This winter I am thinking about camming up my 283 motor. It's got stock pistons, stock crank, all stock internals. Has an Edelbrock EPS Dual Plane intake with a Holley 600 Vacuum Secondary carb. It's got headers, and 2.5 inch flowmaster exhaust. I have a TH350 with a 2800 Stall convertor and shift kit. The car will either have 4.11 or 3.73 gears.

What do you guys think the biggest cam I could go with is, as long as I replace the Springs, and lifters? Or should I say, What is the best cam for my application? I want to beable to drive to the race track that's an hour away, other then that the car wont see much highway use.

Thanks,
Joe Phillips

Joe,

When you say stock internals, do you know what you have exactly? Like most Chevy engines there were quite a few varieties of 283's as well. Everything from 9.0/1 283 2 barrel motors to 11.0/1 with the PowerPack heads. If you don't know for sure, take the time to at least get the cylinder head info and figure out the CR, this will at least let you zero in on the seat (advertised duration) timing. For .050 timing, I would think you want to stay in the 210 and under range. Rear ratio is highly dependent on the tire size you run. With a 283, 3.73's are liveable with a 25 - 26" tire. Step up to a 28" tire and you will need at least 4.11's with the 283. This is an area where you want the lease rolling resistance and the highest leverage possible.

Hey GRN, First off, thanks for the reply and Sorry giving you too little of information. I'll try my hardest to give as much information as I know on the motor. It's a 1966 Malibu 283 2 barrel motor. It's got 9.25:1 compression according to the motor specs in the back of the owners guide. I've read a little on the cams for the 283 that 69LS1 posted and it's got a .390/.410 195/202 dur @ .050 stock. The heads are the stock heads that came on the motor, I would like to find out more about them if anyone has any info. Hope this helps on what size cam I can go.

Thanks,
Joe Phillips

Imho, about the best little cams there is for onna the little buggers if you can get the CR. up to 10 or so is the great, but old-fashioned, stock little Duntov -097 solid cam!!

She will run like a bat from about 3000 on up until the points float.. Should be above 7,000 rpm EASY!!!

pdq67

Where can I find this cam? All I will have to do is change the lifters springs and cam and the car will hold power to 6500 and up? :eek: I like the idea, plus the 4.11 gears!

Yes the Duntov will work in a 283, but it is intended for an early Corvette with a 4 speed, 4.11 and about 1000 lbs less wt. headed for a road racing course. Could use it a street driven 283, but I don't think you would like the performance around town.

You are probably right with the 9.25/1 CR. Take a look through the Cams available and try to stay 200 - 210 @ .050, keep the seat duration as short as possible to build torque. I would even consider one of the 4x4 grinds in your application. I have learned to build my motors for torque whether big or small block. The results are always better than trying to get max HP.

In the old days, when guys ran HIPO 283's, they ran them to 8000+. That is what is meant by high reving. I know a guy that used to run a '55 Chevy in the old days, ran a 283 motor. He would launch the car at 8000 rpm and shift at 10K. That's how they used to run them. Ran something like a 5.13 gear with a 26" tall tire.

That's definetely not what you want to do here. If it is, you need to go to much larger converter and gear.

what ever you do..do not over cam a 283...it will be a dog..compression ratio is the problem..its hard to raise it enuff to use a big cam..I used a comp 270 magnum in a 283 with 186 fuellie heads...can you say mutt...I thought I was increasing the CR by adding the fuellies...wrong..stock the chamber size is anywheres from 58 to 60 cc...either bump up the compression and gear it to wing..or stick with a xe 256 type cam

Just install a set of 305HO, -601 heads on a flat-topped 283 along with the .015" thick shim headgaskets and you should be fine..

AND my Mom's '65 Chevelle's, 195hp, 283 motor would do 6500 fine way back when with no more then the old -929 cam after I reset the lifter pre-load for a bit of Saturday night fun..

pdq67

Or an XE 262,. If you don't mind some fiddling, the new XS solid series will give you more rev-a-bility.

I had a 65 chevelle with a 283/2bbl and put a 30/30 cam Holley 300-36 intake/650 carb dual exhaust(no headers) 3:36 rear with 3 on the tree. This car would just scream, low end wasnt the greatest but if you buzzed her up and dumped the clutch she would go like hell all the way to 7000 rpm! (speed shifting a 3 on the ree can be fun and exciting) made for a very fun car graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'd try something along the lines of an ENGLE EP20, 232@.050, 482 lift. Should give you both low and upper.

What do you guys think of the Comp Cams Nostalgia Plus N+30-30H Cam? Here are the specs. http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Search/CamDetails.asp?PartNumber=12-672-4


Thanks,
Joe Phillips

Joe, in short, a smidge too big unless it was a 10.25:1 compression ratio. Remember, you put something too big in, and don;t have the compression to use it, your bottom end will go away, esp in a 283. The two smaller nostaligics would be much better chocies IMHO.

Ideal choice in the Comp line would be the 256XS or 262XS. In a hyd the XE256 already mentioned.

Totally in sync with Gene. A small motored car has to be put together for one extreme or the other. Either you maximize the available torque or run the hell out of it. A 283 is not like a 350 small block where you have a middle of the road option. Don't be fooled, those motors can put out a fair amount of torque for their size. Try matching the cam to maximize the DCR and the results will be good.

I like the idea of a Comp HE260 or XE256. Something in that range should do nicely.

Here's something for you 283 guys to consider:

The 87-95 Ford 5.0 HO engines had a 3" stroke, and smallish (160-170 cfm intake) heads with 1.78/1,46 valves. The OEM cam in the Fords was 276/266 adv., 210/210 @ 0.050, .444/.444 lift, and 115 LC. With the long runner EFI intake, these engines make a lot of torque in the 2500-4000 rpm range, and pull hard to 5200 rpm.

My ~3400 lb '95 runs 14.80's @ 92.5 with a mildly ported lower intake, stock headers, 2600 stall, 2.40 1st gear, 3.27 rear gears. I've often wondered if you could get a 283 to duplicate this performance with a 210 deg cam and a TPI set-up.

The lower intake on these Fords is a major choke point, as are the heads. Lots of guys are making BIG power with the OEM cam. I think it was Car Craft that build a junkyard 5.0 HO, and switched to a performer RPM and AFR heads, and got close to 400 HP with the STOCK cam. See specs above.

Anyways... the reason for all of this Ford talk, is to illustrate that short stroke street motors do not like a lot of cam. Most Ford guys who go to cams over 215 deg @ 0.050 in these engines are really disappointed when they keep the sotck heads and intake, because it kills the torque (the strength of these engines), and the heads / intake don't let it breathe up top. The Car Craft article shows that big hp numbers can be had without a lot of duration if you use a good head / intake package.

I know, I know... I am using the dreaded F-word, however, you can gain a lot of insight by looking at port flows and cam specs for these 3" stroke 302's.... after all, the cylinder doesn't know what nameplate is on the outside. smile.gif

EDIT: Here's a link to the stock cam 302 build-up:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0307_ford/index.html

(Looks like I remembered wrong on the intake... Note the head flow specs are listed in the sidebar)

I ran a small Crane solid for 10 years in my 327
in my EC.Might not be to bad for yours.

Crane F218/2933-12 is what I had.
.440 lift
218 @ .050
112 LSA
Lashed @ .022 hot....024 cold with iron heads.

would easily pull 6000 with a smooth idle.

If I were to run this cam again I would tighten the LSA up to 108... Especially in a 283 !

Back in the mid 70's I ran an 097 in my 327 Camaro.Loved that cam for a street car but it was an 11-1 engine , 4 speed 3.90 gears.Talk about drivability and slam you back in your seat and pull..Great street cam for the day and nerver hurt parts with it.
Like GRN69CHV said it really works best in Vette's , Old Chevy II's ,1st gen Camaros and Austin Healeys and such.

I would think that the 097 would be about the longest cam you would really want to use.The bigger cams will sound mean but in a low to mid compression 283 ...even with gears it will lose too much driveability and stack all your power twords the top end.... That actually isnt really all that much fun to drive.

I agree also. Keep the cam smaller for better performance down low. I merely offered the 30-30 as an example of what I had done way back when (before I knew better) I would think the 268 cam would be close to perfect for that engine.

I've decided on the Comp Cams Xtreme Energy XE262H Cam. What do you guys think about this in the 283. Too big, or just right?

Thanks,
Joe Phillips

Originally posted by 69LS1:
If I were to run this cam again I would tighten the LSA up to 108... Especially in a 283 !
69LS1, I wish I could tighten up the LSA to 108, but I can't seem to find any cams with the type of lift/duration I want that has that tight of serperation. Best I could find is 110. I dont have any accesories running on vacuum (no power brakes and such). I do have a vacuum secondary carb though, so I think that the 110 might be ok. 108 would make for a rockier idle, wouldnt it?

Thanks,
Joe Phillips

Way rocky in a 283. 110 would be fine.

I seem to recall Vizard saying that bigger SBCs benefit far more from tight LSAs, and that a wider LSA (110-ish) often works better for a small motor.

I'd go with the XE256 if it were me, but I tend to be a bit conservative. By the time you get to where the XE262 really shows an edge over the XE256, those power pack heads are gonna choke it anyways. smile.gif

Originally posted by Jp-15:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by 69LS1:
If I were to run this cam again I would tighten the LSA up to 108... Especially in a 283 !
69LS1, I wish I could tighten up the LSA to 108, but I can't seem to find any cams with the type of lift/duration I want that has that tight of serperation. Best I could find is 110. I dont have any accesories running on vacuum (no power brakes and such). I do have a vacuum secondary carb though, so I think that the 110 might be ok. 108 would make for a rockier idle, wouldnt it?

Thanks,
Joe Phillips </font>[/QUOTE]Joe ,

The Crane cam I mentioned is not a " Cataloged " item. It is available on a special order basis on any LSA you could want. The last digits on that lobe the -12 is the LSA.... If you wanted it on a 108 it would be -8 .

In my combo the 112 LSA idled BEAUTIFULLY ! Just a nice crisp idle @ 800 RPM pulling 17 in of vac as I recall.It did not have a lope to it.Just the slightest sewing machine whirl sort of tappet noise. Put that cam on a 108 and it would still idle good.Probably pull 14 in or so and " MAYBE " have a slight lope to it. The 097 was on a 110 and 10 deg longer @ .050 and had a VERY CIVILIZED slight lope to it.... It's been around 25 years since I had my 097 but I seem to recall it had around 14-15 in of vac in my engine.

It's fairly difficult to build alot of compression in a 283 type engine. A small cam on a tighter LSA will help it's cylinder pressure and build some more mid range torque. A wide LSA will help the idle to maybe 2000 RPM power but the tighter will help from then on up.... And if your converter is around 2800 you should have no problems what so ever with a short cam on a 108 in a short stroke engine. Chevy designed the 097 as a cam for the 283 Corvette's. It worked very well indeed and even better in the 340 and 360 HP 327's .But they did require gearing and a light car...
Ya also have to remember both the 097 and the Crane I mentioned or even an old ISKY E-4 type cam
are all soild lifter cams.... not hyd cams... So there tends to be a slightly better idle to begin with.

Any way you look at it the 283 WILL bennifit from at least a 3.73 gear with most cams.They do like gear... especially in a mid to heavy car.

XE256 is more than enough. The XE262 will work with a 283 with a stick, 4.10's and a lot less wt.. The XE256 will work, but even that is more than I would have looked at. No matter how you look at it, we always want to go just a little bigger than we should. In this case, the smallest of the XE line is still much larger than what the motor was built with originally.

Mr 69LSI...

What springs were required with that Crane F218 cam? That sounds like the ticket for a 9:1 327. How was that engine down low (2500 RPM or so)?

Here's the spec's on the old -097 cam and what PatK has to say about it's advertised duration.

–097, little Duntov solid, (287/287 per GM and 272/272 per Pat K.)/228/231, .395”/.383” net I, .401”/.383” net E, 110.5/108, lash at .012" I/.018" E.

Add a set of 1.6 rockers or go with a hy- cam Crane Energizer 266-H10, at 266/210, 110/105, .440" lift and go have fun..

pdq67

PS., and about the only car I couldn't catch in my Mom's stock, '65 Chevelle el-cheapo four door, 195hp/283 three speed that was about likrmy Mom's car was the '56 2-door a buddy had whose sister I had dated a couple a times!! He had, so he said, a 265 PP with the 30-30 in it but with 4.11 gears. heck-mighta been 4.56 gears b/c it was stock, straight-6 three speed OD rearend??..

He could beat Mom's car outta the hole AND I could stay with him all the way but couldn't catch him!! He couldn't believe my Mom's two barrel 283 ran soo hard!!

Novadude,

The Crane F218/2933 -12 in my 69 EC was a total compromise engine.... The engine origionally was built for a replacement for my first 327 in my Camaro ... but my Camaro got stipped before the new engine went in.... well it sat for years until I had a need for it... My EC 's origional 350 died so I refreshened up the 327 and took a bunch of power out of it...Changed heads , compression , cam , intake yada yada yada... The engine ended up as an 8.7 SCR
with 041 castings a TH350 and 3.07 gears.Perfect for it's new use as a work truck.

As I recall Crane wanted a spring that would be in the 105-115 lbs on the seat range so it got a stock diameter spring that had 110 lbs on the seat.

I used that 327 with 2 different trans...at first a TH350 and later a Richmond ST-10 with a gear set of 2.88 , 1.91 , 1.33 and 1.1 with the same 3.07's.I also tried 3 different carbs with it and you probably wont belive this but the smallest was BY FAR the best one....a 390 CFM Holley.

With the TH350 and stock converter ( A stock converter was perfect...no high stall needed with this cam )... It never was rough... no bucking for shucking..just smooth ... under 2000 was smooth but abit limp....2000-3000 was good...3000-4000 was getting with the program and 4000-6000 the thing WENT NUTS !.... I belive the 112 LSA had alot to do with that.... I tried different springs in the vac sec Holley and the yellow made it almost imposible to shift quick enough ( coloum shift linkage..so I went to a plain spring and that was overall better.

With the 4 speed it was a better set up..This gear set worked really well and helpped it...it needed some gear.If it was on a 108 LSA the power in the mids would have been better and would have simply been a better combo in my opinion...may have lost alittle low speed in the under 2000 RPM range but it overall would have been much better..and getting with the program harder and earlier in the RPM range vs the 112 LSA... With the TH350 combo a set of 3.31 to 3.55's would have been better than the 3.07's I had... But with that 4 speed the 3.07's or a set of 3.23's would have been fine.

For allround smooth driveability it was very good.It would light the tires up with ease with either trans and idled like a stocker.The vast majority of people who ever looked under the hood would have never guessed it had a solid lifter cam in it.... You really had to listen to tell.

Thanks for the info. I will need to keep this cam in mind for my mega-low $$$ 327 project. Basically, I am adding some home ported 64cc 2.02 heads to a solid running '69 235/327 and dropping it in a Chevy II with a PG (with a 2500-3000 stall) and 3.08s.

Novadude,

Some years ago there was a guy around these parts who had a 65 Corvette with a homebuilt L-79 engine with a glide and 3.73's.I never knew him but saw the car around and it got with the program pretty good.

The problem with a glide and 3.08's is that depending on tire size you may be going 60-80 MPH in 1st gear to hit 6000 RPM.Spending so much " Time " in the middle RPM ranges requires some torque to really get things going.You have all the stall you could ever need but it would probably like some cylinder pressure or if ever there was a use for a tight LSA this is it.... LSA selection is critical with a glide. Even in a lightweight car some gearing would help it.

My Camaro was origionally built with a 275 HP 327 PG and 3.07's ... even stock it could have used more gear.

Sounds like it should be a pretty fun car when done tho.

Al, good point on the 2 speed. Never considered that. You sure would want the mid range punch of a 110 or less in that case.

Spending so much " Time " in the middle RPM ranges requires some torque to really get things going.That is why I am thinking about a cam with modest duration on a 108-110 LC. Something like 212-215 @ 0.050 if I go hydraulic, or 218-222 @ 0.050 if I go solid.

Eventually, I will step up to 3.55 gears, and further down the road I will ditch the 'glide, however, I figure the glide will likely be around for a long time, so I am trying to slap together this budget motor accordingly. A GOOD converter will be critical to this combo, and I am thinking I will get a custom unit from ATI or somewhere that will stall at around 2500-3000. I don't want to go any higher than this with the tall gears.

Making Torque in the 3000-5000 range will be critical.

Anyways... I didn't mean to highjack this guys post... back to 283 cam discussion! ;)

Hey Joe~

I have a similar setup...66 malibu, 283 motor. Put edelbrock 600 carb and performer intake, headers, 2.25 dual exhaust, with powerglide and original gears. I have been shifting around the 3800-3900 mark with the glide...was thinking that i could wrap out more than that...of course i have so big ass tires in back. I just wondered if you'd let me know what setup you are going for...didn't know if you were changing heads also. I know i have pretty much stock everything, including cam grind. Rearend selection?

Thanks man, sorry for asking a question on your post but am dealing with a very similar idea.

Ryan

My ~3400 lb '95 runs 14.80's @ 92.5 with a mildly ported lower intake, stock headers, 2600 stall, 2.40 1st gear, 3.27 rear gears. I've often wondered if you could get a 283 to duplicate this performance with a 210 deg cam and a TPI set-up.


my stock 1985 TPI vette went 13.7 @97

3.07 gear, headers and duals.

auto stock 700 r-4 and stall.

then i sprayed it to an 11.91 :D

48 more cubes in that vette! ;)

Those L98 vettes deserve more credit. My uncles '90 speed density car pulled 101 mp with nothing more than a crank pulley and airbox mods.

Regarding shifting a 283 at 3900.... Even a stock cammed motor will pull higher with a 4 bbl. I had a 220 hp in my Chevy II w/ a glide and 3.08's, and I shifted it at about 5000. Ran 16.3 this way with a 4GC, 2" rams horns and 3.08 gear.

Hey Cahoy, You should beable to wind up more then that with your setup. Right now with my TH350, I have an Edelbrock EPS intake and Holley 600, with Hooker Comp Headers and 2.5 Flowmaster exhaust and I shift at 5000-5200. I still have the 3.08 gears too. The last time I ran the car I had a stock glide, stock 3.08, 2 inch glass pack exhaust, and I hadn't tuned the carb that well yet and I went 16.1 with a .638 R/T. Shifting at 5200. I'm excited to go out there with the tuned carb, new 2.5 exhaust and new trans with 2800 stall and shift kit and stuff.

As for the gear selection, I have decided to go with the 4.11. The cam grind I've decided to go with is the XE256 on the Comp cams line, and I'm using their recommended springs as well. I'm going to wait on changing the heads. If i'm going to be building a motor soon, I dont want to be buying 2 sets of heads. I think the stock heads will hold up for a little while with a valve job and some nice springs. They'll hold up for as fast as I want to go anyway (I hope). Hopefully it'll boot me down to 14.99!


Thanks for the help you guys!
Joe Phillips

jp-15... what (brand) converter are you running, and how is driveability with a PG and tall gears? I have a PG / 3.08 combo in my Nova, and I am wanting a 2800-3000 stall. Seems you are the only other guy running this off-beat combo! smile.gif

It's actually a "Trans King" 11" stall convertor. It's pretty much just like a stock convertor, but with a 2800 stall. Driveability is perfect. I dont think I'd go any smaller. A friend has a 3000 stall in his camaro and he has a 3.73 gear, and his trans gets burning hot, to the point where you dont want to touch the shifter. So far I love this trans/stall. I'm not sure how this stall would work on a P/G, but if you switched over the the th350 with the 2800, I'm sure you'd like the driveability. Hope this helps.

Joe Phillips

Whoops... I got confused... I thought you still had a 'glide. smile.gif

I run a 9.5" converter in my daily driver, and it works well, but I have more gear (lower first and rear) than I have in the Nova. I figure a 2800-3000 stall 9.5 or 10" should be just what the doctor ordered.