283 small journal questions

bucket · Jun 17, 2020

Ricko1966 said:
She has a runnng driving lng water pump vehicle and trying to pic between 4 engines she has 3 long water pump 305,350,400 and the 283 I was just saying in my opinion easiest surest thing for a plow truck was the 400. Which everything would be a bolt for bolt quick swap and have enough balls to push her plow. Anx swapping her old motor back in if she wantedwould be simple as well.

Agreed. The 400 should be the first choice, if it's good. I'm just biased towards the 283 and would love having an excuse to drop one in something.

Grit dog · Jun 17, 2020

Make the 283 run and if it runs good, sell it to help fund your next truck.
Great engines and worth some $ of original.
Largely worthless as a drop in, in a newer vehicle though. For reasons already mentioned.

Ricko1966 · Jun 17, 2020

15/16 years old I built a 1974 Vega GT 283 glide.Wanted so bad to go 4 inch bore 6 inch rods 4speed.Now that would have been a party.

HotRodPC · Jun 17, 2020

DoubleDingo said:
There was only a couple 283s in my small town in high school. I had one of them in Mean Green. The other was in an Impala, and he tried for months to blow it up because he wanted a different engine. It wouldn't die. Powerglide transmission left in 1st, run it WOT and it just kept going. Eventually he gave up and just swapped engines. The one in my truck, I could run it all day in summer heat at 4,000 rpms going down the highway. Never skipped a beat.

That's one thing the 283's loved was rpm !!! You wind'em up tight and they kept going and going. Of course the small journal 327's were the same way.

DoubleDingo · Jun 18, 2020

HotRodPC said:
That's one thing the 283's loved was rpm !!! You wind'em up tight and they kept going and going. Of course the small journal 327's were the same way.

I never thought anything of it until I installed the tachometer. That's when I realized what I'd been running that engine at. The 350 I replaced it with didn't like it but did just fine. I thought the 350 would be better than the 283. It was at more torque but that was it. The 350 was probably better suited for the 3.54 gears that went in about a year after the swap. Other than that the 283 was perfectly fine. People just don't like them much anymore because they can install an LS. Personally I can't see any reason to hack up a perfectly fine automobile to fit a newfangled powerplant.

Rusty Nail · Jun 18, 2020

Me neither!

AuroraGirl · Jun 18, 2020

DoubleDingo said:
I never thought anything of it until I installed the tachometer. That's when I realized what I'd been running that engine at. The 350 I replaced it with didn't like it but did just fine. I thought the 350 would be better than the 283. It was at more torque but that was it. The 350 was probably better suited for the 3.54 gears that went in about a year after the swap. Other than that the 283 was perfectly fine. People just don't like them much anymore because they can install an LS. Personally I can't see any reason to hack up a perfectly fine automobile to fit a newfangled powerplant.

Especially when real world gains are there, yes, but the money and time to do it could have just made a sick small block to personal perfection. And lots more natural compatibility with like.. everything gm gmde in the era

Rusty Nail · Jun 18, 2020

Oh yeah.

My opinion is the best value of a perfectly fine 283 would be whatever you could sell it to somebody else for.

OR

You could "part out" tke 305 to it if you really wanted it, it has everything youd need to "fix it up". If thats what it is.
Swap the heads and the front accessories off of it, maybe its seized.

This is the internet though. Its easy to look up casting numbers auroragirl, why are you guessing at displacement?
Silly.
Its on the back if the block -firewall side- behind and kinda underneath the driver side cylinder head.
There is a flat area there... clean.it off and google the numbers, geez.
Pix. W.T.F. ??

P.S.
There is "no replacement for displacement".
Bigger is better.

The 350 is likely the best choice of the 4 but the 400 is the most valuable.

Hope this helps!

Memaloose · Jun 18, 2020

Of the three, I'd rebuild the 283. You can get hardened seats for the valves installed. You can buy fan spacers to extend the fan closer to the radiator and there are also longer fan shrouds.
283's are hard to come by anymore, I've run a few of them and I like them, good economy and V8 power. Headers and a 2bbl carb and you're set.

custodian · Jun 18, 2020

283 I built for the 73 I gave my oldest granddaughter. Has the 305 HO heads.

You must be registered for see images attach

AuroraGirl · Jun 20, 2020

custodian said:
283 I built for the 73 I gave my oldest granddaughter. Has the 305 HO heads.

You must be registered for see images attach

That is a fine looking machine. I appreciate the orange. i LOVE the valve covers on the 283, the old script, but if I were to use it in any fashion id be putting a PCV on, which means Id have to get reproductions with two grommet holes and baffles, they arent AS pretty but it would remove the draft tube and thats not a huge trade off.

And the 283 being from an era of leaded gasoline doesnt dissaude me, I was asking more, assuming all engines are capable of running and have no blaring problems, what could i spruce up and refresh(not rebuild) so i have a backup. Which, in the 283, means I would prob do some gaskets and obvious accessory drive changes, but I would run lead substitute to get around valve seats.

@Rusty Nail Im not gonna lie, i was a little lazy. and the one is in a bitch of a spot with poor lighting. I could just grab my drill with the wire wheel and go to town, but thats worrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk . wanna do it for me?

Rusty Nail · Jun 20, 2020

AuroraGirl said:
@Rusty Nail wanna do it for me?

........

Yes?

AuroraGirl · Jun 20, 2020

Rusty Nail said:
........

Yes?

but you cant take the powerglide attached to the 283. or the 283. or the 400. or any of the other fun stuff.
no quadrajets, either.
Especially the john deere green one.

Rusty Nail · Jun 20, 2020

Well,
Maybe we'll work somethin out.

custodian · Jun 20, 2020

AuroraGirl said:
That is a fine looking machine. I appreciate the orange. i LOVE the valve covers on the 283, the old script, but if I were to use it in any fashion id be putting a PCV on, which means Id have to get reproductions with two grommet holes and baffles, they arent AS pretty but it would remove the draft tube and thats not a huge trade off.

And the 283 being from an era of leaded gasoline doesnt dissaude me, I was asking more, assuming all engines are capable of running and have no blaring problems, what could i spruce up and refresh(not rebuild) so i have a backup. Which, in the 283, means I would prob do some gaskets and obvious accessory drive changes, but I would run lead substitute to get around valve seats.

@Rusty Nail Im not gonna lie, i was a little lazy. and the one is in a bitch of a spot with poor lighting. I could just grab my drill with the wire wheel and go to town, but thats worrrrrrrrrrrkkkkkk . wanna do it for me?

If you run the 305 heads, you will not need lead substitute because the heads already have the hardened seats in them. They'll also have the bolt holes for the accessories. I've changed the setup since the picture. I put the alternator on an original bracket that mounts higher. I'm running a 350 turbo behind the 283.

283 small journal questions

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