[superchevy510]

I just got my 283 short block back from the machine shop its .40 over with forged pistons. Talking to the machine shop guy, he tells me that i would get more power and spend just about the same $$ if i just got a set of aluminum heads rather than rebuilding the originals. I do want as much power as i can get from the 283 but on the other hand i wanted the stock look. I also went to the ends of the earth to find numbers matching heads, intake, and carb. I cant make up my mind. has anyone used aluminum heads and intake and carb while still maintaining the stock look?

pics pics pics! please!

 

[55]

Put the aluminums on an paint them chevy orange if you like. Heads have come way down in price. Do yourself a favor and order them direct from a wholesale vendor and save your $$$. RHS have some great deals on a low budget, as do World products, Pro Comp and others. If you want to step up, get a set of AFR's and leave them aluminum. They look pretty, and everyone has aluminum heads these days so don't sweat it.

 

[Chevynut]

You sound conflicted . Do yourself a favor and decide now whether you want to keep this car all stock, or if you want to modify it. That will save you some grief in the future as you build the car and can't decide which way to go.

That said, if you want performance then go with the new aluminum heads. You probably should have thought about this earlier, because you could have bumped the compression up a bit and gained more performance. As already mentioned, painting them orange will hide them some.

 

[Rick_L]

Most aluminum heads are made to be used on 350 engines and keeping that in mind, you may end up with a low compression ratio on a 283. There is also the potential issue of bigger valves possibly interfering with the cylinder wall (though this doesn't have to be a problem). The other thing is that the port volume and size of most of these heads is sized for a 350 and not a 283.

If you want to consider this further, look at cylinder head packages for 305 ci Chevy engines. They are going to more like have what you need. I think either or both Dart and World Products have new cast iron heads that are marketed for 305 engines.

Another option is to use a cast iron OEM head for a 305. You can get them with a small enough combustion chamber to have decent compression, and they have 1.84" intake valves compared to the 283's 1.72" intake valve. I think the head you want has a casting # that ends with "601".

 

[old school 55]

compression ratio factor

you need to decide on weather or not your going all out performance, I dont think lack of compression will be a factor with .040 flat top pistons. you can calculate compression ratio with different size combustion chamber and valve combonations. then decide weather or not you want to burn premium gas/ high octane all the time. once you decide this you can decide on head. but there are many closed chamber heads that will keep compression within reason and performance gains will be noticeable, you can camo paint just about any head.

 

[Pops @ Tri-5.com]

SC510....I know exactly where your coming from.....Putting on a set of heads with bolt holes in the ends of them under a TriFive hood just doesn't appeal to me either.....IMHO a head company could make a mint, if they would manufacture aluminum heads with camel humps or the PP symbol.

On the other hand, we are where we are.....You could get the aluminum heads that you want ant start grinding and filling, until you get them looking the way you want....The good news is that you would only have to do two ends.