1962 Chevy 283 Engine Value?
 

Got a chance to buy a 1962 Chevy 283 Engine, Standard bore 2 bbl carb. Are these engine worth much anymore? This engine was well taken care of. 1962 283 engines came with forged cranks. Thinking about putting a 30-30 Duntov cam, Z-28 intake, headers, High volume oil pump and dropping it in my 72 Nova Street Car. Always loved these short stroke 283. High Rev motors.

283 Build...
 

Pretty sure lots of us have a sweet spot for the old 283...my first 2 cars had that engine. I can still remember the 283 whine of that little small block.

Regarding the upgrades...your 2 barrel motor is low compression and will likely not work well with the 30/30 cam.

Everything has to work together. If you want that cam, you will need some compression, good heads with bigger valves, good valve springs, a good intake and the proper size carb for the cubic inch size, and a free flowing exhaust. Not a good cam choice for an auto car, 4spd would be preferred along with a decent gear in the rear. You didn't say what tranny or rear is in the Nova....

A modern hydraulic cam designed to work with the compression and heads you have, dual plane intake, small Holley, decent exhaust might be a better choice.

-wilma

Thanks for the info. Nova has a 4 speed, 4.10 rear gear. Yes agree low compression. I dont want to dump a bunch of money into the engine. Good dual plane, 4 bbl Holley, headers, HEI Distributor. Just a fun cheap project and have some fun on the street with that 283.

283...
 

The low compression and small valve heads will limit your cam choices...

Back in the day [before I had any idea about anything]...I installed an L79 cam in a low compression 283 with a powerglide...it was a dog:frown:

It is always about getting the right combination of parts to work together for the best performance. Less is more :scholar:

Agree, compression is everything to start with. I think i can assemble a low budget street 283 with decent power. A good set of Power Pack heads will bump the compression up to 9-1. Good aluminum high rise intake with a 650 Holley i think would be a good choice with this combination. And a nice RV cam with low down torque would pull this engine hard in the upper RPM range. I have the correct 4.10 gear with a good M20 4 Speed and low first gear. Any thoughts? Thanks WILMASBOY78.

Power Pack Heads...
 

I love the names of these vintage parts...'power pack'...'30-30'...'fuelie'...and so forth, cool stuff. Since you have a 72 Nova the early heads may not work well with some of the bolt on items/accessories. Check out this Hot Rod forum...it is dated, but the info is pretty good. Some suggest the later 305 heads with the small chambers and others talk about re-working the heads. Make sure you can bolt on all your 72 items to the older heads before you go to far.

-wilma

https://www.hotrodders.com/threads/2...-heads.179295/

Yes i read the 305 heads work good with the 283. Good point about accessories being bolted on.

It just needs a 4" bore... !!!

Will that block take 4"?

Terms like that were the stuff of my adolescent dreams...

And we called that a "301"