$2K will buy most of the parts to build a pretty respectable street engine, but you'll have to do most of the work yourself. Any 283 you find will be over 50 years old, with no telling how many rebuilds on it already. If you want a short stroke, tight-winding engine look for a mid-1980's 262 Chevy engine to start with- - - -it's got a 3.100" stroke which is less than 1/8" longer than a 283, and the engine will be 40 years newer at least. They were used in late-production full size Caprice Classics and the hotrodders usually ignore them because of the oddball ignition system that drives off the end of the camshaft. It's fairly simple to adapt a more conventional distributor setup and take advantage of the short stroke, or use the crankshaft in a 305 block and make a real screamer with Comp Cams anti-pump-up lifters and a set of screw-in rocker arm studs and roller rockers. Once you get it wound up, a 383 will have trouble keeping up with you. You'll also have 100 cubic inches less engine to feed, so you can pass everything on the road, including the gas stations.
BTW, I was 16 when I built my first hotrod engine- - - - -in 1962!
Jerry
