These are handy to have around.
Bolt Depot - Thread Guage
So handy, I’d like to give a couple away.
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Thanks for reading.
Tim
Here the first Wrenchin’ Tip for 2011.
When installing a new engine or even modifying your present power plant fuel and intake system you have a few things to consider.
Of course the size of your fuel pump, where it and the fuel filter is located, size of the filter, size of your fuel line, fuel pressure. Along with that jet size or injector size and baffling in your fuel tank. All of this is important to ensure your fuel delivery system can maintain full pressure at peak engine horsepower in high gear.
All of these need to be adjusted or “sized” to accommodate less controllable factors such as Altitude, air temperature and idiosyncracies of your fuel, like quality and octane rating. Yes even specific gravity of your gas can effect the jetting.
Here are some jetting requirement of a 750 CFM 4 barrel Holley for specific fuel, temps and altitude options:
Octane Temp. Altitude Front Jetting Rear Jetting
94 80F 0 ft 81 86
110 Race 80F 0 ft 81 83
94 80F 3000 ft 76 81
94 80F 6000 ft 73 77
94 40F 0 ft 84 89
94 120F 0 ft 78 83
Oxgenated fuels toss another factor in to be considered when determining your jetting requirements.
Studies of shown that every 1 point richer in air/fuel ratio equals only a few percent less power. Running the engine as lean as possible will increase your power but also increased combustion chamber temp, which can damage your engine.
Thanks for reading
Tim
Let me start of by saying, WOW!!! Of course that’s what I say every year I attend.
There is a lot of things to do (oh, not just car stuff but one of my better-half’s favorite — shopping — everything from jewelry to purses to beds) , people to talk to and cars, cars and cars. Car people are at their best when they are around their cars.
This year was a bit different for me, yes, I sat a watched the auction a bit, I really wanted to talk to some of the vendors (I have a project to work on) and wander around the various staging areas.
Some of my favorite vendors were the Karl Kustom Corvettes. These are re-bodied C6/Z06 underpinnings/platforms and put some of the most popular Corvette bodies the ’63 split window coupe and the 67 Roadster. These are outstanding looking cars and if they perform like the Z06 and I understand the auction price. Oh and it is not just the bodies, they’ll take your old LS3 and knock it up to 599hp and your lame LS7 to 650hp…I’m just saying!!! Check them out at: http://www.karlkustomcorvettes.com/
Normally they have some sort of racing event or car demo, last time I attended -2009 they had 4 wheel drive area to the lasted models of Jeep and Hummer, and drifting demo. This year if you registered with Ford and Chevy (they walk you up to a computer and you punch your information) you were allowed to drive two of their latest models offerings. Since I’ve driving the Mustang and the Corvette before, I opted to drive the SHO Ford Taurus and the 2011 Camaro convertible.
2011 Ford Taurus...Oh..don't laugh..this ain't your daddy's Taurus
2011 Camaro Convertible
Let me say this about the Taurus SHO …Surprising!!!! It doesn’t look like much…but get behind the wheel and you’ll feel the kick. I managed to get the rear end to slide around (much to the Ford reps surprise) on the short track they had set up. That car says “sleeper” all over it, but you’ll shock the guy next to you taking off from that red light on your way to work. (Come..ON!!! You know you do that red light mini drag thing…yeah..ya do!!!)
The Camaro was awesome as well. I pick up one if I had room to park it.
Additionally they had the Bondurant guys there and they’d give you a spinning the their Z06 as well as a racing school out of Utah, that made it known to me that they were a “real” racing school and used real race set Mustangs unlike the Bondurant’s “street’ cars. They had a couple of cars there’s as well.
Here’s a few more pics and I’ll finish up a bit later.
Bagged Restro Mustang
Entry on to the Stage. A beautiful DeSoto on it's way to the block.
Factory Race ready Camaro
More to come. Thanks for reading.
Tim
Headed there this weekend. Look for pics and posts coming up.
Tim
This is the part of the engine series where I list the uses for the power plant. The 283, as I mentioned, carried Chevy engines to the next level, by being the first engine that car manufacturers were able to coax out the same horsepower as the displacement.
From 1957 (its inception) to 1959 the 283 was the base model V8 for nearly all Chevys, coming in a 2 and 4 barrel versions with the 4 barrel being the main power plant for the Corvette. In 1958 the 4 barrel version was dubbed the Super Turbo Fire with 220-230 hp with 9.5:1 heads. (Toss that name in with other versions like the 348 Turbo Thrust and the Super Turbo Thrust which sported 3 two barrel carbs.) The other premier engine during that period was of course the FI used in the Corvette with 9.5:1 and 10.0:1 compression.
The 283 Super Turbo Fire
1960-1961 saw the base 283 drop to a 2 barrel and muster just 185 hp. The bright spots were engines used only in the Corvette, the dual quad and the FI engines. 1961 also saw the 283 go MARINE – nope not joining that elite military branch but rather Chris-Craft the boat builder, sealed it tight and give a duty on their Cavalier Cruiser vessel.
Marine 283 for Chris Craft Cavalier Cruiser
Not much changed in 1962-1963, at least nothing very exciting. Chevy dropped the dual quad as an option (although I bet you could still get it done) and the 283 dropped in hp to 170 and as was no longer an option for the Corvette, but was added to the Impala.
As perhaps a last chance to breathe some life into 283 Chevy gave it a bump in hp to 195 and it found a new home in the new Chevy II in 1964 and 1965 a 4V was added give the iron 220 hp and another new home the ’65 Chevelle.
But that couldn’t save the 283, it was time for Chevy to move on and 1966 was its final year. It served as the base V8 that year as an option for the Chevy II and Chevelle and the other Chevy sedan’s, like my 1966 Impala.
Although it seems like I give this a quick pass (not a long list of models) the 283 served nearly all models of Chevy from 1957 to 1966, listing them all would be, well ..repetitive . Interesting enough it never crossed over to the other GM brands. But it did make it into the Canada made Studebaker cars in 1965 and 1966.
During the it’s life span the 283 was offered with every transmission available for that year. From the torque glide to the power glide automatic transmissions and even a few 3 and 4 speed manuals. Additionally, I was surprised to find that it was offered with air suspension with some automatic.
Did the 283 really die? Nope it received the cam from the 327 and became Chevy’s 307!!
Notable:
– The 327 followed the 283 and although it was an entirely hunk of iron, to keep cost down Chevy used some 283 components initially.
– GM’s RPO 579E option on the 283. 579E was called the Air Box. It was perhaps the first production cold air induction system(at least for Chevy). It consisted of a plenum box mounted on the fender well of the driver’s side. The box was fitted to an opening in the bulkhead next to the radiator with an air filter inside. The duck work ran to the fuelies injection unit. Records indicate that there were only 43 produced in 1957.
1957 Corvette AirBox
– Corvette Fuelies had a reputation for hard starts and finicky operation and many were replaced with the standard carburetor (1957)…Flash Forward the 1984 Corvette Crossfire (fuel injected) (Of which I was a previous owner) suffered from finicky operating and some were replaced with carburetor set ups.
I hope you enjoyed this little bit of engine history and as always, thanks for reading.
The correct should be – the 283 received the “crank” from the 327 (not the cam) and became the 307.
Thanks.
Tim
Tim
1965 – 1966 Chevy’s mainstay V8 the 283 was used in several Studebaker models build in Canada.
1966 Studebaker Cruiser
1966 Studebaker with Chevy’s 283
Chris-Craft boat manufacturer used the 283 in their water boats.
Marine 283 for Chris Craft Cavalier Cruiser
Chris-Craft Used Chevy’s 283
Thanks for reading.
Tim
1957 – 1958 saw the use of the New 283 engine in Chevy‘s including the Corvette.
The Corvette was fitted with the Rochester RamJet and RAM’s horn intake as the RPO Code 579D. But recently during some research I read that there was another modification.
It was called the Air Box Option, RPO 579E and it was perhaps the first production cold air induction system(at least for Chevy).
It consisted of a plenum box mounted on the fender well of the driver’s side. The box was fitted to an opening in the bulkhead next to the radiator with an air filter inside. The duck work ran to the fuelies injection unit.
Records indicate that there were only 43 produced in 1957.
1957 Corvette AirBox
Thanks for Reading.
Tim
Oh yes, believe it or not, the 283 put the Corvette at the cutting edge of performance in 1957, fitted with the RamJet FI (fuel injection) system (“fuelie” was the gearhead term for that). In 1958 the 283 was the base engine for the Corvette, but the 283 that use to put on 283 hp was tuned to create an even 290 hp. If that wasn’t enough for you (of course it wasn’t enough, two words that should never be heard together ‘enough’ and ‘horsepower’…unless…the word ‘not’ precedes them). The RamJet FI was an available option RPO 579D.
Additional configurations were dual four barrel carbs that produced 270 hp, they were either Rochester or Carter AFB. The cam was changed in 1958 to give 0.398 inches of lift, improvements made to get more oil to the lifters and the exhaust manifold was reworked, called the Ram Horn’s manifold. There was a change in how the 283 was mounted. Chevy used the 3 point system with a mount on each side and one at the rear of the engine at the transmission.
Intake manifold for the 283 Double Quad
Dual Quad set up on a 283
In 1961 the FI jumped the engines’ horsepower to 315. (Hey, the base corvette in 2007 was 400 hp.) The FI wasn’t the only improvement for the 283 in 1961. It was treated with a set of solid lifter, improved heads and hydraulic cam which helped the block rich 315 hp, easily. This would be as far as the 283 would go in horsepower – in production. 1961 was also the last time the dual four barrel carbs were available as an optional configuration.
By 1962 the 283 was replaces by an entirely new engine the 327 (that’s another mini series) as the premier Chevy small block. The 283 was dropped from the a power plant for the Corvette to a base engine for Chevy’s passenger and used from 1963 to 1964. Its horsepower dropped to 170 and 195 for two configurations. A small bright was a four barrel configuration for 1965-67 that produced 220 hp. (That was the configuration of my 1966 Impala convertible.)
Of note is the use of the 283 in Chevy’s light trucks with a two barrel configuration for most of the models in 1958 to 1962. It produced only 160 horsepower. For the 1963 to 1967 light truck models the hp was increased to 175.
1967 was the last year for the historic 283.
1966 Chevy Impala
Coming up next a recap of the uses of the 283.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
So far my writings are about engines have been ones I owned and the 283 was the engine in my very first car. It was a 1966 Chevy Impala. It was a gift to me for my 1976 high school graduation. The car was restored by my father, who was a master auto body man. The car was a convertible with A/C and glass rear window. It sported an automatic Powerglide transmission.
The 283 was a simple engine and of course the engine bay of the ’66 Impala could hold a family of four, with lots of room to work in there. Oh…those were the days…a piece of cardboard on the ground and 3 bolts later you’d have the starter out. I wish I could find a picture, I know there were some taken, polaroids back then, but they’ve disappeared over the years, much like the car.
So what’s the history of the 283 and what was it used in. Well those answers are coming up as well as two special uses of the 283, one in the past and one modified restro-mod use…(yeah…someone mod’ed a 283..very cool, but that is later).
As with most engines the 283 wasn’t drawn up on the design boards and produced. It was a result of Chevrolet’s desire to increase performance of a power plant they already had on the shelf. The 265 cubic inch small block underwent transformation that resulted in a new engine in 1957.
The modifications made to the 265 to create the 283 were increased bore from 3.75” to 3.875″, the main bearing was given 2.30” journals and 2.00” connecting rods. The base configuration (with a two barrel carb) for the 265 produced 165 hp, the 283 made 185. Twenty more horsepower doesn’t seem much but toss on a 4 barrel and the 283 takes off at 220 hp which tops the 265 similarly configuration producing 185-195 hp.
Chevy's 283
1957 was a good year for Chevy. Bill “Grumpy Jenkings took a 283 fitted with a dual carb set up and achieved 270 hp. It was also the first year for Chevy’s Rochester Ram Jet and what better engine to use than the new 283. This combination took the 283 in to the history books by producing horsepower that equaled the displacement – 283 c.i.d. and 283 hp.
And that is what led to the installation of the 283 in Chevy sports car platform, the Corvette.
More on that coming up in Part 2.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
Happy New Year.
Unfortunately I have to start the year out with a legal notice. It seems that my writings are so inspiring(…ok…stop laughing!!!) that a few sites have decided that they would use them on their sites in total, placing ads in the middle for their profit and not requesting permission.
I enjoy writing my blog and I do it to share experiences and social interaction.
If you like it, great!!
If you’d like to share links, I’m all for it
If you want to post entire articles ask permission and I’ll send you my list of requirements for accomplishing this.
If you want to use my articles and place and in the articles, we need to talk first.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
