which end is up after you get through ! Like someone above said , and engine is basically an air pump and you can only shove as much air in it as it will let you get out ! A larger runner intake with a low compression piston is going to KILL low end torque PERIOD ! I've been around race cars and engine building my whole damn life and I only see a couple of guys on this thread that talk like they keep up with today's advances in engine building . The basics my be the same but head design and cam grinds have changed drastically even in the last 10 years let alone 50 back when a 283 was the **** ! UUUHHHH 1957 aint 2008 !!!!! Cubic inch and torque is going to move that weight , not some high winding , part ****tering 283 ! RPM is hard on parts and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out . Ask any good engine shop that knows thier **** to pick you out a cam grind and intake for your engine and they will ask you the weight of your car , the gear ratio in the *** , and what you are going to use it for . In other words , let a pro help you pick out your parts for your application , not what worked good in Joe Blows 2,000 pound T-Bucket !

 

I'm ***uming this is a low-buck street motor since the OP is trying to mate the heads to a stock manifold. Why would he want a 10,000 rpm 283? It makes more sense to me to put some heads with smaller ports on the motor, or put the heads on a bigger motor. If I remember correctly, the 462 heads had the largest port volume of all the factory SBC heads except the 461X heads. They would make more useable power for a street car on a 350 or bigger motor. I'd use later, smaller port heads (881 or 882?) if i was building a budget 283 motor. Those would also have the advantage of hardened valve seats.

 

Finally ! Another guy with common sense ! Thanks Racer32 !!!!!

 

I think we were typing at the same time. "Back in the day" everyone was hot for double-hump heads and you had to pay a TON of money for them. Now, there are better-breathing aftermarket heads for less money, and you don't have to worry about the typical 461-462 casting issues like cracks between the valves and worn, soft valve seats. Charlie, sell your 462 heads to someone who is doing a musclecar resto, and find some of the big-valve smog heads. Your 283 is a good motor for a light car, and will move it along plenty fast with small-port heads and a small carb. If you build it right, you can even get good gas mileage.

 

Ditto on the Fuelie (Double Hump) heads, unless you're doing a restore on an '62-'68 302,327, or 350, sell them to somebody who is. Ideally if you could possibly find some 3998196's which are the '72-'75 LT-1 with screw in studs, but they aren't easy to find. You can take a 3998993 (they are a dime a dozen) casting which you can clean them up nicely and it will make all the power you need. It's a 1.94 intake head but can be made to make all the power you will need, they're cheap, and will last and burn pump gas. Drill and pin the studs yourself and go for it. Nothing to it.

 

I don't know your personal taste or what this is going in so I'll tell you two heads I've run on 283 engines that work for me. The cheapest and nices working head would be the early 1980's 305 4brl heads. They have 1.88 intake valves and nicer ports than the 283 heads, and are 58cc stock. They already have hard seats and the guides wear is good. The second option, if you like a vintage look, is the power pac heads. I've build two 283 engines with power pac heads using the 1.88 valves. Then if a bigger cam goes in the motor I angle mill 1/16 off to get around 55 cc. One engine is in my father in laws 1940 ford coupe with a 4 speed and runs great. Don't over cam.
Good luck!!
Jeff

 

We are building OLD STYLE HOTRODS here, run it with the old stuff, i'm doing a 7500 rpm+ 302 chevy and a 283 with severly ported 1957 Power Pac's otherwise put in some lame Acc Bolt crate engine line these guys swear by

 

This is a pretty trick set up... More power available here than in the heads you have and all still on a junk motor budget!

 

Kinda what I figgured. I used 1959 heads for a 265 I'm working on for my model a. Still have the staggered valve covers but the left head had a boss for an acc. bolt. Is that ok?
Jeff

 

So, I take it you'd rather score "old style hotrod (ol' skool?)" points with the traditionalists than run heads that have accessory bolt holes? Seems silly to me , but its YOUR money. A SBC is a SBC as far as I'm concerned, and most people won't know the difference what heads are on it. I'd rather have a reliable low-buck motor that will pull from idle to 5500, run on pump gas, and will last for the life of the car than build a 7500+ rpm time-bomb with old heads that will require every single valve seat and guide to be replaced for them to last more than a few thousand miles.

 

With 21 posts you obviously don't understand what makes some of us tick. Stick around a while.

 

Im going to take it that you misunderstood my post....... Because I agree with you. Those are the wrong heads for that motor unless you spin the **** out of it. and it will still not have any torque especially if you cammed it to spin

Edit: but it would sound nice with a lumpy solid lifter cam.early 60's(or is that late fifties) corvette fuelie cam sounds really nice IMO

 

So my low post count somehow makes my opinion less valid? You're right, I DON'T understand the slavish devotion some of you have to "old style hotrod" parts. I'm sure you or someone with a big post count will "skool" me on why Charlie should build a motor for his model A that has to use those 462 heads that are mismatched for his motor, probably cracked between the valve seats, and will need hundreds of dollars worth of parts (seats and guides) to still have intake ports that are too big for a streetable 283? I'll stick around for a while, but I probably won't become one of those guys who thinks it's only OK to use heads without bolt holes in them because of how they look. To me, hot rods are about making what you have fast and reliable-sometimes with junkyard parts because you aren't rich and can't throw money at a car to make it look like it was built before a certain date.

 

You had valid reasons for suggesting what you did, nothing wrong with that.

I simply stated that you havent been around here long enough to realize that some of us DO like to do things using older technology. Thats why guys still run flatheads. I currently happen to be collection many of these same heads and such we are discussing. My dad ran this stuff in the 60s and wants to build something like he had back then. Mailordering new heads does not appeal to him in any way shape or form.

Like I said, stick around a while.

 

WOW Testy why don't you say how you really feel

 

a bigger motor equals torque but the guy has a 283 I would use 305 or vortec 305 heads to have small combustion chamber and better size ports for the small motor and any used head will need some work the vortec 305 need a after market intake

 

I've got a car that i built with old-style 1960's-70's technology years ago. it's a 67 Firebird with factory heads I ported myself, a pretty serious cam, and LOTS of compression. It's fast as stink-runs low 12's on street tires through the mufflers with a 3.08 rear gear, but it's also totally unuseable as a street car. It will not run on the gasoline you can buy at the pump, gets about 5-6 mpg, and it's been parked in my shop for the last 10-12 years because of that. If I had it to do over, I'd have bought some Edelbrock heads for it, a dual-plane manifold, and a less radical cam...that way I could be driving it instead of watching it sit.

I like old stuff too...right now, I'm putting together a 58 Chevy with a 235. I've started collecting parts to heat up the inliner. It'll have dual-carb intake and split manifolds when I get it finished. I could drop in a crate motor and make more power, but thats not what this car is about. There's also an 8BA motor I've got stashed for a future build. Oh, and all the bikes I race were built with old parts Google VDTRA and you'll get the idea. I also ride an old ironhead XLCH that was probably built before some of the old-style sheeple were born.

Regardless, that doesn't make any difference to the bottom line that 462 heads aren't the best choice for a 283.

 

See! You really are one of us!

 

A 283 is just as traditional as a nailhead or a 392 if set up right otherwise it might as well be a modern 350

 

Anyone with a grinder can make those heads look right!