So... I have a line on a 283 that was in an FED. Pretty mild for an FED. specs are as follows: Bored out to 292 305 heads 58cc chambers mild porting .540 lift cam 250 duration @50 10.3 CR I wanted to use this in my 49 chevy business coupe, but I know its easy to kill 283 power potential by going over board on the cam. My 49 will have 3.73 gears and a Muncie, so I'm hoping that will be enough mechanical advantage to get it moving off the line with the 283. It has a few hours on it, and they have built a bigger motor for the upcoming season. This engine is just sitting on a stand. Do you guys think if I stepped down on the cam to around .490 lift and 220 duration, I would have a stout 283 using this motor as a foundation?
the old L79 350 HP 327 cam works good in these motors and gives it a nice idle. 222 duration @.050 and .447 lift on intake and exhaust. 114 deg lobe center
I'm surprised I haven't got 50 responses yet. There are usually a ton of guys who chime in when it comes to 283 questions
I've had my share of 283s. Unless it was FREE, I would put the money into a 350. Bigger motor is easier to drive. Tell everyone it's a 283, nobody will ever know. HP is traditional.
Figure what the heads can really flow. What your intended use of the car will be. Then a ball park estimate will come from a cam rep. that has all the #'s your car will have: weight/displacement/heads/trans/rear gear & what you want to use the car for. More cruiser or rev on redline maniac. Power band on the .540 looks like 3800-7000+. Soggy down low. Where is that guru Georgie?
350's aren't traditional, and the differences are pretty obvious, and don't rev like the small stroke motors, just make sure you actually keep the r's up where it likes to run, or just bore it to 4", 301's are great motors, if that isn't enough a 327 small journal crank can probably be shoehorned in with some creative grinding, hell m/t was selling 4" stroker cranks in '62 in his catalog.
You can tell everyone it's a 283 if you want but it won't look like one with those 305 heads. Assuming a 2.52 or 2.56 first gear and a stock weight flywheel , I say ..try it a is ,if the price is right. It might be okay. You can always change the cam with it in the car. It ought to sound cool at idle too with that duration.
I wonder if you'll have pinging problems with that much compression, that short of cam (that you plan to install), and pump gas? Other than that, it should run ok.
Much more cam will kill the bottom end and 283 needs all the bottom end it can get. You can always put some heads with bigger chambers on to drop the compression. I'd give it a try with the 58cc heads first. SBC's aren't as susceptible to detonation as most motors.
Find a cam that is close to Duntov 30/30 spec. it will be perfect, you can use an L-79 which is the hydraulic cousin to the Duntov 30/30 if you don't want to hear the clatter. .447 lift and 22 degrees of duration on a 112 lobe center. I have used them in 292 inch small blocks they perform well on the street, I have even used them at less compression then you are specing for your mill like around 9:1 and they work fine at the lower compression. Anyway you can find them all over from about 70.00 for cam and lifters to about 150.00 for cam and lifters. The one I am currently running is a Crane Blueprint L-79, and it is topped with Erson anti pump up lifters. I tried the crane lifters first and they were crap, but the cam is good and is an exact copy of the Chevy cam shaft. Well my .02 carry on.
This is what I'd do too, although I'd think twice about buying a race car motor to put in a street car, if I really wanted a street car motor instead.
I want a stout street motor. I thought it would be cool to have this backed with a 4 speed and steep gears, but maybe I'm just dreaming and it will suck to drive around.
Suck to drive around probably depends on your driving style more then the motor in question. if you own a revver and drive it you need to keep the revs up, in traffic that can involve a lot more shifting that most people want to do. I personally think that high rev cruising is a rush but it will wear on you on a long trip.
I only work a mile from where I live. I put a ton of work into the last car I had to be able to drive it across country, and once it was done, it never saw more than a 60 mile round trip. I'm very busy with work, so I wanted something on the slightly impractical side so I could wind it out around town.
Well a 283 set up like the one you are looking at with a slightly warm cam shaft in place of the mega lump that it has should get that done for you. I don't own anything that I can't be away from here in half a day or less and off for either coast or border. If I get a call now and someone says that I got to be in Daly City tomorrow I am on my way, hell I may not even finish this post. You high revving small block should make you a fine hot dawg stand cruiser. Just remember that if you don't keep it cleaned it will carbon up on you. You clean it by revving it.
A little smoother cam, Low to mid 220 duration @ 50 and 0.460 ish lift should be real nice with your 373 gears. Too much cam is 10 times worse than not enough cam on a street engine. You only know you don't have enough at really high revs and top end. Too much cam you'll suffer everywhere below top end. Keep the cam that's in it have and go 456 or more out back. How did that thing run in the digger?
Every hot rodder should own a car with too much camshaft, at least once. It might be your turn. It isn't like it can't be fixed.
It's pretty hard for us to decide what you want....all we can do is let you know about some potential problems. If the engine is a good deal, then it might be worth giving it a try. The cam that's in it would probably like more gear than you have, and it might have a bit too much compression. If you try it you'll know for sure, and learn new stuff about engines. Maybe it'll be ok for you.
That's a lot of duration for a small street engine. If you can buy it right (they wont be lined up to buy a 283) call Comp Cams, get a recommendation, and change the cam.
it went low 10s at 130 Now that I think about it, that's not that fast in a FED considering how little weight its moving
I want traditional small block appearance, with LS level performance, that gets the economy of a Honda, and pulls just as hard off the line as it does on the top end, all for dirt cheap. I don't think I'm asking much.
I do have a set of 64 cc heads with 1.94/1.50 valves on the shelf. Maybe I could go with those to drop the compression...
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