Hey guys I am wanting to build a 283 and was wondering what some good places to find pistons, rings, rods, etc. are? Any help is appreciated Thanks!
Try Napa or CarQuest or even O'reilly's Hell, don't any of you guys go check prices and availability before posting where do I find stuff threads? Here is one link that has decent parts for decent prices. http://www.northernautoparts.com/EC...cleId=1322581&EngineName=4.6L 283 V8 GAS CARB That list is for a 65 Chev Bel Air 283 but you can put in your own year model. There are still millions of 283's running around in daily service so the parts chain is still pretty good. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
My bad next time I'll do a better search. I've googled it and didn't find much. Lookin for some .060 over HC pistons and forged rods. I'm sure there are a lot of OEM replacement parts but can't seem to find much other than that. Thanks anyways
I'm no expert on sbc, but my understanding was always that .040" over was pretty much max on sbc's. I could be way off though.
From what I've heard most 283s can safely go to .060 and i believe 1963-up can go to 0.120 over which makes them a 301 i think.
You can go .060 over the 283 in my roadster is .060 over. Got the pistons from my local Car Quest store. Had to clean the dust off the box.
Cool thanks and do you know what compression you're runnin and with what heads? And where are you in tn?
Yeah and most of them are either other people on forums talking about 283's, specs, oem parts, ebay items, or useless information kind of like what you just gave me. To those who are on here to help, thanks i appreciate it, all other washed up "hot rodders" who are too good to give some advice or just like to hear themselves talk can go dwell on how pitful their lives have become. Have fun with that.
as already suggested , PAW or Northern Auto Parts should have all you need for your 283 at reasonable prices. you may want to check with Napa , autozone , O'Reilly , etc and see if they can compete. sometimes they will sharpen their pencils to get the sale. may sure you are comparing apples to apples...not all "kits" have the same parts in them the parts you are probably going to need: oversize pistons and rings , rod and main bearings , cam bearings , frost plugs , oil pump , cam and lifters , timing chain and gears , gaskets the 283 that is in my `36 i rebuilt over 10 years ago and bought all the parts from the Napa store that did the machine work....i showed them an ad from PAW and they got compe***ive the 283 i just rebuilt for my current project i bought the parts mostly on Ebay with a few from local auto parts stores. i had the same Napa store do the machine work...to clean and magnaflux the block , bore .030 , install new cam bearings and frost plugs they charged me $312. on the heads they cleaned and magnafluxed , valve job with few new valves , new springs , new valve guides , and resurface was $350. the pistons are enginetech that i bought on ebay for $90 , the bearings are clevite 77 that i bought from Autozone for about $35 , melling oil pump from napa for about $25 , cloyes timing chain from Napa for about $30 , cam and lifters were free....left over from a crate motor i upgraded the cam , new elgin pushrods for about $25 on ebay , felpro gasket set from Napa about $40...so about $900 for the complete long block. then add a new waterpump , starter , fuel pump , intake and carb and a distributor. hope this helps
Thanks guys that helps a lot I'll definitely look into all those places. College kid on a budget, gotta compare prices
have you measure what the bore actually is now? Don't ***ume you need to go 60 just to do it. Just go enought to clean it up. The difference in power will be mariginal. You'll also save on the machining that way. Typically get your block to the machine guy and let him pick the new piston size. The machine guy can order you pistons cheap too like 12 bucks a piece. I have cast pistons, stock rods, and a cast crank in my 283 with a 471 blower making 8-9 psi and it runs like ****d ape.
You can safely run Early 283" blocks at +.125" over... these blocks had some real meat in them. ( FYI - Later 305" stuff, don't go more than .020" to 030" over ( these castings were really lighted up to help improve manufacturers cafe' ratings... all little wt. savings here and there, times a few hundred thousand vehicles, and you've saved some real poundage ).
I am not sure on compression. Stock heads with too much cam! I have owned this motor for 38 years. I had it in a 47 willis jeep before rebuilding and moving to the roadster. Brownsville Tn.
hmmm...........somebody gave them to you. These probably aren't really for 283 - are yours 6" ? Custom pistons? still ain't budget when you go for the pistons. http://carrillorods.carshopinc.com/index.php/manufacturers_id/203529 http://www.pitstopusa.com/SearchResult.aspx?Manufacturer=377 Stock rods and new cast pistons work and = budget.
http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/page158.html here's one - here is a master kit with pistons - ready to go all you need $387 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chev...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2c4e7a2bf4 The local machine shop got me a set of 305 HO heads - I think they are the 601 castings all rebuilt for $300 no core charge. I sold those to a good buddy of mine for his 283- Greenmtnboy - ask him how they work! He thinks the compressions too high - bah
oh and if you can build a 350 or 400 do it if you like power. Not much difference in the look at all and the power is way better with more cubes. You'll spend the same money building either one. Might as well build the more powerfull one. I can't see anyone dishing out cool points because you went out of your way to do a 283. I've have both and the 283 runs great but absolutley lacks the guts the big motor has both budget builds.
Thanks everyone for all the great stuff I have a lot of searching and price comparisons now. Thanks again
Congrats on building a 283!! I am in the process of building 1 myself for a 62 Falcon G***er project currently.
Summit, or jegs, that's where i bought my **** H-beams for my 301, but unless racing there is no reason to go aftermarket rod
I've had good luck winning vintage n.o.s. bearing sets on Ebay, and when you buy a new set of bearings made 30 or 40 years ago, at least you know they didn't come from the Shanghai Speed Shop.
eBay, Northern, Summit, Herbert all have 283 parts. BUT, you need to know what you are building? 283's are great motors. They came in everything from mid-sized trucks to Gen I Novas. They came with hydros, power glides, three speeds and four speeds. They almost all have forged steel cranks and forged rods. Your rods re-conditioned with ARP bolts will be good enough for up to 325 HP, or a bit more. Early blocks DO NOT have side motor mount bosses. Sixties and up blocks do. I would limit the overbore to 0.040 unless the cam journal is dead center in the casting on both ends of the block. If it's lop sided at all, you have a core shift and may get thin at 0.060 over. If you have a centered block and core and it sonically tests OK, you can bore it to 4", but why? You could just get a 327 block if you want a 4" bore. They've been built-up with one four barrel (best street combo), two fours (small fours and they are getting pricey), and 4-71 blowers (very nice). If the boost is not too high, the stock bottom end parts work. If you are going to boost over a few PSI, you might think steel four bolt main caps? Later model heads from the 305 like the 416 castings work real well. They are 58cc and have 1.84 intakes which do fine for a small motor. You can go bigger, but you loose port velocity at street speeds and get into valve shrouding issues. The 601 heads are 53cc or so and will bump you to more than 9.5. With either, you'll need to clean up the bowls and open the exhaust runner a bit. Kieth Black make a selection of pistons in both Silv-O-Lite standard castings and KB Hypereutetic. The KB Hypers will stand mild blower application. If you want to lean on the motor, you can use aftermarket rods and KB forged pistons. Watch the installed height as you'll find a lot of rebuilder pistons are way down the bore robbing you of CR and Squish - not good. Little motors are somewhat susceptible more to cam event timing. It's REAL easy to over cam a 283. Then they have no grunt off the line and are not fun around town. Get the cam right and they are a very flexible and rewarding street motor, especially in front of a stick. They will wind and they will run down the road all day long. I prefer to run a somewhat mild cam with 1.6 rockers to get the breathing right. But any good cam grinder can advise on a good set-up. I've had real good luck with Chet Herbert cams in 283's Isky makes some great cams for 283's, but they are mostly track oriented. Ignition should be a place to spend some time thinking. Vacuum HEI recurved to be all in at 2700 will do nicely, but looks somewhat out of place on a traditional build. Uni-Lite red cap looks good and will trigger a lot of aftermarket spark boxes. Good old dual point 'Vette distributor works well too
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