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- Nov 9, 2000
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- Edgerton, Ohio, United States
- Corvette
- 1959 black 270hp (9/2/69) 1981 Beige L81(10/20/80)
There is a very interesting article in the March issue of Rod and Custom. The editor of the magazine pulled his stock 1959 283 out of his 1932 Ford roadster for a little cosmetic and performance updating.
Here are some details of the article:
First they base lined the stock engine which has stock '59 heads too with an original iron intake and a rebuild newer 600 Holley vac sec. It run out of poop at 4500 rpm which was probably a result of cheap parts store points in the old distributor that certainly needed rebuilt.
They switched to a Per Tronix Flamethrower ignition and picked up power from off idle through 5500 where the engine just plain wouldn't go any higher. Undoubtedly the 1.72 intakes and 1.50 exhaust valves and small ports just couldn't do any more with the stock cam. The new distributor was worth over 30 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque. I would opine that a properly set up original dual point with a good coil would also have made a big difference.
When the run was complete the 283 made 225hp@5000 rpm and 290 lb-ft of torque at 3100 rpm. Not too shabby and proof that these short stroke small blocks can make decent torque.
Using the air horn at Westech to measure CFM they found that the stock engine consumed only 475 CFM at peak power.
They then swapped in a repro 30-30 cam and the Corvette dual quads. The carbs were built to specs and appearance by Chuck Smith (link below) from non correct number WCFBs to cut cost on the setup. He also modified the carbs so the set would flow 850CFM. I didn't know you could do that. He says stock is around 688CFM which, to me,would have been better for the 283. Maybe they went with the modded ones because there is a bigger small block in the future.
Chuck Smith helped dial in the carbs which takes more time that I had thought to get them on the money, and they ended up with 40 horsepower more but torque fell off by 15 lb-ft which was logical due to the large cam with excessive duration. The torque peak also moved from 3100 up to 4600 rpm. and idle speed had to be increased from 550 up to 900.
I think they should have used the 097 Duntov with those heads or switched to 1.94 heads at least with the 30-30 cam. I would also have liked to see a run with the 097 and 1.6 rockers.
All in all a very interesting article. It reaffirms my suspicions that I can build a hotter small block for the '59 and still use the original dual quads for the original look. Heck, They would even feed a 406 in the 850 cfm modified form.
Tom
www.chucksmithchevys.com
Here are some details of the article:
First they base lined the stock engine which has stock '59 heads too with an original iron intake and a rebuild newer 600 Holley vac sec. It run out of poop at 4500 rpm which was probably a result of cheap parts store points in the old distributor that certainly needed rebuilt.
They switched to a Per Tronix Flamethrower ignition and picked up power from off idle through 5500 where the engine just plain wouldn't go any higher. Undoubtedly the 1.72 intakes and 1.50 exhaust valves and small ports just couldn't do any more with the stock cam. The new distributor was worth over 30 hp and 10 lb-ft of torque. I would opine that a properly set up original dual point with a good coil would also have made a big difference.
When the run was complete the 283 made 225hp@5000 rpm and 290 lb-ft of torque at 3100 rpm. Not too shabby and proof that these short stroke small blocks can make decent torque.
Using the air horn at Westech to measure CFM they found that the stock engine consumed only 475 CFM at peak power.
They then swapped in a repro 30-30 cam and the Corvette dual quads. The carbs were built to specs and appearance by Chuck Smith (link below) from non correct number WCFBs to cut cost on the setup. He also modified the carbs so the set would flow 850CFM. I didn't know you could do that. He says stock is around 688CFM which, to me,would have been better for the 283. Maybe they went with the modded ones because there is a bigger small block in the future.
Chuck Smith helped dial in the carbs which takes more time that I had thought to get them on the money, and they ended up with 40 horsepower more but torque fell off by 15 lb-ft which was logical due to the large cam with excessive duration. The torque peak also moved from 3100 up to 4600 rpm. and idle speed had to be increased from 550 up to 900.
I think they should have used the 097 Duntov with those heads or switched to 1.94 heads at least with the 30-30 cam. I would also have liked to see a run with the 097 and 1.6 rockers.
All in all a very interesting article. It reaffirms my suspicions that I can build a hotter small block for the '59 and still use the original dual quads for the original look. Heck, They would even feed a 406 in the 850 cfm modified form.
Tom
www.chucksmithchevys.com
