If im building a 283 with old avaliable cast iron heads and no bolt holes in would want a domed piston and run the 461 heads if there 1.94" valves. You need to get the compression up a bit to make better use of a bigger performance cam and intake carburation for the look and sound you want. If want at least 9.5-1 and closer to 10-1. If im building a flat top 283 for performance vs old school looks with factory heads id look at the 305 stuff with small combustion chambers . You can rework the power pack heads with bigger valves and hardened seats you want and some porting and be OK Also the transmission choice, gearing and car weight really matter in cam choice. If its a big heavy car with high gears and a automatic with stock converter a bigger cam is not going to work well. A ton of intake choices. Swap meets are full of sbc 4bbl intakes . If you want early old school cool then maybe a early corvette 2x4 that's about $350 or other after market 2x4 that will take twin AFB carbs easy ( or edelbroks that will look to new out of the box) 3x2 carbs and so on . Stock rockers are more than fine for a mild street engine. Same as every Corvette , Camero had for years with higher performance cams . Also solid lifter cams are not some need to adjust every week like some people act like . Unless something is prematurely wearing out things do not change much . Yes they need to be checked now and then .
Pushing the CR up to 10:1 brings up the possibility of detonation. You'll want to ensure proper quench to reduce the propensity to detonate. And run premium gas. And avoid too much ignition advance too quick. Or add water injection.
Somebody help me out here. I think I remember an article, in 1962 or 63 (?). Probably Car Craft. They compared the cast iron 300 hp. intake and aluminum 340 hp. intake. I seem to remember the 300 hp. was pretty close to the 340. But as usual, I'm probably wrong.
Probably the same people how cry about points and condenser, clear red spark plug wires and Rajah clips. Oh !! And Stromberg carbs
Thank you, good info and I like your paragraph of a bigger cam and dome pistons for sound. Going in a 61 frog eye chevy pickup so pretty heavy.
It would open the valves a bit more and also affect duration. Essentially a 'bigger' cam. one of many discussing it. https://www.hotrodders.com/threads/tuning-the-engine-with-1-5-1-6-rockers.147570/
IMHO the best way to pick a cam is to contact a reputable cam grinder. Isky, Schneider, Oregon Cams, etc. They will ask your intended purpose, head flow if known, carburetor size and type, vehicle weight, transmission type, gear ratio and tire size. Usually they will have at least a couple grinds that will work, or they can custom grind to your exact specs. I’ve not been disappointed going this route. Dan
Back in the '50s, any V8 pickup was rare and fast. Today, a 283", not so much. We build obsolete engines, but the reality is, when a 283" costs more to build than a 350" (and it does) I personally would dress the 350" (or even better, a 400") to look older. jack vines
I didn’t mind paying the little extra to build a 283. It’s not much at all. Plus it has the advantage of not being a 350.
there is a store nearby where you can buy a blowup doll instead of a girlfriend. You can dress up the blowup doll
@anthony myrick I didn’t mind paying the little extra to build a 283. It’s not much at all. Plus it has the advantage of not being a 350. Nothing wrong with a 283 or 350 really depends on what is expected a 283 will make 250 hp or more fairly easily and 350 will make 300 + hp easily with more bottom end torque in the 350. There are guys running 6 cylinders with less power and they’re perfectly happy. If your main goal is as much acceleration and speed as you can get in a street engine the 350 makes more sense actually a big block is the way to go for major power. 409, 396, 427, 454. Dan
Nothing wrong at all with 283s. Many decades ago, I blew up a series of 327s in an ot vehicle that had 5.38:1 gearing. Driving those 327s down the road at 50-55 mph was really winging them. And the damage was caused by the oil pump putting all of the oil in the rocker covers, and being stockers, and used, the drain back holes weren’t the cleanest. After the 3rd one I only had a 62 283, which was on the stand headless. Pulled the pan and washed the bottom end and made sure the oil would drain back to the pan. Put a set of 461 heads with 1.94 intakes on it and a 300 hp intake and carburetor. It ran fine for 13 months, whereupon I sold it. It’s only problem, it couldn’t pass a gas station…
Many know I'm a 327 guy so generally that's what I say to build, now, if ones' plan is to use a 283 just because it's what you have laying around, go for it. I will say this, a 4:11 gearset will really wake up a tired 283.
And let me tell you, 5.38s, Wow! Of course no top end! That ot vehicle topped out at around 92 mph. But it got there really quickly! And if you did it right, a 4 wheel burnout was really special, smoke boiling off all 4 wheels… Lincoln locker in the back, funny setup in the front. Didn’t steer too good. But it was fun
Why I suggested 9.5-1 . If you want a bigger cam to give you much and it to run well your best to run as much compression as your fuel will support . Premium fuel is a given at 10-1 with cast iron heads. H also said this was a car show or week end car so I assumed fuel cost is not a issue If you want a low compression runs on regular engine its going to limit what cam you can effectively run . The weight of the car , gears and transmission type all factor in as well . lugging a 283 in a heavy car and high gears with much of a cam sucks . these engines do not have great torque to begin with and adding more cams makes is worse and moves the RPM range upward . IF I were to build another high performance 283 it would need to be going in a light car with lower gears and stick or at least a higher stall converter on a auto . Thats were these engines shine Last one I did was .060" over 282 in a 67 Camero with 4:56 -1 gears and a 4 speed and a cam and valve train that let it run up to shift at 8000 RPM . I had angle cut 461 heads on it to bring up the compression and a tunnel ram to I just happened to have that was already milled for angle cut heads . I notched the block a bit above the piston ring line for the 2:02 valves I had in these heads . This is not the engine id advice the OP to build unless its a very light car and a stick or about a 3000 or so stall . I had a big cam in a 283 in a pretty stock 61 Impala with a aluminum PG auto and it really really sucked until I was doing like 45 miles PH in 1st . the OP would be better with the factory 300 HP 327 cam if hes running 9-1 or under
How much does the car weight , gears and Transmisson ? It matters much more on a small engine with less torque than say a 350 . were even with a good sized cam its still making more low end torque than the mild 282 build . Today we Have Over drive options that we did nto have in the alte 70's and early 80's so one can build a Higher RPM engine and have the lwoer gears like say 3;73's and still drive on the highway well . My advice is don't go to big on a cam chasing a cool sound . If you do you want a split pattern cam sort of like the Comp cams Thumper but that pretty big for a 283 IMO unless you got the gears and such
Don’t care what it weighs. I’ll probably make it as heavy as a can doing custom stuff. The desoto grill is definitely heavier than the stock one. Plus other doodads. 51merc with a 283 being hooked to an OD merc trans. 392 open diff Tri power for looks Simple melling mtc cam. More hp than the FH I hope everyone of you guys here pass me
Yea thats going to be a bit heavy . Im helping a buddy to a 65 GMC were a V6 was and after I could not talk him into a BBC it was decided a 383 on a 350 block was the best choice he wants the torque and Highway gears . hes building it to drive so he is not concnered with staying old school so a et of AFR heads and HYD roller street cam are going in it so it should be about 450 HP or likely more I had a 65 short bed step side Chevy with a stock 283 when I was young around 1981 I changed the 2bl to a 4bbl 600 Holley and I changed the 3 speed to a Saginaw car 4 speed and it drove fine . It had pretty low gears as I recall . The 4 speed really helped . think I had a aluminum Camero intake on it (I cant recall it was a dual plane) likely a new performer today would work better . If I had that truck today id be putting a 5 speed in it for the 80 MPH plus there doing on the interstate .
Choosing a camshaft based on the sound it makes at idle is the exact wrong way to pick a camshaft. Go ahead and get a nice rumpy rump camshaft and the same vehicle with a six will out drag you stop light to stop light. With today’s gas(?) I would go no bigger than the Melling MTC-1 that Anthony is using (same cam I have in my 350), or the Chevy 929 cam.
similar build in 1959 Hello, Our first try at building a 283 SBC motor was given a lot of thought. What to use for carbs. Our initial thought was dual quads for top performance. For the drags, all 8 barrels on call at the touch of the full throttle. During the normal street driving, only half of each carb working with the pedal and foot. We had experienced it on a dual quad corvette and it was a nice set up. Plenty of surge with stomped on the throttle from on quad to 2 quads open and blasting down the street. But, as we got a lot of advice from the top engine builders in our neighborhood, Joe Mailliard, Reath Automotive, etc, we were in a quandary. We got all sorts of build scenarios. So, we visited a small speed shop near our house and in some oil fields neighborhood. They had set up shop in an old house and now had a cool converted shop in some homes, but it was ok, since it was zoned industrial/residential with the scattered oil pumps doing their thing. The shop owners had a 283 long block in a build stage. A complete 283 motor with dual quads and scattered on the shelves, 283 Chevy truck heads, Edlebrock 6 carb manifold and Stromberg 97s attached. They were in the half way point of putting all together with the long block. We were interested in the whole set up that was apart in many pieces. But, all of the pieces were there, it was a challenge, but my brother brought out the cash and made the owners an offer. The only other thing we had done was that we took the heads to Jocko’s Shop in Bixby Knolls and had them port and polish everything. So, now, we had the parts and the puzzle assembly began. Yes, we were told the 6 Strombergs were better for the drags than the dual quad set up. And the linkage could be adjusted to run the center two carbs for daily driving. Jnaki It took many days of after school time to set out everything in order of my brother’s way of assembly of the motor. So, each day, he set everything out he wanted to assemble on a white towel. Then bit by bit, we assembled each part carefully with a torque wrench. The pistons were 10 to one and the rest of the motor were aluminum Jahns version, aluminum rods and the stock crank. When we picked up the heads from Jocko, they were gleaming like gold and fit perfectly. I had taken them inside our study den of the house. I put them on a covered cardboard table and was wiping each head down as if it were a prized possession. After I got one head all cleaned and ready, I started on the other. It was freezing in our backyard garage that we normally assemble hot rod stuff. So, the warmth of the house heater and a nice table was perfect. But, I got yelled at having a “dirty car part” sitting on a nice cardboard table inside of “her house.” But, by then, it was as clean as her dinnerware. The fully assembled 283 motor was an instant hit as it got started in our 40 Willys Coupe. Backing up out of the narrow grassy area, between the two homes and down the long driveway, the purr of the motor giving off a rump, rump of open exhausts was music to our ears. No, my brother did not rev up the motor. He knew our mom did not like loud exhaust noises… ha! But, it idled all the way to the street and then, we were ready to complete our adventure. Note: We ran the carb motor for a couple of months and were satisfied of its performance. But, then we took everything apart and the block got bored out to 292 c.i. Now, our next adventure of blower spec parts for the reassembly was starting, with 8 to one compression aluminum pistons and rods on a Reath balanced crank. So, then our process took awhile to complete. Real power was the result with the touch of the gas pedal…YRMV
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