Thread: 283 v8 build good idea?

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Ok, the deal is my dad is thinking about building a motor starting with a 283 bored .125 to a 301. He built these motors back in his time during the early 60's and we want to know if a build like this would stand up to competition now a days. We are ganna go all out on this motor and possibly put around a 200 shot of nitrous on it. We are ganna put it into a stripped car and most likely run 4.11 gears. What do you guys think. Anyone ever built one of these motors? Think we could hit 12 second 1/4 times?

well, it's only '64-'65 motors that can go .125 over I belive, and they were never strong that way. putting a 200 shot of NOS thru it, would kill it quickly I'd think. that wasn't around in the 60's. how about a 283 with a 327 crank, get a 301 that way.

Start with a small-main 327, its already 4" bore.

MMMMM...no. Matt is right. Even most of the first '64 blocks couldn't handle it with out barrel shaping the cylinders and torsional flex on the block was murder. Heating under nos apps would make me shiver in fear of a cast iron shower. Is this a budget thing or wanna be different with a small cubed chebbie? Wanna be different? drop a 307/327 crank in it and take the gears down very deeply. It's gonna be a while before you can tune this thing to run respectibly. 12's are a big stretch to achieve. ("BIG")

Costs more to build a small cube, high RPM, low torque engine then to build a big cube, low RPM, hi torque engine. Scooter will tell you it ain't so, but most of the rest of us have allready learned this lesson.

A small cube engine will run fine, if the car is under 2,800 pounds and either has a 5 speed or a high stall (3000 and up) converter. As for the 4.11 gears, depends on the tires size but probably not deep enough for the amount of RPM you would have to twist this engine to get it in the 12's. Yes, now we'll hear about all the 3500 pound cars that run in the 12's with a 301, just won't hear about all the one's that DON'T!!!!

Might be better off to forget the nostalgia stuff and go with a stroker engine, 383 or bigger, get the car weight at or below 3,000 pounds. Get a good aftermarket stroker kit, aluminum heads with 180 CFM runners, determine your tire diameter and the RPM you want to be at at the finish line BEFORE selecting a gear ratio.

Low RPM big cube engines generally are a lot less maintenance and have increased longevity, too.... Kind of like the old Fram commercial, you can pay me now, or you can pay me later......

Yeah we just wanted something different. He told me that they used to turn 9,000 and sometimes 10 with these motors. The car would be strictly for the track anyways.

Originally Posted by Seminole_Wind

Yeah we just wanted something different. He told me that they used to turn 9,000 and sometimes 10 with these motors. The car would be strictly for the track anyways.

Nothing wrong with running something different, as long as you have the check book to do it.....

I believe horsepower and torque per dollar as it relates to quarter mile performance, more cubes is better. No replacement for displacement. If you really want a pounder and want to be really different, then get one of Erik or Pat's big inch big blocks, same car with their setup will go in the 10's!!!!!!!!

Ohh yeah and matt i never said anything about him putting nitrous on it in the 60's bub. Go to youtube and type in 283 drag theres a 283 with 250 shot of nitrous running 10.40.

Originally Posted by Seminole_Wind

Ohh yeah and matt i never said anything about him putting nitrous on it in the 60's bub. Go to youtube and type in 283 drag theres a 283 with 250 shot of nitrous running 10.40.

Deja Vu all over again. Check out gasserules's posts, he's been having this argument on here for years..... And yes, all those hydraulic cammed, stock valve train 301's turned 9500 RPM.......

When adding a 200 shot of nitrous, you must have some very stable cylinders on the bottom end, some block fill would help, but still not guarantee a lot of longevity. Might work, but IMO it's a gernade with the pin allready pulled half way out......

Originally Posted by Seminole_Wind

Ohh yeah and matt i never said anything about him putting nitrous on it in the 60's bub. Go to youtube and type in 283 drag theres a 283 with 250 shot of nitrous running 10.40.

I know that, N20 was not redially available for automotive use at that time, or common. but that is why your dad's .125 over 283's lived a stock bore, or probably even up to a .060 over 283, could run n20 fairly safely.

Seminole..."anything" can be done. We are asking questions to relay what we have experienced. Our interest in your success is at heart. That's why we ask good questions because it's very hard to read your mind as in what you and your Pop want to accomplish.

Back in the '60's I had a few .125 over SBC's and they weren't that happy. If you want a 301 why not get a standard bore small journal 327 and drop in a 283 crank or better yet find an early z28 crank.

if you're gonna build a 283 i would try and get a corvette fuel injection for it, use a stock 283 crank dont overbore it if you want it to last, leave it closer to stock bore, use all light weight heavy duty parts on the bottom, and build a valve train made for spinning HIGH rpms, thats the way 283s make power is revving like crazy, get some heads made for flowing right with the fuel injection, i've never messed with a classic vette injection system so i dont know how tuneable they are....next put a 5 speed behind the car, use a good heavy duty rearend with like a 4.56 gear, possibly a ford 9", get a 4link kit for your car so your rearend will hook up, use the best clutch money can buy, and dont forget to put brakes on the car cause you'll need um..... i'm sure you could pull under 12s with that setup.... its gonna cost you a lot though.... and probably cause a few headaches along the way since a high rpm 283 (which is what a 283 is best used for) has not so much torque, you're gonna need that rear gear to make up for the loss of torque, and a good launch

First off welcome to the board Seminole. If you stick around for a while I think you'll find there are some very helpful and informative people around here........a lot of guys that have been there done that. Many of the posters here were indeed around in the 50s and 60s building and racing cars.

Let me try to put this into a bit of perspective for you. The title of your thread asks if a 283 build is a good idea (for a drag car) most of the responses will likely indicate that it will work better (and be cheaper) to start with a larger displacement engine. Can you make the 283 (301) run 12's .....you bet with enough money in it and usually for only short periods of time between tear downs. Bearing, ring, rod and piston life are greatly reduced as engine RPM increases (and engine explosions are really spectacular above 6000 RPM).

The 283's were good engines for their time and some racers had really good luck racing them and yes a FEW did turn the really high RPMs, but these were not as common as some people would lead you to believe. The ones that did were strictly very expensive, finicky, race only engines with very limited life expectancies. The engine your contemplating will not be real cheap to build in the first place..... will you be able to build another one when this one does expire? Last I looked there are not a ton of 283s laying around like there were in the 60s and 70s.

Just a questions.......if the 283s could be so successful in a little drag car why don't you see a bunch of them at the strip every weekend (and Scooter your 1 Nova does not constitute a "bunch" ) ????? The answer is because you can make a 350 go faster cheaper.

If you want to build a 283 as an exercise in being different go for it and have fun (that's what it's all about) if you want a 12 second car on a budget start with something a bit bigger with a better support base of parts.

As long as you insist on building a screaming small block,start with all new parts,GM perfomance block,newcrank,custom h-beam rods,forged ultralite pistons,customground cam,roller lifters,alum. heads with all the good stuff etc. This will build you a very reliable 302, perhaps 425HP. The same money put into a 454 should take you well over 600 Hank