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Dwight Southerland · 09-23-2011, 02:56 PM

The '67 302 engine used the formentioned 657 block, "green" rods from the solid lifter 'Vette engines (which were the small journal version of the famous "pink" rods), a special crankshaft that was nitrite treated, the 30-30 solid lifter Corvette camshaft, foged pistons that had a dome similar to the original dome on the high-cormpression 327s, 2.02-1.60 valve 462 casting number heads, the unique intake manifold, 780 cfm Holley (actually the design carb was a 585 cfm carb, but it never made production), and the Corvette flat windage tray. The intake and carb made the package the killer.

The strangest engine that never made production was a 3-2bbl 350 with the Corvette 350 hp hydraulic cam and big valve heads. If you ever see a copy of an original assembly manual, there are several pages devoted to the installation details of that engine, including a drawing of the engine that used a triangular air cleaner similar to the one on the 3-2bbl Corvettes. Chevrolet had intended a small block package that would have mimicked the big block engines released in the Corvette that year. Production costs and less than acceptable performance in the warranty tests (remember that was the first year for the 5-year, 50,000 mile warranty) caused them to nix it. They were also aware that Ford was stuffing a big-block into the Mustang, Pontiac had planned from the beginning to put a 400 in the Firebird and Chrysler was releasing the 383 in the Barracuda and Dart. They needed a big-block offering so the 396 got the nod over a high-perf small block on the street.

All that info was related to me by a GM engineering manager who worked on the Camaro project. I was introduced to him when I was building my Z28 stocker in 1979.

09-23-2011, 02:56 PM	#13
Dwight Southerland VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Arkansas - In the middle of everything. Posts: 2,002 Likes: 64 Liked 781 Times in 195 Posts	Re: 1967 Camaro with 283? The '67 302 engine used the formentioned 657 block, "green" rods from the solid lifter 'Vette engines (which were the small journal version of the famous "pink" rods), a special crankshaft that was nitrite treated, the 30-30 solid lifter Corvette camshaft, foged pistons that had a dome similar to the original dome on the high-cormpression 327s, 2.02-1.60 valve 462 casting number heads, the unique intake manifold, 780 cfm Holley (actually the design carb was a 585 cfm carb, but it never made production), and the Corvette flat windage tray. The intake and carb made the package the killer. The strangest engine that never made production was a 3-2bbl 350 with the Corvette 350 hp hydraulic cam and big valve heads. If you ever see a copy of an original assembly manual, there are several pages devoted to the installation details of that engine, including a drawing of the engine that used a triangular air cleaner similar to the one on the 3-2bbl Corvettes. Chevrolet had intended a small block package that would have mimicked the big block engines released in the Corvette that year. Production costs and less than acceptable performance in the warranty tests (remember that was the first year for the 5-year, 50,000 mile warranty) caused them to nix it. They were also aware that Ford was stuffing a big-block into the Mustang, Pontiac had planned from the beginning to put a 400 in the Firebird and Chrysler was releasing the 383 in the Barracuda and Dart. They needed a big-block offering so the 396 got the nod over a high-perf small block on the street. All that info was related to me by a GM engineering manager who worked on the Camaro project. I was introduced to him when I was building my Z28 stocker in 1979.