Thread: 327 heads/283

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I have a line on a pair of 327 double hump heads for $50. Good shape but need valve job/springs. I am wondering what they would do for a stock 283 with 600 cfm and perhaps a 30/30 solid lift cam over the stock 283 heads.

Originally Posted by drofdar

I have a line on a pair of 327 double hump heads for $50. Good shape but need valve job/springs. I am wondering what they would do for a stock 283 with 600 cfm and perhaps a 30/30 solid lift cam over the stock 283 heads.

Hi,
Not knowing much about the full project but if you want to have a
strong streetable 283 I have done this with a factory manifold& 2x500
Carters and a RPM 300 solid cam/ 10/1 compression. I would suggest-
fit 110/358 springs If the heads have 1.9" inlet valves..
If the heads have 2.02" save them for later or sell them as they have
been a loss for anything less than a 4" bore as a rule..
IF you MUST have that grade of solid cam and you like screw the last
H.P out the motor with lots of searching adjustments then get a pair
of tappet covers with removable tops.They are worth the price as you
will see. I would use a Dual Plane Performer++ Inlet manifold regain


some of the vacuum this camshaft will cost for brakes etc.,..
With a 600 D.P Holley you should be looking at 300 HP @ 6250rpm..
This is as large as you need as more is of no use for streetability.
With this cam you can forget about economy.
There must be many other cams to choose from and IF I had to do
it all over again I would pick a GM Hyd 222/222* @ 50/1000" 447/447"
lift which is plenty for this great little motor to spring to life.
As one man said...That's My 2 cents worth and all the best..Skyeking..

That's great advice. I am thinking of just going with a small 4 barrel carb, perhaps 500cfm on top of an Edlebrock Dual Plane. They have one with the old style front oil fill tube, as this is a 60's style 57 Chevy. The motor runs strong enough for a street cruiser, and I will be upgrading to power brakes. I understand the 283 in stock form is light on vacuum anyway, so maybe a larger cam would only cause additional problems with the brake booster.

I wonder what a set of higher ratio rocker arms would do for this stock 283?

Originally Posted by drofdar

That's great advice. I am thinking of just going with a small 4 barrel carb, perhaps 500cfm on top of an Edlebrock Dual Plane. They have one with the old style front oil fill tube, as this is a 60's style 57 Chevy. The motor runs strong enough for a street cruiser, and I will be upgrading to power brakes. I understand the 283 in stock form is light on vacuum anyway, so maybe a larger cam would only cause additional problems with the brake booster.

I wonder what a set of higher ratio rocker arms would do for this stock 283?

Hi,
There are some stage 2 cams that give good vacuum such as 204/214* GM
and you will get more lift at the same time. Forget the Rockers this project.
This cam lives well with std Autos. S/king

I had a 66 ChevyII and found a 300hp 327 with 461 heads that needed a rebuild all I did was bored 060 to clean it up did a three angle valve job and went to a friend of mine that worked as the parts manger at the Chevy dealer and he got me the 300hp cam that came in it from the factory(could have got the 375hp cam but that required 12.5 piston's which they could get but didn't want that much comp). Wth a Holley Contender intake and remanufactored Q-Jet for a 396 that ride would set the tires on fire and got anywhere from 26 to 28 mpg and could set the piont's at 30 degrees dwell, It was a very strong engine and the flat tappet cam didn't cost much and I wish I had that engine back maybe something you might want to think about.

I like the "151" Chev cam in a 283. Juice lifters, good power, nice lope at idle, and lots of RPM. Same cam in a 350 works good, too, but the cubes "tame" the idle a lot. My 283 had early '60's Power Pack heads and new springs that were supposedly the heaviest stock springs then available. I shifted it at 7000 RPM with 4.11 gears, blew the doors off many cars with 100 more cubes.

The double hump heads and 30-30 cams are old technology, but also very cool technology. Obviously, if your goal was as much hp as you could squeeze out of these engine there are more advanced combinations, but it looks like you realize that and just want something retro. No question that a lot of cars back then ran exactly this setup and sounded great and pulled strong. I knew of a few Chevys back in the 50's and 60's that were very strong performers running this equipment.

As mentioned, you will get very good at adjusting valves. As I remember, some guys ran the lash a little tighter at 28 and felt it ran better there. With the renewed interest in all things traditional these cams and heads are enjoying a new life. I think I remember some hot rod magazine doing a shootout where they compared these old cams to a modern hydraulic cam and the dyno showed throughout the rpm range that the modern cam put out more hp. But you can't modernize cool. Contrary to what some people may think, not every engine or car is put together with max hp as the goal, sometimes image is important too.

Oh, run either a loose converter or a stick setup. I put one of those cams in my 64 chevy and had to bump it into neutral at every red light.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

The double hump heads and 30-30 cams are old technology, but also very cool technology. Obviously, if your goal was as much hp as you could squeeze out of these engine there are more advanced combinations, but it looks like you realize that and just want something retro. No question that a lot of cars back then ran exactly this setup and sounded great and pulled strong. I knew of a few Chevys back in the 50's and 60's that were very strong performers running this equipment.

As mentioned, you will get very good at adjusting valves. As I remember, some guys ran the lash a little tighter at 28 and felt it ran better there. With the renewed interest in all things traditional these cams and heads are enjoying a new life. I think I remember some hot rod magazine doing a shootout where they compared these old cams to a modern hydraulic cam and the dyno showed throughout the rpm range that the modern cam put out more hp. But you can't modernize cool. Contrary to what some people may think, not every engine or car is put together with max hp as the goal, sometimes image is important too.

Oh, run either a loose converter or a stick setup. I put one of those cams in my 64 chevy and had to bump it into neutral at every red light.

Don

Hi people
I toldyouso,365051
The 1955 sedan [Blue and white] burnt out and we put the motor M/G/Box and posi traction diff into a 1938 plymouth replacing the Flathead six and it
gave a few surprises. A true super sleeper..All the best to all..Skyeking

In 1964 I had a 36 Ford 5 window coupe that had a 30/30 Isky (RPM 300) installed a pretty wild 265 with heads comparable to 283 fuelie heads and it ran pretty strong. Money problems in 73 forced me to sell the coupe minus the engine. The 265 was getting tired so I put the cam, heads and 2-4's in a stock 59 283 that I had in a 57 Chevy. After I wrecked the 57 I sold the engine minus the cam and in 82 I put it in a stock 400 which was in a 62 pickup. The truck was kind of ratty and a bit of a sleeper as I used a Offy 360 intake and a Holley 650 DP and headers. The idle in the 400 wasn't as pronounced as it was in either the 265 or the 283, but you knew it had a cam in it when it was fired. The truck is long gone but the 400 (torn down) and the cam are still in the garage awaiting a rebuild.
If you in fact have a RPM 300 you can rest assured that you won't wear the lobes out on breakin.

Originally Posted by drofdar

I have a line on a pair of 327 double hump heads for $50. Good shape but need valve job/springs. I am wondering what they would do for a stock 283 with 600 cfm and perhaps a 30/30 solid lift cam over the stock 283 heads.

Depends on the casting number of your existing heads the 520's are good heads,if the double humps have larger chambers, that will drop compression and cost you,best bang for the buck is 305 H.O. heads 416 castings, better compression,hardened valve seats and usually available cheap.Since keeping vacuum is important, check out this cam at Summit part # SUM-K1102 it works well in smaller cube motors,you seem to be on the right track for your intake and Carb.