I've been stockpiling parts and am looking to have a little fun with my powertrain this winter. I got a deal on some 305 heads (416 casting) so I no longer have to worry about the lack of hardened seats in my powerpacks. While I'm at it, I'm throwing on a Performer Intake and quadrajet carb. I'm already running an HEI, and the exhaust system has stock ram horns, 2 1/4 dual exhaust with crossover pipe. I've also bought a 3.08 posi, so i'll be swapping in a Turbo 350 in the near future, gonna need that steeper first gear to get things moving. (Stall speed on torque convertor TBD)
My hopes and goals are to add a little HP and some grunt in the low end, but maintain the driveability and reliability. And not hurt the economy until I mash on it! Granted, she'll never race down the track, I'm still looking to dial up the performance if possible. So that's the backstory...
In the meantime, I've got a line on the following cam:
Throw your 305 heads in the garbage, put hardened seats in your stock 896 or 520 powerpack 283 heads, and only if you really want to, unless you put on 300,000 plus miles, the stock seats will probably be OK for years.
Put in a stockish cam, its only a 283, any bigger and it will rob bottom end torque, unless you cruise around town at 3000 + RPM
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Beaumontguru
MY BEAUMONT HAS 4 STUDDED TIRES AND 2 BLOCKHEATERS......AND LOTS OF OIL UNDERNEATH. The other one has a longer roof.
L79 cam in a 283 does that too, about 2800 before it comes on. But boy, the idle sure sounds sweet with the L79 cam. For me, it's worth it. I don't care if it goes fast, I want it to sound sweet!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
That sounds like a RV cam!!! May give you a "little" more but you don't want to go wild lift as you will pull the rocker studs out of the head!! Don't ask!! Been there done that & No Shirt!!!!
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Some times I wake up GRUMPY, but today I let her sleep in !!!!!!!!BLACKSTOCK Ont.
I have a 204/214 at.050" dur, .420"/.443" lift cam in my 283 that was in my 65 for years. It's a generic RV cam, mileage cam, what ever you want to call it. Mine is a Mellings MTC-1 I believe. It shares the same specs with Edlebrock's performer cam. Works great with the performer intake and TH350 trans. The 3 speed auto trans is what really wakes up a 283. The cam lets it pull a little higher and harder than stock, as I did the cam and intake after the 3 spd. It adds a nice little rumble too. A lot of people never believed it was "just a 283".
As for the heads unless your 283 heads need rebuilding and the 305 don't, leave the 283 heads on. You won't be driving it hard enough to pound out the exhaust valves. The 305's won't hurt, as even if the ports and valves are smaller you won't notice as we are not talking about running above 6000 rpm here.
Thanks guys. I'm having a heck of a time decoding cam specs. Its even more confounding than when my wife sends me out to buy lady products. Here's a tip though, never buy the larger or extra large variety for her... no matter what.
My basic understanding for building power is to un-restrict the breathing in and out. After upgrading the intake and exhaust, a cam upgrade can say help the engine take bigger breaths with duration and such. The problem with the 283's smaller bore and stroke, is that most cams are designed for the 350, making it very easy to over do it. I suspect I already have an RV cam stashed in there. It has a little lumpy lump in the idle and runs out of steam at just over 5000 RPM.
As for the 305 heads, I got them for cheap, they were recently decked, and have new performance springs in them. I'm looking to do some long range cruising this summer, so an 8 hour road trip down the Oregon coast isn't out of the question.
the heads on my 283 (bored 30 over) crapped out this year and i replaced with a set off a 305HO (801 casting) same cc but larger intake valve. stock 305 are same cc and same valves but have hardened seats. unless your a number matching type of guy the earlier 305 also use the same valve cover bolt pattern. for a cam i used a 280 lift, 280 duration, machinist called its a rv cam part number (1156G) i put over 40,000 clicks in the last 5 years on the old girl and some was with a camping trailer. i find the 283 will wind up faster and higher then what i usually expect from a 350.
It's certainly not a big cam but it all depends on the engine you're putting it in.
It would be a VERY mild cam in a 400 ci engine. A 400 would idle smoothly with that cam but a 283 would have a noticeable semi-rough idle. (nothing crazy, maybe a bit rougher than a factory muscle car)
I think this would be on the big end of what you'd want, especially with a Powerglide, but it might be acceptable.
I think a little less duration might be closer to what you'd want. Here's the next can down in that series. It's got 204/204 @.050 rather than 210/210
This is not meant to slam 283's, because I happen to love them, but really, getting a 283 to perform is not practical. In a heavy car such as your's you will never be able to make it pull hard with a small engine like that. Thus the reason I lean towards something like the L79 cam for the old school sound and the ability to make it rev if you want it to. Even a 327 is no screamer in a B body without extensive improvements.
Being in my mid 50's, I tend to lean towards a sweet sounding engine if it's in a car that will never really be a serious performer.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
L79 cam in a 283 does that too, about 2800 before it comes on. But boy, the idle sure sounds sweet with the L79 cam. For me, it's worth it. I don't care if it goes fast, I want it to sound sweet!
x2 what he said ......what with the lower 1st gear in a 350 Turbo? I thought the 700R had a 3.06 gear?
Its all about balance, I guess. I'd love a cool sounding idle, but not at the expense of chugging off the line. Come to think of it, I have pretty cool sounding idle. Maybe I should bolt on the intake etc and see how it goes before delving inside. As for transmissions, I was initially looking at 200r4, but with my 3.08 rear gears and big boots out back, an overdrive didn't add up mathimatically. Plus Th350's are cheap and appear to grow on trees, not to mention bolting right up.
I put a 300 hp 327 cam into my stock 283, I upgraded it with an aluminum dual plane and headers.
too much cam , it was a dog until 2800 rpm...
just saying...
Yes i did this exact same thing on my 57 Chev 283 a number of years ago. On the highway my stock 57 Chev with 283/powerglide was a killer but in town it really sucked big time. I ended up buying a new original 283/220 horse cam for my car and it ran great. I agree with the too much cam BAD theory. Good luck with your build. Cheers. George.
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1957 Pontiac Pathfinder Deluxe sedan restored 261 six
1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon low mileage original 400 V-8
Don't forget, if your worried about "taking" out the valve seats on a long run, theres always "LEAD" additive. I use that in the 64 Cat 389 when i drive it down to West Virginia, dump in one bottle every 3rd. tank full!!!! have at "least 7 or 8 trips & no problems, usually run at 60 to 65MPH> hrs. on end at 2600 RPM!! Anything faster & the Frt carb [2x4 bbl] starts to open & can watch the gas guage "move" Running a Comp cam H268 I think??? Have to go look at specs in G/box. Pete
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Some times I wake up GRUMPY, but today I let her sleep in !!!!!!!!BLACKSTOCK Ont.
Got a set of 416 heads on a cheap 350 I tossed together this summer. I gasket matched
The intake ports. Figured had to have them apart for valve seals anyways.
i put together a 283 for a budy, keep the 283 heads but kleen up the ports open the bowl up use a 160 194 valve with beehive springs, run a L79 cam but only if you run variable duration lifters other wise dont go nuts the trick with a small engine is compressionand lots of it, you can stick with a power glide but run a stall in it the 350 is a good alternative, its no stormer but a decent performer. i would put my 327s up against alot of bigger combos and come up on top, they rev and have a decent punch.
A lot of people never believed it was "just a 283".