77amc

Haven't been around in a while since I sold my 96z.

I read somewhere in Chev HP, HotRod or... That one could build a modern 1pc rear 302 using off the Chevy shelf parts and can't remember where i read this.

The list is something like this:

'94-5, 3" 265 crank (impala/caprice maybe?)
Powdered rods (can't remember the length)
Stock, shelf Pistons @4" bore from a stock 350
And the rest of the usual parts like HEI, Dual plane mani, headers and the like.

It made respectable HP and with a good fuel economy.. Now respectable I mean around 350hp

I just got a forged 283 crank for a mild 283+ engine for a older mini-truck and got to thinking about fuel prices and wondered if this would be worth the time.
I had a 283 in a 67 camaro conv back in the day that got 31mpg with the top down. I had the 'bigger' two barrel carb and even point distributer!!

SO, if any of you guys know where this info is I would really appreciate it since I have a couple of roller 350 blocks sitting..

mako350Z28

I just spent the last hour trying to find and article from 2001 or 2002 when GM made a 302 out of an LS1. It was a beast that made 600 hp at the flywheel. I'm pretty sure that they had put it in a T/A.

byrons1502

A 302 was a dog back in the day down low. If its gas mileage u want i would buy a civic. I believe the engine u are talking about uses a lt1 4.3 crank,rods, old school 302 pistons. It has been a while but i remember reading something once also but dismissed the idea. It can be done though with enough looking.

redneckgames

There is no reason (other then cubic inch rules) to ever decrease cubic inches.

The only gain you will see is in the amount of money you spend.
You will see no gain and only loss by doing this.

Wild Willy

Yeah, that must be why they used it in the original Z28, back in 1967-69- in made 'only' an underrated 290 HP- Actually dyno'd closer to 400- a real "dog", all right. The only thing more powerful was the big block. It was a de-stroked 350 that turned high RPM's, built to fit in the 5 liter Trans Am racing class- something that the 327 didn't qualify for.

Z28SORR

Meaning at low RPM range, which is completely true. The old school 302's made their power between 4500 and 7000 rpm. If you had ever driven one you'd know that they almost always got beat off the line and had to play catch-up. These engines were built for Sports Car racing not drag racing.

Duke

A 302? You mean a 350 with a short crank? That's all they are.

ws6transam

The 302's forte is in RPM, because the piston's peak linear velocity (speed of the up & down movement within the bore) is much less per RPM than an engine with more stroke. Less velocity change = less acceleration exerted upon the piston wrist pin, and less friction upon the piston rings. Less parasitic loss = more horsepower that gets into the rotation of the crankshaft.

The only advantage I see with a 302 these days is if you were to turbocharge it. The 302's advantage would be that you could cram a big exhaust valve in there with the 4 inch bore, and reduce the size of your intake valve and intake runner volume to increase velocity. With a modern cylinder head combustion chamber design (such as the AFR Eliminator series) , your efficiencies could be pretty good. The turbo would push the air through the intake port, creating virtual displacement as the V.E. goes above 1.0; especially as RPM increases. So in theory, you could have acceptable around-town low-rpm performance, but big gains at the higher RPMs. Then again, camshaft selection would be super critical, unless you had some way of dynamically changing your lobe profiles as RPM changes.

Couple it with a 6-speed with a large overdrive 6th gear and some modest gears out back, and you might be able to boost your MPG at cruise while having some stout power in the higher RPMs. However, it will be an expensive, albeit interesting engineering excercise which will most likely still not compete with a basic LS1-swap of comparable dollars.