Thread: 283 Advice... Please

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All i did was tell the man about my little 292. And then LMAO at all these typist tough guys. Build what you want. My duece is a light car, and doesn't need the cubes and a mountain of torque.
Later,
The GasserKid

Check out Summit or Jeg's. I prefer Summit. Their shipping rates are excellent and they have knowledgeable staff. I have one suggestion though, before you spend any money make sure your heads will accept all of your brackets. Late 283's will, early 283's won't. And if I remember correctly 283's had a short water pump and that 305 has a long one. You could have problems getting the belts to line up.

Originally posted by white_knight
I just needed some advice, that's all... I didn't know that this topic would cause so much tension.

Let me clear up a few things for you.

1. The engine that I build (it will be the 283... Thanks Scooter) is going to be swapped with the original 305 that's in my 1985 Camaro Z28.

2. It seems that there are so many contrary opinions about this engine that i just need to build the darn thing and see for myself.

Have a great day everyone and I hope to hear from some of you soon.

Jeff

Jeff

Good luck with your project, it is your project after all so you are the one who counts. Buried in amongst all personal attacks in this thread is some decent advice about 283s. Best suggestion I can make is not to go too radical in your build. Consult with some of the companies that offer carb, manifold and cam packages that are designed to work together, They have thousands of hours of dyno, track and street time invested in making combinations that work.

Contrary to what some here might think I don't dislike these motors. I never said that 283s could not be built to run.

Keep us posted.

Pat

I used a Flow Cooler long water pump on my 283, I admittedly did'nt know the difference. Being mechanically inclined does'nt make you car savy. I used march performance alt. and p.s. brackets and the saginaw style p.s. pump. In hindsight, I'd be using a G.M. Type II pump. Confines are tight toward the front of a 39 Chevy engine bay. All told I think I spent about 500 on the pump, pulleys, brackets and belts. My 283 has a 74 Vette intake, HEI, and ram horn manifolds. It gets me to the Cruise ins, but I too would like info on speed parts for a possible future rebuild.

A lot of those 305 parts will work on that 283.....check them out, I know that you can use the starter & water pump, and I think those heads will work, which means that you can use the intake also.
Like I said before- the power is in the heads, so you will need to port them, or have it done. 194-151's are enough for valve size, you won't get any more draw than that anyway thru a small block.
I hope this helps....Good Luck

Streets
The best part of him went south if you know what I mean.