I got in a pissin contest yesterday at lunch, decide to come to the HAMB to see if I was correct ,or just full of bull like usual. A lunch friend was talking about his dads 301 55 chevy. He said all the normal BS ,but when I ask him what year it was he said 1959.He remembered because he was 14 years old and got to drive the car. Said his dad bought an over the counter 283 block when the 265 took a crap in 57. I called BS ,because the 327 came out in 62 .I didn't believe anyone was making +.125 over pistons for a 283 until then. I contend that until the 327 was introduced there were no 301's being built , due to lack of pistons. Am I dreaming? go ahead let me have it.
Well I wasn't building engines in '59 or '62 yet but I am pretty sure that you could get 4" pistons back then. Remember guys were racin' and they were not building with stock parts all the time. Just conjecture on my part mind you.
if i am following your logic correctly , you are saying a 4" bore 327 piston was used to make a 301...is that it? if so , it would not work because the pin height is different between 283 and 327 pistons due to different strokes
Seems to me like we used to use a 283 crank and rods in a 327 to out the short stroke crank in a sticker or the other way around to build a 307. I could be mistaken since it has been eons since I built one but it seems to me like that was what we did. I do recall that we had to clearance a stock 283 block to fit a 327 crank in there. But that doesn't answer the original question. What Joe is saying is that he didn't think that anyone made 4" pistons prior to the 327 hitting the market.
Back in the day, we would take a block in to be bored and tell the machinist to take it out an eighth. The cost was a bit more, but only a few bucks a hole. A 283 was bored to 301 all the time. Years later, the factories began to cast lighter blocks, and take them out larger than they were designed for, and a standard overbore became .030
Aftermarket pistons with the correct pin height were available to make a 292 or 301 before the 327 was introduced. I even heard of 265s with large overbores but I don't remember if they were 301 or were maxed out at 292. I was just a kid back then.
I actually thought you could use 327 pistons in a 283 to make a 301.Shows how much I know. the add is probably pre 62-63 because there is no zip code.
In 1964 I built a 301 using a stock 283 block bored out to 4.00" and a set of Speed- O-Motive pistons from J.C. Whitney. I was in the Navy at the time and couldn't afford a balance job but it ran pretty good. I heard of another guy that tried to use a set of 327 pistons and couldn't get it started so we went to help and found the compression was only about 50# in each cylinder since the pistons stopped 1/4" short of the deck.
They used to say that the '58-'62 blocks were the best candidate to punch .125. Those are the ones I used to look for because that was what the old timers told me. The last I checked TRW had .125 over pistons in a flat top or a domed on the shelf. They only come forged. I don't know if anyone sells a dished blower piston but if you really wanted some JE pistons machines all there slugs and custom pistons are nothing from them.
Don--I'm possibly a little younger than you, (not jabbing you) but back in my day; the 64-67 Chevy II block was the way to go if you needed 1/8 in. over (safely). As I have said in another thread; block core shift will dictate success in over boring this much without ending up with a doorstop. Try finding them today though.
"block core shift will dictate success in over boring this much without ending up with a doorstop. " Another problem they had was core/slag, inclusions and air bubble holes in the lower bore.. Ive 4" bored a couple of dozen 283's and lost a few to the casting problems.
check out the little books here; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/33-chevy-3w-time-for-a-cool-change.863287/
I used a 327 block so I wouldn't have cooling problems. I had a 58 283 but didn't want to take a chance. My 301-302 has 10 to 1 ross pistons which cost 600 in 2005. Engine is in my 58 impala roadster and is a blast to drive.
I believe Vic Hubbard speed shop had ads for 1/8 over pistons in the late 50's forged with domes for $39.95. I never had a 301 but plenty of my friends did. I did have a 55 265 no oil filter block bored 1/8 over to build a cheap 283 in my 40 Ford coupe. Definitely there were 301's way before the 327's came out.
I had a 301---bored 1/8" with Jahns pistons. It screamed with the old Duntov cam and solid lifters. Edit: circa 1963.
All the 327 did was make it so you could buy a new block and not have to bore it for a 301. The 4" bored 283 had been around for years before the 327. Bill
In 1958 or 1959 Howards Machine shop in Huntsville Alabama made a hard chrome stroker 3 and half inch stroke and a 4 inch bore 352 cu in all this out of a 283 block. They sold hundreds of them all over the USA. The also had a stroker crank that was 3 1/4 for 327 all this in 1958 /59. This was years before chevy made a 4 inch bore block. They ordered the 301 pistons a hundred at the time.
Close, but no cigar. The compression height difference between the 283 and the 327 piston was 0.125" (1/8"), not 1/4". .
I think that may have just been a memory thing. I got a pretty good memory which is not always a good thing but we won't go into that aspect of it. Never the less sometimes I don't remember things exactly, fortunately I have you guys for backup. Anyway like I said it may just be a memory thing.
A little off the original post but no one mentioned the modified Studebaker crankshafts that were installed in small block chevys.. I think it was C T cranks who did most of them.
That would be a no-brainer installing a Chevy crank into a 283 Chevy engine. CT cranks must have been laughing all the way to the bank.
Interesting I don't think I ever heard of a stude crank in a Chevy. I guess of the mains are in the right place it wouldn't be too hard to do. I'll have to snag a crank and see if I can make it will work. Anyway first I heard of it, learn something everyday and fight off Alzheimer's.
There were a few years where the 283 actually was a thicker block. I believe these were 59-61's, and they were punched out to 301 well before the intro of the 327. Many pre 62 283 cranks were steel as well. I remember talking to Super Stock (SS/P) racers.......they used the "CANADIAN" blocks....the water jackets actually bulge out and are much heavier. Stroking and Boring was every where - cubic inches in some classes were King. Quick Ref SBC (all use same length 5.7" rod) 3.875" X 3.0" Stroke = 283 cu in < SJ Crank Pins 4" Bore X 3.0" Stroke = 302 cu in < SJ & LJ Crank Pins 4" Bore X 3.25 Stroke = 327 cu in < SJ and LJ Crank Pins 4: Bore X 3.48 Stroke = 350 cu in < LJ Crank Pins
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