Thread: 283 Build

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My Grandson Cade hasn’t had a chance to use his tools much lately so I guess it’s time for another project. He just turned 11 and I figure he’s old enough now to give me a hand building an engine.

We’re going to start with a 170 HP 1960 283 2 BBL that I pulled from a Bel Air 25 years ago. The engine was tired but drove in under its own power and as far as I can tell nobody’s ever been into it so it should all be standard. It’s kind of a time capsule with all its original fasteners, brackets, hardware, tin, plug wire shields etc.



The plan is to build a pretty much early 60s era correct 283 hot rod motor. I’m not real sure what I’ll do with the engine when it’s done ; either look for a body (thinking along the lines of a first generation Chevy II, or maybe a 49-54 Chevy 2 door), sell it (there are already a couple of people who have shown some interest) or just keep it around until Cade is old enough to build a car around it.

I decided we’d build this one because I have too many parts laying around for it not to. Over the years I ended up with a set of .030 forged flat top pistons, 3 pairs of Power Pack Heads, a spare standard block and standard steel crank. I also have the Offenhauser Tri Power and Mallory dual-point that I used to run on my 58 Chevy.

My buddy’s machine shop was slow over the holidays so I got a start on the engine by having the heads done. The best pair of heads were 1965 Power Pack castings. They got cleaned up, hardened seats, guides, upgraded to 1.94 intake valves, stock Corvette springs and milled .015. With the pistons I have it should put us around a 9-9 ¼ :1 compression ratio. I considered adding screw-in studs but figured with the cam lift and spring pressure I’ll probably be running it wouldn’t really be necessary.



I think I’ve got everything sorted out except the cam, and there are couple of different ones I’ve been kind of kicking around.



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Mike, great project to do with your son. This kind of thing will go a long way towards building his future integrity.

I admire your patience and approach, Mike. Three of our grandsons are now 9, 10 & 11, and the only thing they're interested in is iPad's, iPhones, xBoxes, ad nauseum. They're generally not out here for any stretch of time, but I envy the relationships you're building by mentoring with tools & shop time. The engine project is a fantastic idea. Looking forward to your chronicle.

This one will be interesting Roger, it's the first project I actually expect him to get greasy on (I've already warned his mom ).

Cade pretty much has the basics down from helping on the Waterloo Boy and the little 2 cycle we tried to get running for the tot rod. He's is still a little small to do much of the heavy lifting but I'm hoping to give him a better understanding of how things work and attention to detail.

I really like the fact that this little 283 still has all the small shields, plug wire dividers etc that he will have to keep track of and re-install (how many times have we gone into something only to find someone has been there before us and left half the fasteners out when the reassembled it).

We also have to rebuild all 3 carburetors which should be neat, I'll be able to show him how on one or two and then let him try to do one.

Anyway I'm looking forward to this.

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What a great grandad you are! And he'll be able to brag that he was at the leading edge of the nostalgia movement to replace a flathead Ford with an sbc at age 11!! (what goes around comes around)

You are likely well studied enough to know that if you're going to dump it in an early Chevy II you'll need that model specific oil pan and pickup. Then I think a shorty oil filter solves the clearance issue there.

Keep us in the loop on your cam rationale. I've got a rebuilt 283 on a stand that's a factory 200hp four barrel, all stock inside, and a couple tri power setups on the shelf. If I don't off all that stuff a cam might be in order. I was thinking one of the retro grinds that emulate the '60-1 Duntovs.

Corey and the folks at NicKey (where he does the new Camaros) are redoing a numbers correct resto and just got a 30-30 cam from I think Isky-He'll be here after while as we're align honing a 4 cam ford block for someone of there customers ------


and isn't there a clutch pivot mount that's different for the early Chev 2?

".......You are likely well studied enough to know that if you're going to dump it in an early Chevy II you'll need that model specific oil pan and pickup. Then I think a shorty oil filter solves the clearance issue there. ....."


I have first hand knowledge on that Bob. Back in the early 70s I picked up a 62 Chevy II rag top (one of the 2 cars I've ever owned that I wish I still had). It had a 6 in it that lasted just long enough to pull out and stuff a 283 into. Unlike now when there are aftermarket pans readily available your choice back then was an original Chevy II pan of "custom making" your own (the route I took). Besides the steering linkage/pan issues I also recall what a pleasure it was changing plugs on the center cylinders on each side.

That was the first car car I ever tried a Tri-Power on (what a learning curve.....but that's a different story).

As it turned out I also ended up with a 63 Falcon Futura 2dr HT (the only other car I wish I still had). I was in AIT at Ft Devens at the time and when I ended up on orders to Korea one had to go and that ended up being the convertible due to rust issues that were starting to become apparent on it.


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Part number for the dz302


Crane 967251DZ302 blueprint cam

Jerry is that the same grind as an Isky? The one I have in the garage is a solid lifter cam.

Neat project Mike!!!! Cade will really have a blast on this one with it being a "real engine" and all!!!!

I don't know if its the same as the Isky---seems as tho the new Crane people are making that one and to tell you the truth I don't know at this time if its hyd or solid-its for the 70s era Z28
DZ motor----------But I did think that it was Isky making most of the factoycams back then--------

IMG_5400.jpg
This is the cam card for the 30/30 I have in the garage

Ahh Camshafts, I’m afraid this post will be a bit long winded so bear with me.

This is really the one decision on this build that’s kind of giving me fits (although I have narrowed it down a bit). If I was building a 350, 383 or 400 I could tell you off the top of my head which cam I’d use based on my experience, but it’s been 25 years since I’ve played with a performance build on anything less than 350 CI.

Without actually having a car to put the engine in I’m making a few assumptions.

Target vehicle weight will be 3000 pounds or less.

Transmission will be either a 4 or 5 speed manual with Overdrive or a TH200 4R.

Rear end ratio will be 3.55, 3.73 or 4.11 (depending on the tire height I can fit under the car).

Induction will be an Offenhauser Tri-Power single plane intake and exhaust will be reproduction Corvette 2 ½” rams horn manifolds. The 283 needs to be pump gas friendly and be streetable.

The cam itself will be hydraulic flat tappet (much as I like the tick of lifters, if I do sell the engine adjusting valves turns off too many potential buyers, and besides it’s not one of my favorite jobs anymore either if we decide to keep it).

So I started looking at cam specs keeping in mind that what would be a mild cam in a 350 will act like a lot more cam in a 283. Comparing some of the old performance grinds like the Duntov 30 30 and 097 to the newer grinds showed that relatively speaking the older cams used a lot more duration but less lift than the current grinds. After looking at lift and duration numbers from a bunch of different cam makers, I finally started trying to find real dyno results to actually compare the cams.

I came across three dyno tests that I found pretty interesting. All three engines were 283s, all had compression in the 9 to 9.5:1 area, all had power pack heads and all were using factory dual quad intakes. That being said all were tested on different dynos with different operators and I’m sure different temperatures and altitudes.


Duntov 30 30 Lift .448 Duration ? (Adv)

265 HP (RPM ?) 275 Ft Lbs Torque (4600 RPM)

Duntov 097 Lift .395 (I) .401 (E) Duration 287 (Adv)

245 HP (5500 RPM) 268 Ft Lbs Torque (4300 RPM)

Comp Cams 270H Lift .470 (I/E), Duration 270 (Adv)

303 HP (5700 RPM) 315 Ft Lbs Torque (4000 RPM)

I haven’t completely settled on the 270H, I am looking for comparable numbers from some of the house brands at Summit and Jegs and am will to listen to any other suggestions. If I don’t find anything I like as well, I pull the trigger on the Comp cam.



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I'm so jealous of you and Cade. My nephew Toad lives too far away. I got so far on my tot rod as a narrowed Ford nine inch with wheels, and the 140 that's in the Vega.

We spent most of the time we had today getting the engine off the floor and on to the engine stand. Before we put it up in the air, I had Cade pull the rear galley plugs (I’d loosened them a bit prior to him coming over).




Then it was on to actually mounting it on the stand……by the time we got it up there Cade was handling the chain hoist like an old pro LOL.



We didn’t get a lot of parts off, Cade mostly spent time getting the crud away from the bolts so he could get a socket on them. We’ll probably finish up the tear down next Sunday.

The Dorman repop Corvette manifolds did come in last week. They are made in China as I expected. I checked the fit on the mounting flanges and that was good. The finish (casting flash removal mostly) left a bit to be desired but with a bit of work and some paint should be OK. That being said for the price (about $55 each) they don’t seem to be too bad of a deal, especially considering (when you can find them) used OE 2 ½” rams horns usually are around $200 a side.




Anyway that’s where we are now on the build.



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