Okay...I know I'm gonna open a can of worms but here goes.I've got a stock rebuilt 283 with small (194) 327 dbl. hump heads.I just wanna wake it up alittle & get a nice sounding lope to it.Not really wanting to make alot of hp just a reliable small-block.What cam are some of you 283 guys using?
Or L-79 ( 350 HP 327) if you want to go hydraulic. You can by either new from Crane its called a blueprint cam, ground from the original GM blueprints. Anyway both are great street cams.
currently running a lunati voodoo street cam in my 283, good sound and fantastic midrange torque why this cam?? I got it for 40.00 brand new with lifters....
Auto or Stick? rearend gears? probably dont want anything radical enough to effect power brakes / vacuum
The L79 will sound awesome in that 283. For a 'street car' the best sounding/running cam I have ever run. peace
The L 79 cam is a great cam... BUT combined with a tight (stock converter) and the wrong gears might not be the best choice. You need to take a look at your entire package compression, stall, and rear gears. I've seen more than a few guys over cam their engines thinking its cool to have a lopey mean sounding engine but its not as cool when a kid on a bicycle can out run you for half a block.
The L-79 makes torque from 2K-5200. You can move the torque curve down by advancing it. Doesn't need a high stall converter they came in automatic cars as well as stick cars. The cam works well in a 283 with streetable compression. No adjusted stall converter needed. Mild lope and good flat torque curve.
65cc heads on a 283 don't sound right fellas! That 283 have popups?? If not, your gonna need heads with 57-58cc's to get some compression... I'd go with a pair of mid '70's 305 4-bbl heads.... I'm ready.. Popcorn anyone???
Have you put the heads on the shortblock yet? I found that my 461 "camel bump" heads had combustion chambers that overhang the bore on my 283 (3.905 bore). Not a preferred situation. I switched to the 520 castings with the smaller chambers. FWIW, I'm using a comp 280H advanced 4 degrees in my motor.
When I built my 283, I put a set of flat tops in it, used 76cc 350 heads, with 1.94 intake and 1.50 exh valves, steel crank and this cam: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K1104/ it ran great with a performer intake and holley 600 cfm carb and stock ram horn exhaust.. in a early 60's shoebox nova.
Bingo!!! Always check for chamber overhang if you want to bolt on large chamber heads on a small bore block!! It's easy to do... Just bolt on a head with a gasket in between on a bare block and flip the motor around on your engine stand and take a peek. If the combustion chambers overhang the bore, then you know not to use those heads.. I always scribed the head around the edge of the cylinder bore while it was bolted on the block.. I did that for two reasons.. one to check for chamber overhang and two, to see how far I could unshroud the area of the combustion chamber around the intake valve...
Thats part of what i was concerned about without knowing the specifics, I would have to assume compression ratio would be pretty low (likely well under 9/1probably) that combined with stock converter and possibly a 3.0 gear( OP never stated his gear ratio) IMO wouldnt be a great combination for a L79 cam in a heavy car.
Keep in mind that a mild cam profile for a larger engine equates to a more aggressive cam for smaller cubes. I put in a mild cam(basically what would be considered an RV cam-can't recall specs) for a 350 cu. in. in a 283 I put together several years ago along with home-ported 305 heads. Had a good lopey idle to it. Would've screamed had I had better gears in it. Kinda had to get it up past 3000rpm to get it going though, more than likely due to my inexperience with trying to improve flow on the truck 305 heads.
I'm going with a Comp high energy 268H or extreme energy 262. You get some lope and some usable power. For a mild engine, even the little Thumpr looks like too much cam to me, probably sounds great, but I want my car to run like it sounds. I'm weird like that though.....
Worse possible choice for a 283 is the Duntov .030/.030 It was an almost horrible cam for the 327 it came in origonally. It requires a minimum of at least 3.73 gears (4.11's prefered) and the gas milage is horrible. If clattering lifters and the ability to eat a hot dog and down a root beer from a stop until the time it gets to the first shift point with an automatic turns you on .......go for it. The 350 hp hydraulic that was used in the 327 at the some time is head and shoulders above the .030/.030. Someone mentioned the Comp cams 268 hydraulic and I concur. It is or was the most popular street cam that Comp sold for a small block. i've installed at least 20 of them and never had a complaint with almost all experiencing a gain in milage and torque (torque is what moves a car not hp) and it's got a nice idle when idled down for an automatic. Frank
Some more important qns: What car is the engine going in? What trans? What gearing? What s the engine's CR? I ran a Summit #1102 in my 283. I added the HO305 heads for a CR of about 9.5:1. Stock Glide, convertor and 3.36 rear gears. Sounded great, pulled well for a heavy car with a cast iron Glide and ran like a champ, day in day out. All in all a well matched combo. You should know all your variables before you pick a cam....otherwise you will be disappointed with your choice, esp in a daily driver. Just my exp. Rat
1st Post. I hope all is well! I am working on a 1966 Nova engine. I want to upgrade the 283 power while keeping the powerglide transmission. What are your thoughts on this combination: So this for the heads: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tf...make/chevrolet And this for the cam: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cc...71-4/overview/ This intake: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-7101/overview/
I tested a lot of camshaft combos back in the '60s when the 238 was still new and considered a hot setup. The one constant is that that engine makes almost no torque at anything under 3000RPM. Every cam I tried performed best on the street with an 8# advanced bushing in the cam gear. If I remember my favorite was the 30/30 Duntov and it would start pulling around 2000RPM and run to redline quickly. Yes, I know adjusting valves on a running and hot engine is a pain but with Posilocs and a modified valve cover it is acceptable.
@tom-s Keep in mind George has the answers on this subject, this particular one is not to be taken seriously as he likes to make light of (misinformation). Am I right on this George? The Duntov 30-30 camshaft (solid lifter) and equivalents are best matched to engines with more compression than your engine no doubt has. As @butch and @porknbeaner said; the 327/350 h.p. cam (hydraulic) is a fairly good choice even though that particular engine came from the factory with 11 to 1 compression. As many have mentioned, look up the term "blueprint series" camshafts, many cam companies are making equivalents of the popular small block hi-performance cams from the 60's. Pay close attention to any highlight notes they reference about each cam. If you plan on keeping the rearend gears(3.08's) that your powerglide equipped Nova came with; you DO NOT want to go too crazy on camshaft selection. Purely out of curiosity, what is the block number on your Nova engine?
The Jalopy Journal
