My uncle has an OT GMC truck (the 68-72 style) sitting in his yard that is in pretty sad shape. He told me that if I wanted any parts off it I had to haul the whole thing out of there. I'm not really interested in the truck itself, but it does have a 1967 sbc 283 engine in it, minus heads and intake. I've been looking for an engine to use in my 1950 Chevy truck, I would like a V8 but I want a more interesting engine than a 350, something thats not really seen too often anymore. I don't need a high hp motor, since it'll have a T5 behind it, but I would like to give it a little more kick then stock. I think the 283 would be perfect, and a little more 'traditional' too. These are the numbers off it: Casting #: 3896944 Front pad #: VO7I2G Mostly just looking for ideas or suggestions on how to build this. It'll just be a daily driver/cruiser/for fun engine so please don't post saying to just pick up a 327 or 350 and be done, or suggest a $5000 set of aluminum heads or anything. I have other projects for that! Since it has no heads on it now, I have a set of H.O. 305 heads that I've been told work great on these older engines. Especially when backed by flat tops. The engine has a set of flat top pistons already in it, were these stock or did someone put them in? I've also heard that an Edelbrock Performer RPM is the best intake for these. Anyone think otherwise? What would be a good cam to go with? My dad told me of one of his friends having a 283 in a Nova, that he put some cam in that really woke it up. I don't need anything crazy, like I said above, just some extra kick would be nice. Would a typical R/V cam be fine? I also have the cam from the H.O. 305, which I've read is basically a Corvette grind. Any other good ideas or suggestions?
A mild cam would work fine. You could add more cam, but then you have to worry about valve springs and seals, rocker studs, driveability, etc. The RPM intake would probably be a bit much for a 283. If you're going for a traditional look, you'd want to find something a bit older anyways. They used flat top pistons in most 283 engines stock. 2bbl engines had bigger combustion chambers, 4bbl were the "power pack" heads.
kinda funny, you want a traditional engine, then the parts you just suggested will not make it look traditional......so, why bother.....
What kind of intake would you suggest? I thought it seemed like a little much too. Maybe traditional wasn't the right word, would 'period correct' suit you better? Besides, its going to be backed by a T5, and have a more updated chassis. The hood will rarely be open, its going to be a driver, not a show truck. When it is open though, I'd like the motor to look somewhat like it was built back in the 60's, not the bling and polished look, or like I ordered it out of a catalog. Open to your suggestions.....
well a 283 looks pretty much identical to a 350 so............. as does most other sbc's...... maybe do a gmc v6 there cheap and torqee
I think it would be a pretty decent build, throw some 1.94s in the 305 heads with some mild port work and a valve job add a basic cam and you have something that would probably net you both good mileage and good power. Gas isn't going to get any cheaper in the near future, and having something nasty that can outrun anything but a gas pump isn't the best way to go necessarily. The only thing I wouldn't really like about it would be the fact it doesn't have a roller cam but plenty of people have done without.
if you were to use the 305 heads you will have the acc holes in the heads which are fine and I hear they are ood heads. If you wanted to go with a period look then get a set of power pack heads or some old double hump heads with out the accesory holes in the end of th heads...if it matters to you. I have a stock 145 h.p. 283 in my 62 C10 daily driver with a 3 speed and it does fine. I thought about putting a RV cam or calling a cam company and see what they recommend for a daily driven 283.
i`m not bagging on ya, just put that sucker together and make it run.......throw those 305 heads on it and a plain jane aluminum intake and a quadrajet and go....
I had to double check, I thought these had 1.94s already, but I guess not. I will definately want to get that done. I agree that gas isn't getting any cheaper, and I see a lot more MPG-based builds and less all out power builds coming in the future. The accessory holes are fine, if anything they will give me more mounting options if I run into clearance issues down the road. I would love to find a set of powerpack/DH heads, but they are fairly rare in my area, and I could just go buy a set of aftermarket heads for what some people are asking for them.
Just be sure to remember that those blocks take a different cam core and cam bearings as the oiling system is different than all of the later engines.
Get an edelbrock C3B or C4B manifold, a 600 holley http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=326999 another thread to check over...
I wouldn't have a clue as to how to make a 283 running and drivable. Maybe a stock rebuild with low compression and one of those thumper cams is what you want. You may also try the search function. It should land you a ton of stuff on building a small block. Jefferyjames just built a small displacment small block there is a lot of info there. yes 283s came with flatops by the way. It wouldn't have anything other than that unless it was a high performance engine and a '67 283 wouldn't have been a high performance engine.
I would run the 305 heads, a comp cam XE256 or XE262, and performer EPS from Edelbrock for the intake.
I'd also worry about valve to cylinder bore clearance when running heads with a 1.94" intake valve... Use a set of earlier 305 4-bbl heads with the 1.84" intake valves on a 283 and you won't have any problems.....
That was what I was thinking. First thing I would is pull the engine and tear it down and see if it was actually worth rebuilding. Then figure out what you need to do to get the short block rebuilt. That no doubt will call for boring it for larger (and new) pistons, having the crank turned and then buying all the pieces it needs. You can run the 305 HO heads but then it will look like a 305 to anyone who looks under the hood. If you want to keep it traditonal looking find a set of 283 power pack heads and have a good valve job with hard seats on the exhaust done.. Cam= Something that is equal to an early/mid 70's Z28 hydraulic cam would work good and still be drivable. Intake I'd go with a regular performer or an older style aluminum high rise. That air gap intake will give you fits every time you try to run it in cold weather up there.
I have raced them and drove them for 42 years. Good engines. The 520 casting head from a 283 in the mid 60s is the best 283 head. These engines work well with the small valves (1.72 in). I ran the GM 151 (350hp / 327) cam with the small heads and it worked great on the street. The cam may loose you a little bottom end but the sound is nice and lumpy. I did bolt on a set of 461 heads but it really didn't seem to help or hurt the engines performance on the street. I had the 1957 dual fours and dist with a pair of Corvette valve covers on mine but in the real world it was a 1963 283 2 barrel block and heads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izj3bmB6caY
Thanks, that thread was an informative read. I talked with my machinist who said he has ran this combo before and gave me some advice. He recommended instead of going to 1.94" intakes, leave the 1.84's, and go with 1.6" exhaust valves. His reasoning was that 1.94's would require unshrouding the valve and result in a drop in compression, which I don't want, and that the 1.84's would already be a huge improvement over the 1.72's it originally came with. The whole point with using the 305HO heads was to get a 9.5-10:1 CR. And having a 100% traditional looking engine is not my main goal. I'm sure there will be 50 things 'wrong' with it by the time I'm done, but if I can open the hood and have it look like an older motor at first glance, Ill be happy. 283 heads would probably be ideal, but I'd have better luck finding a '32 Ford sitting in an old shed that my neighbor just wants hauled off than finding a set of 283 heads. Any pre-70's engine parts are hard to come by in my area, and any I find come with a premium. I could probably buy a new set of aluminum heads for less then what I've seen some factory heads priced at! Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I need now.
$200 complete 283 from a 65 malibu (claimed) (in Anchorage) http://anchorage.craigslist.org/pts/2189165753.html Very affordable and traditional, complete with intake and engine stand
I have that basic set up in my Biscayne. 283 bored .60 over, 305 heads, flat top pistons, Edelbrock performer dual plane intake, Edelbrock 550 carb, 2 1/2 Ram Horn Exhaust manifolds, EFI ignition, and a Melling 22200 cam (real similiar to the old L79 in Chevy 327 350hp) Only been running a few weeks, but so far I am extreemly impressed with it.... Using a 2 ring Saginaw 4 speed with a 3:11 first gear and a 3.36 rear end. Very responsive, and a really fun to go thru the gears with...especially after about 2500 rpms !! I like it
Had a 283 in a 67 GMC 1/2 ton with heavily ported power-pack heads (not originally power packs) with an older Holley Street Dominator single-plane intake, triple valve springs, quite lopey cam, noisy pete jackson gear drive, flat-tops, = 8,800 max rpm before the valves floated; hit 7,500rpm on a daily basis. Terrible for around town, no low-end, but boy it sure pulled up top. I'd go with a more street friendly manifold and cam if I had it again... I'd say go for the good heads that you have available. =)
---------------------------------- Only the the very early engines - ie -1958 and older 265's and 283's used the oddball cam bearings and notched-journal camshafts. All post-1958 283's take the same cam bearings and use the same standard un-notched rear cam journals as all other later small block Chevies. By the way, if the engine in question here is a '68 through '72 engine (and assuming it actually does have '283-sized' 3.875 inch cylinder bores) it will be a 307, not a 283. The last 283's were produced for the 1967 model year and used a 3.875 bore X 3 inch stroke. For '68 through '72, GM kept the same 283-bore size, but increased the stroke to 3.25 inches by using a 327-style crank (as well as going to same larger main and rod bearings sizes as used on all '68 and newer 327 and 350 Cnevy engines) and got 307 cubic inches. Mart3406 ========================
55 and 56's had the notched cam, in 57 the 265 oiling system was like the 283 and later small blocks. 57 265's used the same block casting as a 283. The thing I often wondered about was why did Chevrolet turn around and use the 55-56 style oiling system in a 65 and 66 Big Block ???
Zackly what I was thinking! When I had my 283 heads rebuilt, we used the 1.84" valves in the stock 283 heads.Same thing only kinda different. I used a Holley 570cfm "street avenger" (good carb, stupid name) with a performer intake. The intake was a freebie from a buddy,but not any better than a stock cast 4bbl intake.The cam specs I cant remember for the life of me. I used headers as opposed to rams horn exhaust that ran out to some noisy Flowmasters. This motor was 0.30 over and revved like there was no tomorrow.Guys would ask why a 283 and not a 350, I had one when I was young and I wanted my son to experience the same. Loads of fun!
I had a ot 65 nova, back in 85, I rebuilt the shortblock with flattop pistons and for heads I used a set of 350 heads, 76 cc, not 1.94 intake, they were the smaller 1.78 iirc, it had 120 psi compression, I ran a stock cam with performer intake, holley carb, stock ram horn exhaust with duals and a crossover pipe, Car ran great and got good mileage. I could drive from Perris(riverside) to Fresno on 1 tank of gas.
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