Hi all. let me introduce myself. I've got a '66 El Camino that is all stock matching numbers. My grandfather bought it new and I grew up coveting it since I was about 10 years old. With that said, I have spent the last 25 years that I've had it keeping it bone stock. Well, about a month ago It started popping through the carb under acceleration.
I think I've diagnosed it to be a flattened #1 exhaust cam lobe. It is a 283 2bbl with a powerglide. Manual brakes and steering, no AC, so it isn't a highly sought after set up. I have decided to build the 283 up a little bit, but I want to keep it "sort of stock". I'm looking for some advice on a good streetable setup, but with a little more power than the 195 hp it came stock with.
I'm thinking of a mild cam, possibly larger valves, either re-jetting the 2bbl a little bigger or finding another Rochester 2bbl that is a little bigger than mine, and running sidepipes instead of the single exhaust off the factory manifolds. Possibly porting and polishing the intake and heads. Possibly putting in forged pistons and rods. Possibly boring it out .030.
Does any one have a combination that makes good power for the street (ie. low end torque). I'm not going to be racing it so I probably won't be getting into the 6000 RPMs that I've seen some builds that people have done with the 283s.
It has the factory Power Pack heads already, but the small valves I'm pretty sure.
I think I'll be having the Powerglide rebuilt at the same time with heavier clutch packs and a small shift kit to help take more power
All in all I would be happy with 250 to 300 hp.