Converting my SBC 283 to a 327 what do I need to do.

Lets see what folks have to say about the pic's with numbers I have posted.

You have just about got me convinced to build it as a 283 and quote be proud of it.



If I do that then I will just get an after market intake manifold to go with a 4 barrel configuration.

I kinder like the look of the oil filler/breather up front.

 

well a lot of myths . that block if it a 62-67 it can be bored to 4" because they were 327 blocks that were not bored to 4". look in the bottom and see if it is relived for the 327 cranks if it is you are good to go. we did it all the time when racing. but i would not go to 4" right off go .060. that will give you 317 which you will not beable to tell the diffierance in the car. that way you have some over bore left.

does the block have the mount holes on the side if not it is a 57 back block.

 

just looked at the pics. it is a 58-59 block with the 519 casting number.

 

What does that mean in medical terms Bob?
The block is basically only any good to be a 283 then???

What about the heads, worth doing anything to/with them???

 

I have a 68 327 for sale, was used in a 56 till 265 was rebuilt, was running good about 3 years ago, I turn it over by hand.

 

My brother had a 66 chevelle with the 283 and a powerglide. ran better than a 305 and got 22mpg on the highway.

3 angle valvejob, hardened seats, maybe oversized valves if you can afford it, if not try to get a more aggressive cam that gets the valve off the seat faster, remove the exhaust rotators, smooth out the sharp edges in the intake and exhaust ports of the heads, flat top pistons, pick a good cam...
I've gotten little improvement changing the cam alone but just cleaning up a stock set of heads very little with a die grinder and getting a 3 angle valvejob and running headers is a very noticeable change in the upper rpm's.
I like dual plane manifolds. stock if I'm not changing much...the weiand 8000 smallblock chevy intake with a 650 mechanical sec. holley doublepumper really opens up the top end. go with a carter afb, edelbrock, or quadrajet (and learn how to ajust them)if you don't want to have to think about metering your right foot so you don't bog it.
300hp would be really easy to get out of it.

If you want to do somehting goofy with the 327 crank there's a high winding combo.
They take a large journal 327 crank and use the spacer bearings made to put a 350 crank into a 400 block and put the 327 crank in the 400 block. they use a forged rod from a ford 300 six and 400 chevy pistons. it makes something of a long rod 370 (not a 377, that's just a race bored 350)

What you end up with is a 370 ci engine with a rod/stroke ratio similar to the 302 chevy race engine from the rs camaro.

 

Yep and a little bit of missinformation.. Where did you get these magical .060 over 283 pistons that had the pin hole in the correct place for the 327 crank ? "301" pistons were common because alot of us were doing that. I suppose they could be custom made but would be very expensive since anything uncommon like that would have to be a special order type thing. Also to the guy who posted about the 327 crank in a 400 block. You are correct that they are great racing engines due to the ability to get higher RPMs out of them but your math is off. They aren't 370 cubic inch they are 348 when using a standard bore 400 block or 353 when going .030 over. I built a few of them for classes of circle track racing that had a 355 cubic inch limit until they caught on and changed the rules to say you couldn't swap bores & strokes from different engines.. Pistons for those had to be custom made as well.

 

I Have an article that shows boring 283's:

 

the casting number on the block says it's a '58-'62, the intake is a '57. The staggered hole valve covers are '55-'58? The casting mark on the ends of the heads I have never seen before, and my book says '68-'69 307 & 327, but those would have tobe modified for the early valve covers. Pull a valve cover so we can get the casting number.

 

Unclee is right. The block has a 60 casting date. The heads are 55-57 style. It has side mounts so its not a 265 and it has a road draft tube. 55-56 did not have them and it has a oil canister 57-67. A forged small journal 327 steel crank will work and clear the block a cast crank will not. You will wind up with a 307. You will need to use 307 pistons. Just how much money do you want to spend. I love 327s over 350s but dollar wise 350s are probably the cheapest motor in the world to build or buy used especially for the cost/HP.

I have built every combo that is mentioned in this thread and the 327 was the best for me.

Pat

 

Not only is this guy wrong with the cubic inch size of the 327 crank in the 400 block, the 377 is not a "race bored" 350. The 377 is a 350 crank in the 400 block with the block bored .030. If you keep a standard bore in the block you will have 372 cubes.

You can build a 357 out of a 350 by boring it .040....but it isn't race bored.

I do not know what "race bored" is...

 

OK, I might as well add my opinion and experiences to this thread.

283's are excellent engines... But, it depends on what you want from the engine. I used a 283 in my '68 GMC truck (three speed manual trans & 4.10 gears in the rear). My 283 was a '67 version, with stock cylinder heads. I used a Crane RV, fuel mileage cam (makes more low rpm torque than the stock cam), a later model stock 4 bbl intake manifold (for a Quadrajet carb) and a Holley 450 cfm Quadrajet replacement carb). This combination worked very well. The added torque and the low rear gears made the truck fun (between traffic lights) and worked well for towing.

Yes, the 301 pistons are no longer "in stock" items at your local parts house/speed shop/machine shop. Another source for the correct pistons are standard bore Z28 302 pistons, which can be found because most of the Z28 engines being rebuilt need to be bored.

One thing to consider is that the difference between a 292 (.060 over bored 283) and a 301 is only 9 cubic inches. In a race car where tenths or even hundreths of a second are important, you'll be hard pressed to know the difference in a street vehicle.

The 283's that I've encounted have all had forged steel cranks. I'd replace your cylinder heads with a set of the "camel hump" heads (either 2.02 or 1.94 intake valves), use a good aftermarket aluminun intake, a 600 (or so) cfm carb, mild cam, good ignition, and exhaust. You'll be surprised at how well a combination like this will perform.

If you want more than just a mild street engine, then there's no replacement for displacement! As a engine builder friend of mine says, "the only thing better than cubic inches is CUBIC FEET!".

 

Don't put 2.02 intake heads on a 283 bore (3-7/8") they are too large in the bore and the intake charge becomes shrouded or blocked by the cylinder wall. The 1.94 intake works much better in this 283 bore size just ask a stocker or supper stock racer.

Pat

 

One other thing that I needed to mention is compression ratio. Here's where you can "get aggressive", if you're willing to pay for premimum fuel. A lot of the newer engines run low 8.5/9.0 compression. I'd go for 10.5:1 and buy the better fuel. I agree that the 1.94 intake valve heads would be better for the street version of this 283/292. Again, just my opinion.

 

Here is what the 283 is going in and below is the link to what started all my questions.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366906&highlight=1960+f100

It has a 9 inch diff with 3.56:1 ratio and I have a T700R tranny for it.
You can see why I thought I may need a little extra torque.
However from what I am reading it will be fine with a few fine tuning modifications as offered to me by the guys posting here.

I am still curious about the heads with the single hump or bump since I do not know much about SBC engine stuff at all and all knowledge and comments are great for my learning.

 

And more info on the 327 crank, the early 62-63 powerglide cranks were not drilled for a "common" pilot bushing and NAPA makes a "conversion" pilot bushing for these, ask me how I know! And the early 58-59 283 blocks take the same rope seal but a different neopreme modern rubber seal and as far as I know only Best Seals and Gaskets make it. Also are'nt the rear cam shaft bearings different??

 

hey, thats a cool truck.... i think if your gonna use a 700r trans and, it being a pickup,,, id use a gm goodrich crate 350... like $1500 bucks.... http://www.jegs.com/p/GM-Performance/GM-Goodwrench-1970-85-350-Engine-Packages/752506/10002/-1# ....

 

fifty v8 it is a good block in fact a real good block. it has the right casting numbers for a 58-61 corvette. which means you could get good money for it.

the .060 over with a 327 crank you would use .060 307 pistions.

the head casting on the ends i have seen on trucks.

 

Thanks Bob, well it turns out that the bores and all crank bearings are still std size, infact they are in good condition, so I will just get a little work done to the heads and leave it be as a 283 for now.

I will however search for a 350 and do a swap later.

I searched for the head casting numbers but could not find anything to match mine. the number on one head is 1816697 it has Canada cast in the head as well and a few short lot of smaller numbers.

I have photographed the numbers but my battery has gone flat so recharging and will post later.

 

With the 4-inch bore, he can run bigger valves that won't be shrouded. Since an engine's power lives in it's heads, if he has a good set of heads with 2.02 valves, that's when the 4-inch bore comes into play.

I just built a 400hp 283 with a 327 crank, and left the 1.94 valves in the Double Hump heads.

-Brad

 

Draggin GTO, runs in my mind that about the last 3 yrs. of the 283's were large journal. Am I wrong?

 

Yep, you're wrong. The last 2 years they made 327s they were large journal. 68 & 69. They never made large journal 283s. 67 was the last year for them.

 

I guess the bigger crank journal 283 block would be a 307 block,yes?

 

Thanks Bandit, must have been thinking about the 327, amazing how my memory plays tricks on me after 40 yrs. , I find that happening a little more often than it used to.

 

For what it's worth, the 283 out in my garage that came out of my 1963 Impala moved that car down the road right well, and did it getting 17-20 mpg with its original Powerglide (also currently in my garage).

 

What a waste....