Same mod's that you would normaly do to a 350 will work on the 283. I would say to go at least the 350 route because you could pick up a 350 to build pretty cheap but if your set on the 283 then thats cool, you can still make a decent street motor out of it.

Good carb and intake will help alot, I'd suggest a good dual plane intake, maybe a 650 on a performer rpm intake. Dont go to wild on the cam, something with a .050 duration of around 210-216 is a good range for a nice street sbc that will give decent power without having to do many mods. Open the flow of gases up with a good set of small tube headers to work with that cam for some low/mid range torque, upgrand the ignition and you'll have a decent power 283.

far as the trans I'd go with a T350 for sure just for the fact that the T350 has a higher gear ratio and will help the 283 off the line better.


BTW welcome to CHR

BG