Improving a 283

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

Don't be in a hurry to ditch your 283.

I agree. There's a lot to be said for originality, and there's absolutely no reason why a 283 wouldn't work just fine in that truck.

I'd certainly try to get it running before going the cookie cutter 350 route. I'm allowed to say that because my 69 truck has a 350! But I sometimes wish I would have kept the 307. That 307 really woke up after I replaced the cam, noisy lifters, and timing chain (less than $100 back in 1990) and added a 450cfm 4bbl and dual exhausts. But it had >100K miles on it, so I used that excuse a year later to buy a crate 350.

With a fresh bore and better heads, the 307 would have been better than new.