Thread: 327 heads/283

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I like the "151" Chev cam in a 283. Juice lifters, good power, nice lope at idle, and lots of RPM. Same cam in a 350 works good, too, but the cubes "tame" the idle a lot. My 283 had early '60's Power Pack heads and new springs that were supposedly the heaviest stock springs then available. I shifted it at 7000 RPM with 4.11 gears, blew the doors off many cars with 100 more cubes.

The double hump heads and 30-30 cams are old technology, but also very cool technology. Obviously, if your goal was as much hp as you could squeeze out of these engine there are more advanced combinations, but it looks like you realize that and just want something retro. No question that a lot of cars back then ran exactly this setup and sounded great and pulled strong. I knew of a few Chevys back in the 50's and 60's that were very strong performers running this equipment.

As mentioned, you will get very good at adjusting valves. As I remember, some guys ran the lash a little tighter at 28 and felt it ran better there. With the renewed interest in all things traditional these cams and heads are enjoying a new life. I think I remember some hot rod magazine doing a shootout where they compared these old cams to a modern hydraulic cam and the dyno showed throughout the rpm range that the modern cam put out more hp. But you can't modernize cool. Contrary to what some people may think, not every engine or car is put together with max hp as the goal, sometimes image is important too.

Oh, run either a loose converter or a stick setup. I put one of those cams in my 64 chevy and had to bump it into neutral at every red light.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

The double hump heads and 30-30 cams are old technology, but also very cool technology. Obviously, if your goal was as much hp as you could squeeze out of these engine there are more advanced combinations, but it looks like you realize that and just want something retro. No question that a lot of cars back then ran exactly this setup and sounded great and pulled strong. I knew of a few Chevys back in the 50's and 60's that were very strong performers running this equipment.

As mentioned, you will get very good at adjusting valves. As I remember, some guys ran the lash a little tighter at 28 and felt it ran better there. With the renewed interest in all things traditional these cams and heads are enjoying a new life. I think I remember some hot rod magazine doing a shootout where they compared these old cams to a modern hydraulic cam and the dyno showed throughout the rpm range that the modern cam put out more hp. But you can't modernize cool. Contrary to what some people may think, not every engine or car is put together with max hp as the goal, sometimes image is important too.

Oh, run either a loose converter or a stick setup. I put one of those cams in my 64 chevy and had to bump it into neutral at every red light.

Don

Hi people
I toldyouso,365051
The 1955 sedan [Blue and white] burnt out and we put the motor M/G/Box and posi traction diff into a 1938 plymouth replacing the Flathead six and it
gave a few surprises. A true super sleeper..All the best to all..Skyeking

In 1964 I had a 36 Ford 5 window coupe that had a 30/30 Isky (RPM 300) installed a pretty wild 265 with heads comparable to 283 fuelie heads and it ran pretty strong. Money problems in 73 forced me to sell the coupe minus the engine. The 265 was getting tired so I put the cam, heads and 2-4's in a stock 59 283 that I had in a 57 Chevy. After I wrecked the 57 I sold the engine minus the cam and in 82 I put it in a stock 400 which was in a 62 pickup. The truck was kind of ratty and a bit of a sleeper as I used a Offy 360 intake and a Holley 650 DP and headers. The idle in the 400 wasn't as pronounced as it was in either the 265 or the 283, but you knew it had a cam in it when it was fired. The truck is long gone but the 400 (torn down) and the cam are still in the garage awaiting a rebuild.
If you in fact have a RPM 300 you can rest assured that you won't wear the lobes out on breakin.