You have to get used to the 3.00 inch stroke's weaker low end torque. It's a lot different than a 350. But on the other hand you will love the way it revs. I think I could live with the 3.36s in my car if I had the lower 1st gear of the wide ratio trans and if it was a standard cam and single carb. I think that if you look up the gear ratios for both you will see that they are both spaced fairly evenly, just further apart in the wide ratio. Don't get the idea that a wide ratio behind a 283 is like skipping a gear on the 1-2 shift because it isn't that bad. It just drops your rpm more out of the torque sweet spot on shifting during normal driving but not so much when you are taching it out to 6 + grand.
Another car I had was a '56 Bel Air 2 door hardtop with a Corvette close ratio 3 speed behind a built 283. It had a Duntov cam and a single E series AFB, ported heads and Headman headers. I ran a 3.70 Twin Pull and with this trans the 1-2 shift was a big step. The 3.70 made it livable and when I was embarrassing a GTO or something I was pulling enough rpm's that the 1-2 shift kept the engine on the cam.
I think those 202 heads will kill the bottom end of that 283 even more. They were really too much for the 302 in the Z28 at low rpm cruising. I'd say run at least a 3.70 with a close ratio to have a nicely drivable car. If that cam is a big one and with those 202 heads I'd go 4.11 at least with the close ratio to be able to move off of a dead stop and keep the engine in the power band during shifts. I have never seen a big cam, big valve 283 that liked to be run on the street, just cruising around town. To me it sounds like an engine that won't start to work until 3500 rpm.
