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Which 283 blocks are safe to bore out to 4". I have read how some are safe before, but I can't find it. I want a small journal 302 and I found a 1963 283ci engine and I want to know if it has the correct block and a forged crank (I started the forged 283 crank thread).

Thanks,
millis

The sonic tester is your only RELIABLE way to determine maximum bore diameter.

One of Vizards books told specific years and ways to ID the ones that 'should' be capable of 4" bore. But Doug is dead right as usual. After 4+ decades of water circulating you have no idea how deep the rust pits may be. And core shift is an issue causing thin cylkinder walls, as is just production techniques / tolerances of the day.

Easier than hunting to the ends of the earth for a usable block and crank,,, why not use a standard 350 block and order a 3" stroke crank in large main format. In the end you would be much beter off. That is,, assuming there is some reason you specifically want 302 cubic inches.

Now that is a subject I havent herd off in a long time. I know My father when he was my age took a 283 and bored it to 4 inches. But that was back when the 327 was still king of the small blocks. Now he always claimed it to be a 301 now perhaps it was somthing in his combo or its just one of the those round up round down things. I will ask him out of curiosity im sure it was just a 302.

Usually the "round-bottomed" 283 blocks will bore to .155" over just like a 4.030" over-bored 302/327/350.

But as always, when in doubt, sonic check it.

And us hotrodders call an 1/8th over, 283, a 301 and GM rounded it up to their 302 is all.

pdq67

Yeah he just bored it 4 inches that was it this was so long ago that he thought all 283s could be bored to 4 inch. About 1965 or so his engine was prob a 62 or earlyer he said.

Back in the old days guys always looked real close to the lifter bores. If the machined bore was right in the middle of the cast boss you could assume, to some extent, the block was cast pretty true and the cylinder walls would be good to the .125 overbore. I remember JC Whitney used to sell pistons to make this engine too. I always heard the later blocks were better, later being 65 or newer. A 327 block would be the hot setup using the old steel 283 crank.

... A 327 block would be the hot setup using the old steel 283 crank.
+1;)

That's the original evolution of the 302 anyway...327 block (4" bore) mated with a 283 crank (3" stroke) = 301.5928944 CID where pi = 3.14159265

We had a short block come in the shop last year to have it sonic tested as it was a 283 bored to 4.000 and he went by David Visards book and when we sonic tested it the thrust side of the cylinders were around .088 and the guy was putting it on ebay.

Go by a sonic test and not what someone wrote in a book.

We sonic test every OEM block that goes through our shop.

Most of the early "301" built 283's were a sab and guess as to how thin the water jackets would be after boring it .125". Sometimes it worked out and sometimes you hit water. So, if you're bound and determined to use the 283 block (which is a high nickel block--a good thing), then have it sonic tested first before spending any more money on it.

The other way to build one was mentioned above: 350 block with a stroker crank. If you could find them, they used to make bearing spacers to be able to use the 283 crank (small journal) in a 350 (large journal) block. Everything from then on would be small journal crank parts.

Understand that a 301 (the street designation)/302 (factory designation) won't pull a sick prostitute off a camode under 3500 rpm. It makes it's power from 4K to about 8 to 9K rpms. It works best behind a manual transmission. I doubt that it would work well with an automatic even if you put a high stall converter behind it but it might work OK. It will crank higher rpms and with the right cam to match that rpm, be a killer engine.

It requires very good rods: professional rod bolts, shot peened rods that have been magnifluxed and resized.

It also requires four bolt mains due to the stresses on the bottom end. I have built two 3" stroke animal engines: a 292 (.060" 283) and a 304 (.060" 327 with 3" stroke small journal GM crank) and had Summers Brother splayed billet four bolt mains put on them. I stil have the 292 which is installed in our 87 S10 Drat truck, I can't wait to hear that female dog run again:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n260/Cardinal_03/87%20S10%20Drag%20Truck/SparkplugwiresPS.jpg

I ask because I am looking at buying a 283 shortblock for $50 and I thought if it had a good chance of going to 302 I would buy it. If it had no chance then I would keep my $50 and go buy concert tickets or something instead of a $50 paper weight. Yes 302s have low torque off the line, but I am buying a t56 and plan to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.10 gears. Besides that I am not really interested in drag racing.

This is what the guy said: "the numbers on the block are 3834812............it is from a 62-63 chevy." I am pretty sure this is a forged crank 283, good. I just wondered if the block had any chance at being bored .155" over.

millis

CNC how much is it to Sonic-test I block now days?

CNC how much is it to Sonic-test I block now days?

We charge 40 dollars for that but if we are doing all the machine work to the block we don't charge for it as it only takes less then 10 minutes to do and the block does not even have to be cleaned first.

You guys realize the Ford 302 has the same bore and stroke as a 301/302 Chevy? Even with the lousy cylinder heads on the Fords those engines run pretty good in those tinfoil Mustangs, really wake up with some heads. Still, no replacement for displacement.