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283 Rebuild - More Power or Leave Alone

17K views 45 replies 29 participants last post by  Powerglide 
#1 ·
I have a 57 Chevy with a complete original drive train. At least that is what I was told when I purchased it. All of my research indicates that it is true and I would like to keep this car as original as possible. The engine seems to be running OK but is burning oil and smoking a little. I have decided to have the engine rebuilt next Spring. I am also at a point in my life where I don't have to pinch pennies but I still want the most bang for my buck. I would not mind having a little more horsepower but I want to stay with the 283 that came with the car. I do not want to drop a 350 in place of the 283. My main goal is to keep the car as original as possible with matching numbers. Having said that, is there anything I can do during the rebuild to gain another 50+ HP? My engine is a power pack and I will want to keep the same WCFB Carter carburetor. I will have this professionally done and my biggest concern is that by modifying the internals of the engine that I might devalue the collectability of the car. Of course I do not want to do anything that would shorten the life of the rebuilt engine. I had one mechanic tell me that he could turn my 283 into a 383 stroker and with a roller cam I could expect around 290 HP. Is this a reasonable? Would there be any down side other than cost? It seems to me that going from 283 to 383 would require more cooling. Thanks
 
#2 ·
I've considered the thought of getting a bit more power out of the 283. Do definitely do not need to stroke the engine to get 290hp. This can be done relatviley easily, remember the 283 was the first engine to get 1hp/ci, and that was back in 1957. These days it is possible quite easily.

I don't have the exact advice about the rebuild to achieve your goal, but I know others on here should be able to point you in the right direction. I'm sure a cam and head work will help a lot, and other than that is to make the bottom end can keep up.

Good luck!
 
#3 ·
There are heaps of things you could to to increase power quite easily, i dont think you need to stroke it to achieve what you you want. Just remember if you increase power too much you will have to pull it up, so brakes could be one thing you look at upgrading if you increase too much.

In saying this i will be paying close attention to this thread to see what other peoples opinion and advice is as i am in a similar boat of looking at rebuilding my 283 at some stage, but still wanting to keep original and keeping my drums all round.

GooD luck with it.
 
#4 ·
IMO ,I would rebuild it to factory specs... you say you want more power ,,is what you really want is the car to be quicker??? on a stock 283 ,open road ,put the pedal down and you will go 90mph ,do you need more then that ,,maybe not as quick as you want ,,but still it will do 90 ,,you might put more stress on the trans ,rear ,brakes and such and lead to other problems...anyway good luck and keep us posted ,,,:tu
 
#5 ·
IMHO, Its will be difficult to get another 50 HP from your 283, without multiple carbs, a cam swap, and some head work.....I'm afraid there is just no substitute for cubic inches....Personally, I'd rebuild it to factory specs or get a 327 and make it look like a 283.....However, that's just me.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
Never done it...... But

Install a small journal 327 crank in it and use factory 5.7 rods with 307 pistons. You get a 307 on the inside. Bore it .030 and you'll have a 310 311 cubic inch motor on the inside. Bump the cam to a newer computer designed cam that has more area under the duration curve and retains a similar idle quality. Heads are the long pole in the tent. You can spend lotsa bucks in them and still have better ones right off the shelf, But if you want original appearance you'll be limited in total output you'll be told, but be aware everyone you'll likely talk to will be speaking 350. you will be running 50 or more, less cubes. Huge ports, big carbs and cams are not well suited for the smaller engines. If you keep it at 283 cubes then you can only add so much, before it makes no difference or worse kills power. If I went to a 307 310 it will ad some power or mostly torque. I ran a 400 with a l-79 cam for years. it had mostly stock heads and a offy "dual port" (differs from dual plane) and it had gobs of neck snapping torque and hauled @$$ and it would fall on its face at 5000 rpm. However really how much did I need that over 5000 rpm power....NEVER..... It was a street car. not a race car. Lastly it might actually require a 307 block to do. MAYBE.... a 283 block may not be relieved enough for 307 counterweights. Grind the side mounts off and needle gun the spots, paint and who'll know. You cant go much bigger with 283 heads intake and carb. JMHO

:anim_25:
 
#9 ·
I rebuilt the 283 in my 57 back in the 70's for the same reason's. Being 16 I used a ? solid lifter Crane cam, 340hp 327 aluminum intake, Holley 600, 186 350 heads, and a distributor advance kit. It had a nice lopey idle, great throttle response, and pulled to 6K rpms pretty quickly. I could not have been a more proud 16 year old...............until a friend blew my doors off with a $200 66 Olds 4 dr with rags hanging out of the quarters. :sign0020: The moral to that story......there is always someone faster.

My crank was badly scored and I tried to use a 66 283 crank. Not even close, so I doubt you can make a 311, let alone a 383 and keep your block.

I'd just rebuild it, maybe balance it, and have fun!
 
#10 ·
"Back in the day" after we had thrashed the engine to death, we did one of two things. 1/ Bored the 283 .125 os to make it a 301 & installed an Isky 505 cam. 2/ Swapped in a 327. In either case the abuse continued until we could unload it on some unsuspecting soul for a few hundred dollars (just another old, worn out car) and move on. A couple of years ago I did the latter in my '57. Swapped-in a 327, rebuilt it and installed a CompCams "factory 300hp" cam w/Edelbrock Performer intake & Edelbrock 500cfm carb. Result was a great car for the street. All depends on what your goals - rasty, stop lite to stop lite car or cruise down to the MiniMarket for a six pack.
 
#11 ·
The300hp camshaft mentioned above is the same came that came in the 283. The last 3 of the part number is 431 and the casting number is 3732798. It's a .398 lift. Unless it's a "blueprinted" junior stock cam it will deliver good gas mileage and reasonable power.
Using a 307 crankshaft is not as easy as adding a small journal 327 crankshaft. The rub is that the counterweights are too big in diameter and needs to be shaved down to fit in the 57-62 283 block, to clear the bottom of the cylinders. I have a 57 block that's a standard bore 327 (.125 over 283) with the 327 crankshaft in it. The other rub is that the balance was thrown off by shaving the counterweights so the balancer has come extra weight welded onto it. The balance job can also be done with heavy metal(Mallory) but just a 1 inch slug used to go for $50. probably a lot more these days. I would only consider this modification if you're running an automatic transmission. The automatic needs torque to operate and the 283 is a little shy on that. With a stick you can do very well with the stock 283. It sounds like your engine is just tired. A new bore will perk it up a lot. Good luck.
 
#12 ·
compomise...

I totally understand your dilemma. All you want to do is keep it original but squeeze a few horses out. I'm not a pebble beach judge or correspondent but I'm pretty sure altering the insides of a "numbers matching" tri-five (also a controversial subject) will take away from it's originality hence take away from value. Some may argue to what degree however.
That being said, I've wanted to do the exact same thing but a few things lead me down a different path. I had to swallow my pride and compromise. IF you don't have to drive yours daily like me, you have to decide:
Do I want it period perfect or original?
Must I run the original engine all the time with more horsepower?

I too had an original 57 drivetrain which I loved even though it was a 2bbl. However I had to compromise and upgrade to a 700R4 from the powerglide and I put an edelbrock manifold(with oil filler at least!)/edelbrock carburetor combo because I drive it everyday and I don't have the extra change for a complete changeover. I'm not saying you SHOULD do the same!! But can you
deal with possibly running a built 283 (factory dual quad package) around town and to keep the value throw the original back in come time to sell? That's what I wanted to do. At that point why not the whole driveline? But I understand if you don't want to because I prefer my 2bbl, generator, single master cylinder, etc.
I believe if it's value you intend to keep, swapping a motor in and out wont have any effect as opposed to altering your factory original.
*note Every piece of original equipment I removed, I still have and am not too modern to put back in.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I do not want to drop a 350 in place of the 283. My main goal is to keep the car as original as possible with matching numbers.
good for you. You are in the minority and I totally agree.
here is a guy working on a 265 and going to town. Fun read if you have time
http://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106148

Having said that, is there anything I can do during the rebuild to gain another 50+ HP?
Yes. As you have seen very easy

My engine is a power pack and I will want to keep the same WCFB Carter carburetor.
Oh.. well that will really limits things.

In stock form from GM you could get a 283 up to 315HP. I believe you have the Super Turbo Fire single 4 barrel that's 220HP. You can swap out some internals, but unless you get more air in that engine, I don't think you can get another 50HP out of it.

I have decided to have the engine rebuilt next Spring. I am also at a point in my life where I don't have to pinch pennies but I still want the most bang for my buck. I would not mind having a little more horsepower but I want to stay with the 283 that came with the car.
If you want stock and more HP you can put on a dual 4 barrel carb setup that can get you easily up to 245HP or larger 270HP that were the Corvette V8 options in 57. Very cool, very stock, and very expensive.

So yes it can be done, but not with just one stock carb. What I have done with mine is put a new single carb on mine that gets me to the 245HP Corvette mark, but it's not the stock carb or intake. My direction is a 283 block but with some modern upgrades so it will drive like the Corvette motor

My main goal is to keep the car as original as possible with matching numbers..is there anything I can do during the rebuild to gain another 50+ HP?
You can get 50HP more and still be stock with a fairly reliable setup, but you are going to have to make some big changes
 
#14 ·
As Tom said, the 327 crankshaft won't clear the 57 283 inner crankcase without major work. The later 283's had the 327 casting cores, so had more clearance built in.
If your engine is already a Power Pack, it has a good basis to work on. The engine can easily make 300hp with today's camshafts and head work.
The existing heads can be worked on, the intake valves can be increased to 305 size 1.84" and a bit of pocket work enabled by today's head work machines can make them flow better.
The bore size can be increased to 4.00" to make 301ci, but personally, I don't go that far, I have done plenty at .080" over without overheating.
Your engine at present sounds as if it just needs rebuilding.
My wife's 57 4dr HT is a Power Pack stock with 71000 miles on it, and it really flies.
Also, as others have said, don't forget, more power means more speed that your brakes and handling need to handle.
 
#15 ·
Mine has a fresh 283 Power Pack motor in it and it has the right amount of poke for an original car – drum brakes, bias ply tires etc. Everything feels like it is in balance.

Is your's an auto our stick? (Mine's auto, so that tends to level out the grunt a bit.)

I reckon the re-build could do the trick for you.
 
#17 ·
I agree with the others. Just add bigger carburetion and tuning. It will be very nice to drive if you have a stick shift. Short gears are a must with a 283 and heavy 57 body. The 097 Duntov cam adds 25 gross hp on the sales advertising paper, but in the real world only adds 15 net or true hp in a actual car per GM engineering papers. It also looses 15 true lbs. of torque everywhere. Unless you plan to keep your 283 above 5000 rpm constantly a more modern street cam will be a better choice. The stock power pack cam is a real honey for the street and with more or bigger carbs even better, it is real "torquey" considering the tiny cubes. Good luck!
 
#18 ·
Hey Mynorac, everything that has been posted here is good info. you will just have to deciced which is best for you. And thanks Jerrspud for posting a link to my 265 build. It is probably a good bit farhter than Mynorac wants to go but it will be fun ! But like everyone said, you are a little limited with the stock stuff. Using a roller cam will change the characteristics of how and when your 283 makes power but I know the expense of installing a retrofit kit, that's why I'm building mine the way I am. You could go the route I am and keep your stock stuff, nobody will see inside the engine. A more modern stock ground roller might not work to bad at all in your engine as long as you don't get to crazy with it's size. I can add this suggestion too. Call a cam company and tell them what you want to do and what parts you want to use. With todays technology, you could have a custom ground flat tappet cam for not much more money than buying one off the shelf and it could be tailored to your needs. Good luck and keep us posted !
 
#20 ·
Drag racers used to make 400 inch engines out of 283's years ago. 4 inch bore and 4 inch stroke. I'm sure they girdled the bottom end and had to relieve the pan rail for rod clearance. Most people that make 383's use a 400 SB crank and grind down the mains from 2.650 to 2.450. They usually use 350 rods with 2.100 bearing size. These rods are larger in diameter so they get closer to the cam and pan rail. The part of the rod that is upward in the block, needs to be ground down a little to keep it from contacting the cam. Small journal rods help in that area. The 283 mains use 2.300 bearings. As you cut down the diameter of the bearing surfaces, the oil hole moves sideways because they are drilled at a 45 degree angle. The mains are fed oil to the rods through a groove down the center of the bearing. Now you take another .150 off the mains and the oil hole in the main journal may not match up close enough to the bearing groove to supply adequate oil to the rods. You could elongate the hole on the crank but the flow would not be as designed. Also the amount of mallory used to balance the crankshaft would be costly as you would have to cut the hell out of the counterweights to clear the bottom of the cylinders. You can't ad clearance to the bottom of the cylinder because there is water jacket under that area. It can be done but it's impractical.
 
#21 · (Edited)
It looks like a fun project.

It pleases me to hear that someone else likes 283's too :)

My '61 'vette was born with a 283.

And I was able to pull 303hp/315tq out of it when I had it rebuilt.

Here are the mods from stock that I used during the rebuild:

Bored .030 ; Ported stock heads ; Slightly larger intake valves ; CompCams 270H cam (hydraulic equivalent to the 097 solid lifter Duntov cam)

It looks bone stock - and the car now scoots along almost as well as a fueilie would.

Here are a few links if you are interested:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-and-c2-corvettes/2940323-1961-engine-rebuild-pictures.html

http://youtu.be/Rj7BDfzgNKM

Sound of car idling with rebuilt 283:

http://youtu.be/g8Sad-9AYf0

I hope this is helpful. And good luck with your build !!

:blowtiedb:


.
 
#22 ·
Beautiful car and engine:



 
#25 ·
The "smoking a little" descriptor is subjective. If you have good oil pressure then you might be jumping to conclusions. A significant percentage of engine rebuilds are unsuccessful so it might be better to leave well enough alone. What does a compression check tell you?
 
#26 ·
Thanks to all of you who responded. Just to clear things up a little because I think my first post wasn't completely understood by some responders. My first goal is to keep this engine looking original & with the same numbers. This means I stay with the original carburetor, heads, block etc. Internal modification is OK but nothing external. The same goes with the rest of the drive train. My car is equipped with the power pack engine, 3speed on the column, overdrive, posi-traction, & 4:11 gears. The car has plenty of power now and it will never be raced. I just want a little more ZOOM when I occasionally get on it! This car will never reach speeds that some of you are talking about. I doubt that I would ever push this car much past 90 mph and that would be a very rare occasion. My standard drum brakes are fine and I can't understand why I would have to increase braking for 50+ hp increase. I am an older guy and not into speed but enjoy the feeling of acceleration when I put my floor into it. Again, I am not trying to build a race car and want all appearances to be original. This car even has the original interior.
 
#40 ·
I'm in the middle of a very similar effort. My 283 is a bit newer, but my goal is very close to yours. One of the things you should absolutely consider doing is adding roller rockers, lifters, and a matching cam. All this is internal and will not change the outside appearance at all. You can wake up that 283 with just these items:

Comp Cam Ultra-Gold Aluminum Rockers $310 per set. Don't use a different geometry rocker, like a 1.6 ratio as it will require you to machine the slots in the heads or even drill them slots out and add guides. The stock 1.5 ratio is fine and going to 1.6 won't add much other than hassle (I know this from experience this week :) )

Next go with the roller lifters as well from Comp Cam part 853-16. $483 for the set.

Then go with the following cam:

Edelbrock 2208 $370
Rollin' Thunder Hydraulic Roller Camshaft
1957-86 Chevy 265-350
.462''/.479'' Lift
280°/290° Adv. Duration
Idle-5500 RPM Range


When you have the heads done you might have the machine shop check and see if port matching the intake with the heads will help. Basically they make sure the intake holes going into the heads are closely matched so as not to have any obstructions.

Go ahead and punch it out .060 over. It can easily take that. Personally I would go for Keith Black Hypereutectic performance pistons.

The 3 angle valve machining mentioned earlier is a great idea.

Don't forget the exhaust. I know you don't want to change the appearance so you will stay with the original stock headers, but think about improving the rest of the exhaust with crossover pipe and have it all done with a good exhaust shop that knows something about this often overlooked part of the engine performance.

Try to keep your compression between 9-9.1 as you would not want to go higher with those cast iron heads on todays' poodle pee gas. Summit racing has a nice calculator on their website. You should really check this out because you will be able to trim as much off the heads as possible (which will reduce chamber size and increase compression) and choose the right head gasket. Possibly you should do a clean up pass on the block, which will increase the compression some too. Factor all the issues in to the calculator before you do any machine work so that you know what the compression ratio will be before you even go to the machine shop.

Have the machine shop balance the crank, pistons, rods, and the heavy stock flywheel. Keep that heavy flywheel as you want it for added torque on the little cubic inch mouse.

Finally, your stated goal was really about what the car feels like when you nail it. The differential can very much change your sense of the seat in the pants. Bump the gears to 3.73 ratio. That will likely do more than anything you can do to the engine to get your "HeartBeat" to answer up (sorry for the pun :sign0020:)


:anim_25: and let us know what you do!
 
#27 ·
I have just had to make the same decision.
Here is what I have found and decided.
I would not bore out the original 283 to a four inch bore. I have one of these blocks sitting in my shed basically its only good as a boat anchor. The early 283 had a very thin wall at the bottom of the cylinders. This bored out block is so thin that chunks of bore have broken away. I would not recommend any more than a 60 thou rebore. (im going to 30)
Second constraint is the 57 blocks only had provision for front engine mounting this is not suitable for high output engines.
Third constraint is the original 4bbl carb and manifold will only flow around 450cfm- not suitable for high reving performance engine.
I have decided to go pretty much standard with a very mild cam selection just to give a little better mid range performance. (next grind up from standard).
If you do want a HP engine pull your 283 and moth ball it away in storage then get yourself a 350 with good heads, there is no substitute for cubes but then you should look upgrading the rest of your drive train.
Also a tip on oil pumps, due to the deeper sump on 57 engines the use a longer pump than standard a std mellings with original pick up will sit to high from the bottom of the sump. Make sure you get the 57 one or if you do go a 58 onwards pump a deeper pick up is required. Cheers Tommo
 
#28 · (Edited)
Another 50 hp (270) is what the dual quad, solid lifter 283 had. It also had higher compression (10:1 or 11:1?), and required premium gasoline. It was fairly radical for its day, so usually came in cars with 4.10 axles and close ratio 3-speeds. (Corvette guys, correct me if I'm wrong.)

That said, power is in the heads, and modern heads are MUCH better than the old Power Pak heads. A set of aftermarket 305 heads and a modern cam with a little more lift than stock could easily buy you another 30-40 hp, without loss of low RPM torque, and still let you run flat top pistons, regular gas, and a more versatile axle ratio axle.

Or, if you want to retain the stock heads, have a good machine shop do a 3-angle valve job, and then call 3-4 cam companies and tell them what your goals are. +50 hp will be impossible with just a cam change, but, again, a modern cam can make a noticeable difference. Just don't go overboard!

Edit: I agree with what Tommo says about overbore. .060" should be the max. Going .125" is a crap shoot, even on the later blocks with thicker cylinder walls. And that was when they didn't have 50+ years of water jacket corrosion! I also agree with his mild cam choice.

And I just read what you said about keeping your heads, and about your 4.11 axle and OD trans. The gearing opens up more possibilities, but stock heads will be the limiting factor. Maybe, in addition to a 3-angle (or even 5-angle) valve job, you can find a guru to pocket port the heads. The biggest cam I would use with stock heads and intake manifold would have 200-205 degrees intake duration @ .050" tappet rise, and maybe 205-210 exhaust. It will be interesting to see what cam companies suggest. I'd start with Mike Jones at Jones Cam Designs, and then Crower. But even an off-the-shelf cam like a CompCams 12-302-4 (196/206) or Summit Racing SUM-1101 (194/204) should work well. Then again, 557B210 (in a post above) used what I would call a pretty big cam for a 283, but he says it works great.
 
#41 ·
Another 50 hp (270) is what the dual quad, solid lifter 283 had. It also had higher compression (10:1 or 11:1?), and required premium gasoline.

The 57 220, 245, 250 and 270hp engines all had a factory compression ratio of 9.5. The 220hp had 60cc heads and flat top no-notch pistons. the 245, 250 and 270hp engines used 56cc heads with valve reliefs in the piston. The 283hp used domed pistons for 10.5 cr.

I also agree with his mild cam choice.

If you go bigger on the duration it causes more overlap, reducing the cranking compression. The bigger cam scrubs off low end and increases top end. That is helpful if you want more power but it comes at the higher rpm, and resulting in a loss of lower rpm power and also loss of gas mileage. These days that is a consideration for a driver. How often are you hauling @ss verses how often are you cruising at low rpm? An engine is no better than the worst part. When I went to a Edelbrock Performer cam( .420-.442) I lost 3 inches of vacuum at idle verses a stock GM 930 cam(.390-.410).
 
#29 ·
Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I don't want to change the external appearance of the factory engine in anyway so modern heads or carburetion can't be done. I'm interested in the 3-angle valve job that you wrote about. I am not a mechanic but understand the basics. Why does the 3-angle improve things so much? Is it just about increasing the flows of the gases? Does the same go for cams? Thank You
 
#33 · (Edited)
A modern, computer-designed, mild performance cam has more lift than a stock cam, but with duration (the amount of time the valve is open) that's equal to, or even less than stock. This actually makes for more "area under the curve", without reducing vacuum, torque, or idle quality. And many are made for use with 9:1 compression.

A 3-angle valve job lets the air/fuel mixture and exhaust gas flow better at the circumference of the seat. There are also "back cut" or "swirl cut" valves that open up the area behind the valve face, and reduce the diameter of the stem in that area. Milodon says the 3-angle valve job and these type valves increase flow most noticeably at lower lifts, as with stock and mild performance cams.



Milodon street-strip swirl cut valves:


Federal-Mogul stock valve:
 
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