Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 302 Mistique/228

There is a 5 year old rebuild GMC 228 on EBay at $149 and no one has shown interest. Since the block at least is the same as a 302 I don't understand why no one is bidding on it. Is it just the mistique of a GMC 302 or is the 228 a real dog compared to the 302. Just curious.

well you are giving up 74 inches before you even get started. plus the small port head. and both motors weigh the same.

The crank is of the same design with a 3/16" shorter stroke. The bore is only 3-9/16" So its hard to get any big inches out of it. Some 270's cannot take a 4" bore.
The 228/248 crank used in a 302 out 1/8" will give you a 306 which could turn a few extra revs. If it has a 4 bolt flange a flywheel is tough to come by. The small port haed is actually good on the street. When used with a big port manifold tapered to fit the port the engine has excellant low end torque right where you run the engine. 1800 to 3000
All the tin will work, oil pump, cam could be reground and probably is not steel....J.D.

Bob,Thanks for pointing out the obvious .And JD, certainly not the engine to try too much HP improvements on.Someone has finally bid on it, so at least it's not ending up in an Ohio scrap yard just because the owner is swapping to a Vthing.

I believe no one mentioned the 270 and 302 block is a little taller than the smaller engines to use the same length rods with a longer stroke.
What the 302 needs is an affordable longer rod,the piston pin is quite low,not the best design.

Well the little 228 has not gone unnoticed. It's got three hours to go in the auction and the price is pushing $300:
228 Jummy

Tony P. I have used the stock rods in all my racing engines except for my newest one. I agree that longer is better but the strength of the stock rod has proven to last as horsepower of the stock engine has doubled. Yes, moving up the pin 1" does make for a lighter shorter piston but the "rocking effect" is also greater with the shorter piston and the rod weighs more. Tighter side clearances with some piston manufacturers do help.
Affordable is in the eyes of the beholder or builder as they say. The last time I checked Cunningham rods were about half the cost of a Carillos. The engines I have built in the 70's and 80's were a lot less expensive than today but at that time I also had a lot less money.
Today as we all know metal prices are up. So everything we want made of metal is too.
The most I would ever pay for a 302 GMC was $60. That would be for a used good short block. The last one I bought with a 0-0 crank and stock bore was $150. You see what they are going for today. O-ringing 3 heads and 2 blocks costs me more today than my first record setting engine and I had to make the most of the fixture.
I'm sorry to see the days of fairly inexpensive built engines going to wayside but what are you going to do. When an AN-12 90 degree fitting is 25 bucks...o-well
I wish anyone good luck with these engines especially anyone taking one on the the first time like Ron and Gary....With todays knowledge and better parts to start with, we do make more power without breaking as much (sometimes)
...Good luck to all. J.D.

Apparently the 228 sold for $306.52.At least it wasn't scrapped. I enjoyed the discussion by knowlegeable sources here.I learned some things.