301's because the bore was 301.59 when chevy MADE the 302 it was a 301 also just rounded the cubes up to 302
A 4" bore & 3" stroke engine is 301.59 cubic inches. Hot rodders who bored out 283s called that 301, Chevrolet called it 302. (Marketing) Yep..........but remember you had to claim lbs / cu in cl*** racing. Some cl***es could be 6 to 12 lbs per cubic inch. I would round down...... if it was I. I believe Speedway still sells the cylinder volume checking tool for measuring in ch***is cubic inch. Even Dirt Track has some cl***es with cubic inch limits. Some stories claim to run larger bores in cylinders that the spark plug was hard to reach.........
If memory serves correct, we used to look for 283 blocks with casting numbers that ended in 810. Thicker webbing made for stronger castings.
1963 freshmen high school 283 bored 125 - 301 1955 2 dr no back seat 2 corvair buckets 3 speed hurst shifter 9.oox 15 ambulance rear tires ran like snot was a plow boys dream come true!! 301 cu. in. 1963 Don what a memories.
301.59289474462014...people were more conservative then, and rounded down out of modesty... Rodders ALWAYS went to biggest survivable bore when engine needed work. 265's went right out to 283, 283's to 301, because there was no major cost over a simple rebuild bore. There WAS risk, of course, as some blocks would not survive that, but rodders are gamblers and optimists. 352 was expensive, because of the special crank, and a lot more people claimed they had a 352 than really did...
It actually has to due with how far "pi" is taken out; 3.14 in the math, and you get close to 301, 3.14159265359 gets you closer to 302 (rounding up on both). And I hate math! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
The main reason for using 301 was because the first time it was published in Hot Rod Mag it was called a 301.So every one used the terms from Americas no 1 auto mag. , In 1955 the machine shop I mentioned Howards. Bought a engine and started to figure out how to modify. The first thing was to use 52 chevy power glide heads intake valves.I will talk to their machnest Mr Cagle and find out more he is still sharp for almost 90 years old.
Back in that time you could get a over bore stroker kit from the Don Garlits Speed Shop that would turn a 283 into a 352. Guys where building 301,s in 1957.
in LA back in 1973 I bought a 56 bel air 2dht ($250) with a t10 and supposedly a 59 283 vette motor punched out to 301. never checked to see if was true but it ran out great!
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