I am rebuilding my 283 right now and I am considering wheather I should use the facotry rods, or look for new rods. Here is my plan for the motor: I have speed pro forged flate tops with 305 heads, should yeaild about 9:1 cr. I plan on running the motor hard and have fun but not insane rpms. I would like to run a single to4b turbo through a carb at about 6-9psi just for some more power and something different. The motor is going in a 71 bug with tube frame with a 9" with about 3:1 rear gear (i will probibly go to something higher in the future, but gears are not a priority right now) the motor will be backed with a th350. So, heres my delema, I could put the motor together with the stock rods and it would probibly run fine, but if i turbo it, it could cause problems, or do I look for some new rods just to ensure the strength needed for forced induction? If you suggest rods weres a good place to look and what should i be looking for ( not want to spend tons on rods).
Any help would be great!

with the small journal 283 crank you have it might be hard to find rods that fit your budget i would think the stock rods would be OK if you put arp bolts in them and recondition them to. maybe do a little side polishing also.




mike

I would upgrade to at least a Scat type "I Beam" rod. They sell for around $230.00 for a new set, feature 3/8 bolts, heavy forgings and can be had with bushed small ends for full floating piston assemblies. These are available for the small 2 inch crankpin 283s and 327s. There are other similar rods available and I would choose these over the early stock 283 rods that have smallish 11/32" rod bolts and sometimes are a little thin particular on the small end.

Stock rods with ARP bolts and reconditioning will run you at least $150.00, so I would thinK another $80.00 would be a wise investment. ----NAIRB

dump the turbo with all of its complexity and cost, get a bigger motor, how about a 100 cube increase to a 383?!


K

Na,go with a 5.7 rod 400,the cranks not cut down and ya got more cubes. The only good factory small rods I know of were in a DZ 302,good luck finding a set of those. Can you fit a big block in it? NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT. Al tho, any v8 in a bug I would consider a step in the right direction.

Thats what I am saying. Why put a turbo on a 283? Talk about one step forward and two steps back. Get a 400 and keep it stock.

283 + turbo + too much money = stock 400
ya dig?

Oh yeah, and nowadays new aftermarket rods are pretty cheap. Eagle I beams are super lightweight too. They aren't too much heavier than an aluminum rod.

Maybe because he doesn't want to?

Boomer the point is there is absolutely no situation in which a 283 should be turboed. First it has a weak crank that may not be safe to use. Second you can get the same power cheaper from another small block and the engine looks exactly the same from the outside. Third, its obviously not an argument of "i wanna keep it all original" because you're planning on having a big *** turbo hanging out under the hood!! It would probably look more stock as a SBC 400.

K

Why would anyone want to drop a SBC into a Beetle? I own a '71 SB. Where in the world is Blob going to fit the 283 AND the TH350? I guess if you want to drag the Bug or cut the heck out of it, maybe...but I don't get it. What's the point? Sounds like a troll to me.

hope everyone doesnt gang up on me for this


drop a 351w in it then you dont have to decied on which chevy motor

The only valid point is the crank issue. The money issue is his problem not yours and if they look the same how in the world would it look better on the 400 than the 283?

My point is that some people say "I want to keep the original engine in it so that I can stay all original." There is nothing that looks less stock than a turbo. Therefore, you could put a 400 in it, the old valve-covers and everything and have the power AND the look you want for cheaper and not have a not-stock, expensive, hard to maintain, much fabrication required turbo under the hood. I don't understand what you're getting all definsive about anyway, we're only offering safety issues and suggestions to make his car go fast the most efficient way possible. We all want to save money, sometimes its nice to have a hint or two on how to do it. Why don't you try offering a suggestion, your posts haven't been helpful to his cause at all. At least we're giving advice. You're right the money is his issue, and so is the turbo and the motor, so really they're not yours either. If he comes back and says "yeah, I thought about all that and I know about making power more easily, but I really just want to put a turbo on my 283" then we'll come back and tell him the best way to do it. The method for offering advice is to start general, then go specific. That's what we're doing here, going over the general parts of his post, then he can come back with specifics and we can help there too. I don't think I'm making an incorrect assumption by saying puting a turbo on a car is done for the endgoal of going faster. All I have done is offered cheaper, more logical, more efficient and easier ways to get there. It's sound advice whether you think so or not.

K

The stock rods have 11/32" rod bolts in them. They won't take much abuse. If you are going to use the stock rods for the NA set up then have 3/8" bolts installed. You can use a large journal rod on that crank with a bearing made my King for Lunati to install LG rods on a SJ crank. This way you may find a good deal on a set of rods that are the more common LG.

Chris