Ran over to Jacksonville the other day, about a 2.5 hour drive, and picked up this '57 283. The guy I bought it from said he got it from a guy who pulled it from a '57 Chevy for a bigger motor. Pulled the heads tonight to get an idea of what I am working with. Looks like the heads are later '62ish power pack heads with stock size valves. Dial caliper tells me the bore is an RCH under 3.9 so I think that means a stock bore. Some pretty good grooves in the cylinder walls but I was planning on going .060 over anyway. Plans are for a hot little 292 for my early '60s A highboy build. Going to have these heads rebuilt w/ hardened seats, 305 intake valves and a good port job. Thinking a 097 Duntov or Comp Cams 30 30N+ cam, 10.1ish compression and 4x2s. It will probably be in the spring before I get all the parts together and then I have to find a builder to do the machine work and assembly. (All the machine shops in my area seemed to have closed) Here are a few pics. Thanks, --louis
Sounds like a good plan,I like the 283's they make great engines,,the 4 carburetors will look sweet sitting on top.HRP
That looks pretty sweet. Any more pics of your build posted? The 4x2 is a new Offy Pacesetter intake. I have the same manifold as a 6x2 in the classifieds if anyone is interested. I decided the 6x2 would be to much for the lil 283. I would prefer a vintage Wieand so I may switch it out if I find one for a reasonable cost. --louis
I have a couple of '57 283 cores too. Some sets of 'power-pak' heads, and some cool intakes. 2X4 'Vette, 3X2 w/Rochesters, but my Man-a-Fre was stolen by some snake right out of my shop! Love these old 283s...especially when they become 292s and 301s! (old numbers)
Wow, an NOS block. And I thought my stock bore '57 block was a rare bird. What are the specs? Wow that sucks. I have only seen on Man-a-Fre for sale recently and it was going for some serious coin. Veddy Nice. I went back and forth several times between using A rails and 32 rails. I think I have settled on '32 rails but I do love an A on A rails, especially if it is channeled. There are a couple of Alliance vendors that sell a Hurst clone mount but I want something like what Brian Bass did with his A roadster. I like the way it sits a little higher in the frame than the Hurst mount. (see pics) Mine also came with the stock side mounts though I am not sure if I will use them or not. (steel bellhousing on a Muncie M-22) Thanks, --louis
Louis: The bore is stock 283.....3 7/8 if I remember correctly. I parted out a 65 283 years ago but kept the crank. It turned out to be a steel crank and polished to stock specs. RV cam, power pack heads with a 300hp 327 intake. It came with pistons and rings as well as cam and main bearings. I bought it from a truck mechanic in Kansas city Kansas back in '90 while I was working out there. Fun stuff!!
I looked up the casting #s; I can't tell if they are 3795896 or 6896 in the pic, but either should have 1.72 intakes. 1.84 s should work well. You probably won't get to 10:1 CR without a little dome on the piston.Don't forget screw in studs; should be a great little engine.
Looks like someone has already made a 287 or 292 out of it, I've never seen flat top pistons in a 283 like those, Don't make the same mistake I made some 40 years ago, don't over cam that little motor unless you have a deep rear gear. 4:10 4:56 etc Have fun with it!
Yeah it has had something done to it but the pistons are GM pistons, #3731395, so not sure what. There is no oversize marking anywhere on the pistons. The rods have punch marks on the bottom to indicate they have been out of the block. I will finish stripping it down this weekend and maybe get it to the machine shop for hot tanking and a checkup. I do plan to run a small dome. So far the only dome pistons I have found are KBs. --louis
Sweet little engine ... I am running a 283 bored to 292 with an old L79 Corvette cam, 305 HO heads, and some other stuff and just love it ! You will too... Good luck, and keep us in the loop.
Not the best picture but I think you get the idea where this is going. Still not sure what to do for a front timing cover yet but I won't be using the cheap chrome one it came with. Block looks good with no obvious damage but the crank has some nasty grooves in it. Heading to the machine shop in a couple of weeks for a good cleaning and check up. Talked with a guy from Comp Cams and I think I have settled on the L79 cam instead of the 30-30 or 097 I was originally considering.Valve covers are early Cal Custom and the headers are repo Fentons from Patrick's. It was their last set and they said they probably wouldn't make any more. --louis
I just completed a '57 283 with a .030 overbore. 097 cam, 300 hp 327 intake, 500 cfm AFB and '62 power pack heads. Put it in a '55 Del Ray with a Richmond 5-speed and 3.08 posi gears. It surprised me how well it ran during breakin. If the 097 is degreed as Chevrolet specs it has good low in torque. 110 degree lobe centers and set the intake centerline to 108. The old small block are great little engines.
I like where you are going and those little strombergs ought to be just about right. Looks good. I would run the carbs all 4 all the time.
What are those hemi valve covers for? I pulled a good 283 out of my 36 Tudor and installed a 350/290 H.P. crate engine. You would not believe the torque. An old hot rodder told me it was the cubic inches. Your idea looks good. Keep us posted on the progress. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Hi, My block is a 1960 283 CI with the same flat top pistons you have and the cylinders were bored 30 over. I was able to read this by looking through one of the spark plug holes. My heads; intake manifold and Quadrajet carburetor are all from a 1968 327 CI motor. I have been working on my project since Oct. 2008 and will start the motor for the second time in a few days. I had it running for less than 15 minutes a few weeks ago until my mini starter gave out. So far, the MOTOR sounds awesome. I LOVE these SBC motors...................... GOOD LUCK with your build. LG, Mike
Great score! Here is my thread about the same subject matter. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/scored-a-283-a-few-questions.595887/
Your engine is completely stock as evidenced by the true flat top pistons with no valve reliefs. That's the reason GM had so many warranty problems with the early 265/283 engines; a little over rev, and the valves hit the piston tops, and it's why all pistons for them now come with valve reliefs (that further a drop in CR). DO NOT "cam" the motor with those pistons. I'd only bore it enough to clean it up; you'll still be able to bore it more in the future that way. Rather than spend a bunch of money on the old Power Pack heads, unless it's the "look" you're going for, I'd use a pair of 305, casting number 601 heads. They already have the hardened seats, and valve sizes you're after (at least some of them), have slightly larger ports, and have the smallest combustion chamber at 53cc's. You'll get a little more CR that way also, but it's hard to build any CR with these small bore/small stroke motors. Use a factory, aluminum intake manifold and Quadrajet carburetor (non electric control) to go with the 305 heads. Rather than rebuild your rods, go aftermarket; it'll cost less, and they'll be stronger. Have the crank snout drilled and tapped for a balancer retaining bolt when you're rebuilding the motor. Last thing, balance the rotating assembly. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Thanks for sharing the link. Looks like lots of good info in there. We need a 283 info page here on the HAMB. Thanks for the input Butch. May plans are to keep the power pack heads since they are correct for the era of the build. I am looking at a set of KB dome pistons to get the compression ratio up into the low 10s. I need to find someone Togo through the heads who knows about working with the older stuff. Thanks, --louis
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