It's a 68 SS/RS. Dunno. It has a 283 in it. Is that the straight 6 or the V8. I know they made a v8 that small but they had a 6 in the same cid (or around there) didnt they. does the 283 v8 have the same deminsions as a 350.
Does anybody know what the rearend size is?
Correct me if i am wrong but if it is a 283 v8 than we could take my 350 block and put that 283 crank in there, wouldnt we have the 302 motor that was put into the first z-28's. Werent those the ones that one trans american race when they had those motors in them. I remember the term "race on sunday sell on monday" on one of my episodes oy my classic car when they were talking about the Z.

Thanks for any replies. I sure would like to know if this setup is possible.

Thanks

Bowtieguy01

 

The 283 crank has the small main journals; the 350 block has large ones. There are no bearings for this combo. You might be able to put a set of large-journal bearings in the block and align-bore them to the same inner diameter as small-journal bearing bores. I've never done that, I don't know if a bearing is thick enough. You'd also have to use small-journal rods, and 302 pistons.

But you are right, the 350 and 283 blocks are externally identical.

Are you sure it's really a 283?

 

If that engine is factory then it isn't a SS, try asking over at camaroz28.com 's classic tech forum, they would probably be more help.

 

sounds like its a fake, most likly it will be a base camaro, the 283 was a early engine from 55-to the 60's the axle will be a 8.2 ten bolt if it was a smallblock car or a 12 bolt if it was a big block car also its a 327 block, 283 crank that makes a 302

 

i have a 68ss BB 4 speed, a ss will have multi leaf 12 bolt and disk brakes for sure, 68 was a strike year so you'll see lot of weird stuff in 68 chevys

 

RB, Tempest, Ede -

Wasn't 1968 the year that the 327/283 changed mains sizes? Or was that just in the 327?

IIRC, there should be aftermarket spacer bearings available for the 283 crank in a "standard" 2.44" case, you know, to make a 302 out of a 327. Then again, my memory is only as good as the last cup of coffee...

And I think 1967 was the only year for the mono0plate rear leaf springs, but again, I could be mistaken.

An RS or SS shouldn't have a 283, regardless.

 

i thought SS's never had less than a 350 in them?(im probably wrong).Im also almost positive that the 6 cylinder model wasnt a 283,i think it was somewhere around 262cid.I also think that z28 302' had more than just the bigger crank,they had better caruerator,and other internal parts(didnt they have around 325HP?).Not to be sarcastic,but just by looking at it you should be able to tell if it is a straight 6 or V8. Easiest way-V8 has 2 valve covers,straight 6 has one.

 

I know the way to tell a 6 from an 8.
thanks for all the anwsers they will come very handy. the guy over the phone said it was a 283 cid. The funny thing is that the guy said that it had th-400. is that even possible? Will a th-400 bolt up, and dosent there need to be tunnel work to get it to fit.

I'm startin to think that either that we got a former drag car, or this guy dosent know what this guy's talkin about.

thanks

bowtieguy01

 

A 400 trans will bolt right into that car, and hook up directly to a 283. It's so trivial it's not even considered a "swap" since it was one of the possible factory options. Most likely the car was originally a 350/350 car, but might have been a 396/400 one. You can tell if it had a 400 trans originally by whether it has the kickdown switch on the gas pedal bracket; most of the time, people who swap one in don't bother to install that.

The base SS engine was the 350. In fact the only application the 350 came in before 69 was the Camaro SS. The other possible engines in a SS were big blocks. RS was nothing but a trim package: disappearing headlights in a different grille, and a different rear pan and taillights. It was available either on a plain Camaro, or on a SS, or on a Z28 starting in 68. It has nothing to do with what motor or drive train came in the car. I concur with ede and Tempest's remarks about rear ends and such, those are the same things I remember seeing in all of those when they were new. Of course alot of people swap the single-leaf springs into those cars and get rid of the multi-leaf, since the multi is essentially a variable-rate spring and so is not as good for drag racing, as a result you see alot more cars with singles these days than the factory actually made.

I don't recall any large-journal 283s ever being made. For all these years, the only way i have known of to come up with a large-journal 3.00" stroke crank is to get an actual 68-69 302 crank. The 67 302 was small-journal, the other 2 years were large journal. 68-up 327s are large-journal too. Seems like there used to be off-the-shelf spacer bearings to put a small crank in a large block, but I haven't seen them for at least 15 years, since nobody really cares about doing that sort of thing any more.

If I were buying that car, and the car itself is in any kind of decent shape, I'd put a 350 motor (or maybe a 400) in it, and a 350 trans. The 400 isn't necessary behind a typical street small block, and the 350 will make the car go faster, weigh less, and get better gas mileage than a 400.

As far as the 6-cyl motors, they would have been either a 230 or a 250; and of course they are an in-line motor not a V. Hard to confuse the 2.

 

huh? did no one else catch this? the base v8 engine in the 68 maro was a 307 (very few came this way) not a 283!! and there is no large journal 283 so yes the only way to make a large journal 302 is to get a hold of a 68-69 302 crank (the 67 Z/28 302 was a 2 bolt, small journal crank). Basically the first year of the large journal crank was 68. It should have had the 295hp/350 L48, 325hp L35 ,L34 350hp engine or the rare 396/375hp L78

 

I have to agree with everything you said, except, base engine in a 68 SS was a 350. Also NO 302 Z car was availible with auto or a/c. 1st year the Z car had an auto was 70 when it came with a lt1 350. Also many base camaros had the pg tranny, or the 3 speed.

 

L26 230ci/140HP L6 1BC - non-SS
L22 250ci/155HP L6 1BC - non-SS
Z28 302ci/290HP V8 4BC - Z-28 only (HP underrated!)
L14 307ci/200HP V8 2BC - non-SS, 1969 only
LF7 327ci/210HP V8 2BC - non-SS, eliminated during 1969
L30 327ci/275HP V8 4BC - non-SS, 1967-68 only
L65 350ci/250HP V8 2BC - non-SS, 1969 only
LM1 350ci/255HP V8 4BC - non-SS, regular fuel, 1969 only
L48 350ci/295HP V8 4BC - SS only, rated 300HP in 1969
L35 396ci/325HP V8 4BC - SS only, Q-Jet
L34 396ci/350HP V8 4BC - SS only, Q-Jet
L78 396ci/375HP V8 4BC - SS only, Holley
L78/L89 396ci/375HP V8 4BC - SS only, Holley, Al head
L72 427ci/425HP V8 4BC - COPO 9561, cast iron
ZL1 427ci/430HP V8 4BC - COPO 9560, Al block/heads
i guess the maro did come with a 307 but as you can see they only came in 69. you know my buddy had a 307 but it was in a crapy cutlas.

 

The 307 came out mid year for the '69 camaro as the base v-8 engine. The first few months of production in '69 the base v-8 engine was a 327. My '69 was made in nov. of '68 and came with a 327. The 307 was always a base motor and never was installed as a performance motor. I think they were used up until '74 because in '75 305 motor was introduced.

Also, I think the 350 was always a big journal motor even in '67.
GM just updated its other small blocks in '68 with all of the new features from the the new for '67 350 motor.

 

67 350? I didnt think the 350 came out until 68. If it did come out in 67, which cars did it come in?

 

When the Camaro first came out, this old guy down the street went out and bought one of the first ones I've ever seen as a kid. A '67 RS/SS with a 350 (can't recall man or auto). I think Mr. Casalli is gone now, but the car is still parked at his house.

As far as journal size, I think you need to reference engine codes MO and DZ. I was under the impression that the MO block was '67 early '68, small journaled and 2-bolt. The DZ was the rest of the 302's and was large journaled and 4-bolt.

A close friend of mine owns a '68 MO code RS/Z28.

 

Oh wait...the L48 was available in 67 with the SS right...i cant remember now but that sounds right. i know it wasnt available with any other Chevy car tho...basically you can just say that 68 was the crossover year for the large journal so 90% of the 68 engines were large journal cranks.