Projects 283 build for my 59 Apache. Need direction.

Well I inherited my 59' from from my grandfather before he passed. It belonged to my dad's brother(who I was named after) before he passed way before I was born.

Its got a 283 with a 3849852 casting number, Power Pac heads, warped street-master intake(messed up my carb base plate bad lol) and TH400 behind it. These guys raced back in the day apparently, pops says it usually sported skinnys and slicks or radials he wasn't sure which. I got a new wp ,slapped on a 500 cfm holley and installed a hei I had laying around. She runs lol. I've been collecting a few parts like brake stuff, tubular motor/trans mounts, new wiring harness and I'm about ready so pull the motor/trans to get them rebuilt. I won't be driving or racing it very much its just gonna be a fun car to have. I can never sell it so I may as well have fun with it.

Now first off I couldn't care less about drivability with this truck. I was thinking full manual valve body in the trans and maybe a single turbo set up. I know swapping in an ls is the norm nowadays but I want to use what they did. Its just cool in my book.

If the crank is a factory forged unit I just need to find some rods and pistons to match right?
2.02 vales will hit cylinder wall at high lift from what I understand how about 1.94's?
With arp main studs rod bolts and good machine work how high can I spin her? I'm looking for a realistic number to set up for.I keep hearing 8000 is fine with them but never having owned one I'd really like your advice on what to shoot for.

 

Hey Ed, sounds like a sweet project with some real history. I can't be much help with the 283. I did a cam, lifters, and springs swap but it lasted about 200 miles before the rings went out. Now it's a paperweight.
Post up some pictures of your truck. We would love to see it.



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Would like to see pics. Instead of a turbo, why not a roots blower.

 

so they ran it with a turbo ?

 

If th400 is what you have, use it. A th350 would be better behind the 283 Imo. 305 heads seem to be the best cheap head, 1.94s will be good. Sounds like it isn't going to see much street use. Can't just slap a turbo on and go fast. Do some homework.

 

Here's a pic for some reason when doing it from my phone I can only do one at a time.

 

Front pic.

 

Ok so no it wasn't turbo lol. I'm no stranger to turbo my 08 mustang ft had a hair dryer but I am on the carb sbc. Well keeping the trans and motor are a big part of the project. Roots would be cool I've been looking into it but spray might be where I end up. I'd like to keep the power pack heads but 305's aren't out of the question. I want a fun combo though. I'm thinking forged bottom end for sure. Pistons seem hard to come by in anything but the hyper aluminum. If reving it is how I need to make some power I'll rev it but where is a good spot? The 400 is in it and bullet proof why is the 350 better? I already found a place to get rear end parts so I'm good there.
I've seen some super stock 283's but no idea what's in em.

 

All the cams I'm seeing that go up to 8000 say best for 350+ci kinda lost lol.

 

That's a sweet solid looking truck. What did your family race back then? The truck doesn't seem like it's had track time.

 

Ok so after some long searching on-line I found some pistons that will get me to 10.5:1 with the 58cc power pac chambers.55 chambers will get me 11:1 gonna get to talking to the machine shop how close I can get. True 96+ vortec heads even if I could find 305's are very annoying to deal with they are like the iron lt1 heads I have on my camaro. Require specific springs and valves and are limited to .550 lift even with the #7 locks. I've been reading that the pp head is really designed for the small bore so I might just get them reworked with pinned studs or screw ins and bigger valves. I think that my cam selection is gonna be what makes or brakes my build. As stated before I won't be driving the truck very much. Occasional Sunday to family BBQ's. Where I go is about 5 min away with a max speed of 50mph.
I think the Isky z-65 is to big lol calls for 5.56 gears so that's a no.
Any grind suggestions would be grate.

 

@JackdaRabbit. Honestly I have no clue. My dad wasn't a racer, cousins said he street raced on south padre island with the other hot rodders. Need to ask around about I know some guys that knew him who love the truck but never spoke about him much.

 

I've built several 283s in the last couple of years. I like them. I'm kind of nutty that way.

Vintage Power Pack heads will get the purist's vote. The ports are small, the valves are tiny and they don't have hardened seats. Quality time with a grinder, opening them up for larger valves and hard seats, and converting them to screw in studs will help, like any small block head.

305 HO heads bolt on with most the upgrades listed above already done from the factory. Look for casting numbers ending in 416 or 601. They still have small chambers to keep the compression up. In a lot of places you can still find them in junk yards or on craigslist.

Trick Flow offers aluminum heads for 305s with bigger intake ports yet still small chambers for similar money to what it would cost to upgrade your power pack heads.

Mahle still has high compression forged pistons available, but they're not cheap. Keith Black offers hyper pistons, personally I've seen what happens when they let go and won't run them. Otherwise cast pistons are readliy available.

You can achieve 10:1 compression with flat tops and either power packs or 601 heads with 53cc chambers and an appropriate head gasket to set the quench to about .040"

In any other way, they are just like every other small block Chevy. In the end, everybody will ask you why you didn't build a 350 or 383.

Devin

 

Its like any other SBC, but the balancers and the fans limited RPM back when they were new. We can turn them faster now without those worries.
The later heads will give you what you want out of the box and only the hard core will notice the difference in looks. Others wont get it anyway, just a 350 to them
Build it your way, but once you get it on the road that 5 miles and 50 mph wont be enough. Make it a driver, have fun


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Only my opinion for what little that's worth, I see that `59 as a shop/push truck with a reasonable build street 283 but someday pulling a trailer with monster motored dragster or gasser.

 

Well I really want the 283 but maybe my gen IV 454 might be better. I could tow with it lol.

 

sweet jesus...

 

Ok so as a driver set up what do you guys think of this?
Keep the pp heads with a bit of port work and bigger valves, Lunati TL2 cam 276/284, Lift .540/.560 and KB "KB166" solid domes that should get me 10.5:1 with 58cc chambers.
Will it move the damn thing with the th400 and 3.38's?

 

The reason for the 3.38 is toms sells that and 30 spline axle kit for 12 bolt spiders that bolt in.

 

I don't know if this will help you or not. This is kinda apples and oranges, but, I just put together a 283 for my car. Some specs, flat tops, xe268h cam which is .477/ .480 lift. The heads are cleaned up PP, valve job, bowl work, valves back cut, .020 milled off. .015 shim head gaskets, it keep the C/R is high as possible.
The car itself is 1995#, with a 2:20 low Muncie 4 speed, and 3:50 gears. The rear tires are around 31" tall.
Overall the car runs great, the 283 replaced a well worn 70's 350 with no compression and a huge cam. I think maybe for a little low end... I think the 283 would rival the 350 in their respective lifespans. I'm running twin 2gc's on a home built intake. It's way better on the drivability. When you wind it up, it's impressive. The weird thing is the 350, while cruzing down the road 60-65mph, was kinda quiet, even with open headers... Where as the 283 really rattles out the pipes. The idle is a bit tame, but it still has a good lope, like an old corvette. I love mine, I don't know how hopped up you want to run for a truck. Good luck.

 

Thanks topfuel55,
I like the xe268 its a good cam know a guy who has one in a 383. Torque curve is about the same as the tl2 but the hp curve is way down, I just want to rev it a bit more and the 268 seems to fall off before 5500. Least on the desktop dyno lol.
How high are you spinning your 283?

 

3.38's? high revving? towing? 283? automatic? turbo? blower? heavy truck? this stuff just doesn't belong together.
build a 301 or 302 with the 283 install a four speed and keep the 4.10 rear. nice little truck you can "play" with.

 

Well the engine builder and I settled on build up today. Lunati TL2 cam, Kb domes, head work, pro comp intake to match the cam and arp fasteners. The th400 will get a summit master overhaul kit, the tci "400-PRO" shift kit and 2800 stall that should stall around 2500. The tci 400-pro kit is a best of both worlds kit shifting manually or in drive. The cam calls for 3.73's in a medium to heavy car so the 3.38s may be out of the question. I just liked the idea of having a new everything in the rear.

 

Too much cam, too small displacement, too much stall to ever be a decent towing/hauling rig if you need it. Its a nice performance combination, but the cam makers gear recommendation should be a big flag.

 

I should have clarified I was just kidding about the towing thing. Its gonna be a sunday drive truck. I want it it to be "fun". Only thing I'll ever put in the bed is an ice chest lol.

 

I love 283's
When I built my '63 Biscayne everyone said go 350...but being an old fart (72) I wanted to stay period correct for my age, and there was no 350 in 1963.
I wound up with a 283 bored over .60, with an L79 cam, 305 heads, 2 1/2" Ram Horn exhaust with 2 1/2" exhaust all the way....Edelbrock 500 cfm carb, Edelbrock Performer intake, electronic ignition, and so on..Used a Saginaw 4 speed with a 370 rear end.
This is a very peppy little engine that will run up to ~5000 rpm instantly, and runs sweet as can be for street driving.
I love it...and you will love your 283 also.
Good luck...

 

Thanks HdonlyBob,
I think I will too.
I don't think it would be a dog even with the 3.38's, the torque might be lacking but that's ok. Not like I'll be drag racing.

 

Well got the motor out and took the short block the machine shop, I done messed up and bought a set of 97 L30 Vortec heads. Buddy gave em up for 40 bucks. To keep machine cost to a minimum I won't be able to use the TL2 as the Vortecs are limited .550 lift even with a #7 lock to give extra clearance. Done and done I bought the summit 1107 and will be using the 1.6 self aligning rockers from my Camaro.
Heres the desktop dyno with the 1107. Lift is shown as would be with the 1.6rr not the factory's. Real numbers will be lower obviously but the curves should look like that.

 

ON EDIT...if you have not chosen a transmission yet, I used a Saginaw four speed with a 3:11 first gear...helps a lot on take off too !! And like you, I don't drag race it...when I do get on it a bit, I take it up to about ~2700 rmp's then stomp it !! Whoot hoot what a ride for a little engine ...

 

I really want the th400 its got a 2.48 first gear though so I'll be needing to work some stuff out. The factory 3.90 rear gear will be fine with my cam and a 3000 stall. Ill be doing a rebuild on the rear with toms axles and 12bolt spiders.