building a 283

[csa daddy]

ok how much hp an tq can i build out of a 283 an still be able to drive on the street .

[cableguy0]

If your looking for max power. Why not start with something bigger. The 283 is going to leave a lot to be desired. 325-350hp takes a fairly radical 283 whereas a mild 355 or 383 will do it with no issues and still get decent mileage and have street manners. Your limiting yourself a bunch with the small cubes. Money spent vs. power gotten is going to be extremely mismatched with the 283.

[csa daddy]

i was just wondering its the orginal motor in my 64 an thought of building it some. i already have a nice 355 short block an cam but need some good heads for it got dual plane intake for it

[Captainfab]

I agree with cableguy0.....

[bustedknuckles]

Originally Posted by cableguy0

If your looking for max power. Why not start with something bigger. The 283 is going to leave a lot to be desired. 325-350hp takes a fairly radical 283 whereas a mild 355 or 383 will do it with no issues and still get decent mileage and have street manners. Your limiting yourself a bunch with the small cubes. Money spent vs. power gotten is going to be extremely mismatched with the 283.

^^ this

[csa daddy]

im not looking for max power just wondering what the ol girl can do. plus was kind of wanting to keep for nostalga reasons being orginal motor an all. like i said i got a 355 i could put in but wanted to know about this motor i know its quick reving which i liked when i got it it would light the 31 on it up with not much effort in the shape its in now. but i figure when she was done i could rebuild her an old school type hotrod truck from like the 60, before all the bigger motors came along. i guess a better ? is how big can you go on a 283 before its not streetable on pump gas

[Super73]

Stici a 60mm turbo on it..
Posted via Mobile Device

[68Gold/white]

I built a .060 283 in 1983, even had it dyno'd (yeah, believe that or not...) Mine was meant for a daily driver in my 67 Bel Air (my first car). My idea was to make more power w/ good MPG.

It kinda worked out. I performed some mild porting on the heads, used a Holley dual plane intake w/ a Holley ecomomaster carb. The engine only made about 200 HP (mind you this is net HP, no puffed up numbers). The engine had a lot more power for driveability, and got 20 MPG on the best tanks of gas (highway driving).

I experimented w/ many different carbs, intakes, nothing had more power or better MPG the the original setup that was dyno'd.
The shop owner is a Chevy guy, and had a set of small 4 tube headers that he made baseline pulls on every small block he tested. We ran them on my 292 (283+.060), then tried a set of tri-Y headers, then my stock rams horn manifolds w/ stock tail pipes, w/ mufflers on the end of them.

Wanna guess how that turned out???
The stocker manfolds only lost 2-3 HP over the 4 tube headers (the airflow through my engine was not restricted by using the manifolds) AND the stupid tri-Y's had better top end power than low end vs. the 4 tube headers (the wive's tale here, is that they are supposed to do the opposite, in fact they did the same on a 350 and a SBC 400...)

The car got 20 MPG w/ the original 2G (small 2G) in stock wore out condition, as in 1 quart of oil/500 miles.

I had found a small block 400 for a good friend of mine, just before I spent all this time and money on this 283. If I got a do-over on the deal I would have built the 400 for my car. The MPG numbers would not have been all the much different, and I'd of had a much more fun driving car.

Any engines I seriously build the rest of my life, I have a rule, NONE will be less than 350 cubes, even thinking as I get older that 400 is the new minimum.

My Bel Air was about the same weight as a pickup, my life experience would influence you to build a 350, and really get a 400 SBC if possible.

My buddy built the 400 SBC, it was a conservative build, made 300 HP and 400 ft/lb torque. It had 441 heads, a early performer intake a Holley 3310 carb 1-1/2" O.D. headers, that thing was screamer!!!

A 283 really doesn't make much torque below 3000 RPM's, it will run and drive O.K., BUT, just O.K. You have to use a nearly stock cam in a smaller engine, so you don't lose low RPM cyl pressure, and use the stock small valve heads for the same reason. If you use big valve heads (double hump), or even a slightly larger cam, you'll regret it...

If you have any 283 questions, send me a message...

[csa daddy]

thanks i appretiate you takeing the time to write that out i guess i will just get me a good set of heads for my 355 an put it together an i will just stick the little 283 back in the closet for another time

[68Gold/white]

You are doing the right thing. My 283 has about 160,000 miles on it, ran as good the first mile as it did the last, because of the builder's skill. Life is too short to be driving around in something that only a grandma could appreciate...

I know nothing about vortec heads, which some may advise you to use, the 441 and 487 heads are very good, although the comp ratio will be low (8.5-9.0), some minor port work helps them. I'd prefer the lower comp ratio, for cheap gas, they will both perform nicely.

My buddies had 441's on his SBC 400.
World products makes a torquer head, it has smaller ports the the higher performing head, that I can't think of the name of, right now(LOL) (AHA, I found them, Sportsman II) The torquer head would be great for a 350, or even the S/R stock replacement head. (these are all iron heads). www.worldproducts.com

My buddy had a good running 350 in his 66 pickup until I found the 400 for him. It had the crappy 882 heads on it, that he and I ground the snot out of, trying to improve. It made 245 horses on the dyno, compared to a 350 w/ virgin untouched stock 487 heads that made 270 horses, similar combo, the 350 still ran pretty good, though...

[BigDan3131]

If the truck was a rare model and you were doing a 100 point restoration then yes you would need to use the 283. I would hang on to it and someday buy an early nova and then build it for max mpg's.

[csa daddy]

if i get an early nova before 68 i think they are sinfully ugly after 67 the same with chevelle's. i would make the nova pro street. i will keep it just to have it may use it someday on a stock build

['72customdeluxe]

some 059 casting vortec 305 heads will bump up flow while maintaining compression. 58cc tpi/tbi style chamber. Little worse than 906's on the intake, but somehow better on exhaust flow. Then a cheap vortec q-jet manifold. Maybe pick up a cheap 307 rotating assembly. I'm not sure if 3.48" or 3.75" stroke pistons are cheaply available... Flow data is here http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tablehdc.htm#Chevy
221/163 cfm

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Originally Posted by csa daddy

ok how much hp an tq can i build out of a 283 an still be able to drive on the street .

SBC 283.
305 heads
11.5:1 Compression Ratio
COMP Cams Thumpr Hydraulic Flat Tappet Cam.
Duration 279/297, Lift .479/.465,
Dynoed well over 300hp

Project: "TYRANNORAMBLER REX"...

[csa daddy]

1bad62 thats badass
Posted via Mobile Device

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

Originally Posted by csa daddy

1bad62 thats badass
Posted via Mobile Device

I'll have some more videos in spring 2012.
Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device

[VDOG]

The 283 that was in my truck came out of a 69 Chevelle with a 3 speed transmission. It was impressive, once it got into my truck it was a nice motor, but no guts. I had an automatic trans with 3:08 gears. I added a Edelbrock carb, some headers and exhaust, and HEI. So I picked up some power, I had more topend than anything. When it start to have issues I was told it could have a flat spot on the cam. When I pulled it apart I had roller rockers on the heads, and a Isky 270 Megacam inside. Never dynoed but the plan is to rebuild it and install it inside a 62-65 Nova like someone said earlier.
Figure it would be a great lil cruiser engine.
No matter what any of us says, you have to build what you want and know you have to live with the decision.

[Marv D]

Just a mention here, the early (pre 67) Chevy II's had a unique block with a raised oil filter pad, and a oil pan with the FRONT SUMP to clear the funky steering. If your looking at a Nova for restoration,, the standard 283 block wouldn't even me close. Besides,, a 434 stroker small block fits right in the same hole, easily built to 'look' the same as a 283,,, so really unless your doing a numbers matching restoration on the vehicle the 283 came out of,,,,,, it's a XXL size paper weight IMO.

The small journal forged crank on the other hand........ I know of a number of 4" bore small journal blocks.

[hotrod 80]

Originally Posted by Marv D

Just a mention here, the early (pre 67) Chevy II's had a unique block with a raised oil filter pad, and a oil pan with the FRONT SUMP to clear the funky steering. If your looking at a Nova for restoration,, the standard 283 block wouldn't even me close. Besides,, a 434 stroker small block fits right in the same hole, easily built to 'look' the same as a 283,,, so really unless your doing a numbers matching restoration on the vehicle the 283 came out of,,,,,, it's a XXL size paper weight IMO.

The small journal forged crank on the other hand........ I know of a number of 4" bore small journal blocks.

While we are on the small journal subject , alot of Nascar engines use this rod so used high quality rods can be had for reasonable if shopped for .