The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 283 or 292 for a 3800?

Looking for some opinions and advice. I have a '57 3800 that I plan to restore. I'd like to upgrade the power plant to make it a little more usable for towing and hauling. The little 235 that's in it now purrs like a kitten but it's just a little short in the britches at highway speed. I have two engines currently available. One is a 283 with a 4 bbl carb removed from a '58 two ton truck. The SN indicates that it's an early 60's engine. The other option is a stock '80 model 292. I have a 4 bbl intake for it sitting on my shelf. I'll keep the standard granny low 4 speed tranny and I have upgraded the rear to 4.10 gears. The tires are R6-19.5. My goal is to have a truck that I can drive anywhere and do a little hauling and towing when needed. It would be nice to be able to trailer my 4000# tractor at 55 mph. Does anyone out there have any opinions about which engine would be the best fit? Should I look for something bigger like a 350? Any advice or opinions from those with experience will be appreciated.

Jeff

Just saw an ad for a '79 400 sbc close by. I may take a look at it tomorrow. Would that be too much engine? Any problem fitting it into a TF?

no problem fitting any SBC in a TF truck, but 'bigger' isn't necessarily better, the 283 will do anything you ask of it, and last longer than a 350 .... I'd pass on the 400, but it's your truck and your money

Bill

292 all the way! It will out-torque the 283, and you won't have to downshift it every time you head uphill with a little load on. The 350 might get a little better gas mileage than the 292, but the 292 is designed to be a truck engine- - - -much better low end and midrange pulling power!
Jerry

Another fan of the 292, but I'm not familiar with swapping one into a '57. They first were out in '63, where a small block, of course, was available in '57.

Bill

He would need a V-8 bellhousing for the 57 since the 2nd.-generation sixes have a V-8 bellhousing bolt pattern, and a set of mid-engine mounts would need to be fabricated to the frame rails. A radiator upgrade would probably be a good idea as well, since the 292 will develop enough heat to stress a 235 radaitor somewhat.
Jerry

if a stock rad can take a warmed over V8, it should handle a 292, and with a 4:10 rear and 4 speed there shouldn't be any torque lack with any engine .... I've pulled some good hils at moderate speed without down shifting with both my trucks [green 235, red 283, both 3.90 rears] loaded 1200-2000# without downshifting .... a good 283 will perform fine, and not require any modifications to install [other than a fan shroud or the original rad repositioning] if it comes with the correct bellhousing

Bill

The main advantage the 283 has for me is that I already own it. I also have the '58 Viking it came out of so I've got the bell housing, larger radiator, and fan shroud. I even have the 5 sp tranny if I want to go that route. The 292 I can get by buying the truck with a bad tranny for $600 and the 400 sbc can be bought for $450 or less and I can hear it run before it's removed from the truck. I would also have to come up with a flywheel for either the 292 or 400 since they're both in auto trucks. I would like to have the 292 and 400 for future use but I don't know if I want to lay out the $$ right now when I already have a good engine sitting in my shop. I need more time and more trucks to be truly happy.

If the 283/5 speed setup has a 5th. gear overdrive, transplant the whole thing. The 292 wil bolt up to the same bellhousing the 283 uses, and I believe the 283 flywheel/clutch setup will also work with the 292 if you decide to go with the 6 cylinder option. One of the 5 speed setups uses a huge SAE type bellhousing adapter and a really big flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate.
Jerry

Unfortunately the 5 sp doesn't have OD. I would love it if it did. Still having 4 usable gears + granny wouldn't be bad either but it's a bigger animal (NP540GL) than the SM420. I've read on other sites where people have put them into 1/2 ton pickups so it's doable. Sure would like to have the GO (overdrive) model though.

The GO's are really rare, I would use the 292, w/ the 5 speed, it is more useful, especially w/ a load, to be able to use 4th. on steep hills, rather than let the speed bleed off to 30 or so for 2nd on a 420. 9:1 propane pistons are available for 292's.

Your 540 might have the long input shaft, > 7", mix and match that bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, etc., to make it work.

I had an early Bronco, that I put a 540, Buick even fire 231 V6, 350 rear, very useful combination, hauling up to 14,000 GVW, that 5 speed made it work well.

Might look at slightly higher rear ratio depending on empty/loaded use.

I still might get the 292 but I went to look at the 400 sbc last night and ended up buying it for $400. It ran good with no noises or smoke. I was influenced a little by the fact that the guy selling it seemed like a nice kid and he's in a bit of a financial bind. I'll take a look at putting the 5 speed in when I have the truck disassembled. If it fits in ok I'll give it a try. I've got 4.10 rear gears now which are hard to find. Don't think I can go any higher without changing the rear axle. There were supposedly some 3.90's made but I've only heard of one person who had them in a junkyard and he wouldn't sell. All this planning makes me wish I had time to work on it. But it's 104 outside today so I'll probably wait 'til fall.

Someone mentioned GM 14 bolt FF axles accept Eaton brakes, etc., have lots of ratios, cheap.

I was really leaning toward the 292 but the deal fell through. After driving 2 1/2 hrs to look at a truck with a "good running 292" I found a truck with a 250 that hasn't run in years. I couldn't convince the owner that he's got a 250, he's certain that the 4.1L on the emissions label means 292 cu in. I did offer to buy the exhaust manifold because it's a factory dual exhaust, which I haven't seen before, but he wouldn't deal on it. He'll probably end up selling the truck for scrap. That's okay, I've got enough toys to play with for awhile.

I think you can't go wrong with the 400 or the 283. Plus it'll sound great with some long, mellow glass packs. There's nothing sweeter than rumbley mellow packs with a manual trans.

I did find a 292 pretty cheap but I have a feeling it needs to be rebuilt. It's already pulled and been sitting in a shed for a couple of years so I'm taking the owner's word that it's a good engine. I'll probably look at it as a long term project to overhaul for future use. Both the 283 and 400 can be used with just a little clean up and orange paint. I don't think any of these 3 choices will run very far on a gallon of gas so that's not a factor. I'm leaning toward the 400 because it has the AC compressor and power steering pump with it. I've learned from experience that I'll drive a truck more often if it at least has air conditioning. There doesn't seem to be a commonly used method for adding power steering to these 3800's so I'll have to do more research on that part. It's fun to plan for this stuff even if I don't have time right now to work on it. Thanks for all the advice.

Jeff

I've put a 292 in my 53 3800 , used the early
V8 bell housing and a A833 trans with the
over drive 4 th gear , with the 19.5 wheels
and a set of 4.10 gears it's a very nice driver

292 is the right engine, The 283 has a 3 inch stroke,And has no torque,And you need torque if you want to move, tow or carry heavy loads, The 292 stroke is 4.125,The End.

283 has a bore of 3.875 and a stroke of 3.00,A 327 has a 4. bore and a stroke of 3.250,350 has a 4. bore and a 3.500 stroke,A 400 has a 4.125 bore and a 3.750 stoke, And a 292 has a bore of 3.875 and a stoke of 4.125, If you want HP go with big bores, If you want torque go with the longest stoke. HP is normally higher RPM and Torque is lower RPM.

I was able to get my paws on a recently rebuilt 292 so it looks like it's getting first shot. I'll add an offy intake and small 4 bbl and possibly a few other goodies to help it out. The 400 sbc was running and didn't smoke but it has over 100k on it so I would prefer to go through it before putting it into a truck. The 292 will get me going sooner. If it doesn't have enough getty up to satisfy me I'll look at rebuilding the 400 for a long term fix. Even though the 400 has about 10% shorter stroke it also has 33% more cylinders and 37% more cubes which results in 15% more torque at about the same rpms as the 292. Both have their torque peak at around 2000 - 2200 rpm's which is about where I need it with my gearing. I really like the simplicity of the straight 6's so hopefully the 292 will pan out. Thanks again for all the advice.

Jeff