For years I've had a complete old Chevy small block that I've been lugging around saving for that perfect project. I have the proper Power Pack heads and an early Corvette 2x4 intake and valve covers for it. But I never have definitively identified it. I was told that it was a take-out from Harry Mann Chevrolet back in '57-'58. It sat in a corner at Wedge Engineering when I worked there in the late ‘60s. Years later I snagged it when they moved. It turns fine. It has no side mounts so it's pre-'58. Is it a 265 or a 283?
Besides the casting number, also the date code on the back bellhousing area. I don;t have it handy, but you can find the picture of the crank flanges and see if that helps you as well.
All I have is 55 265 or 57 283: Does this engine have an oil filter down low on the block or non at all?
Being that I've never seen a 2 barrel V8 Corvette I'd say regular passenger car. Casting number will say whether 265 or 283
It could be a '56 265 with 2 bbl and Powerglide. The casting number will tell you since if it is 3720991 then it is '56.
intake date code which is slightly visible shows April 5, 1957. Wonder if the other parts match this?
Yer makin’ me work for this one. It won’t roll out from under the bench because the spark plugs are in it and they hit the leg. It won’t move over because it’s jammed against the 401 Buick short block which is jammed against the 327 short block, and so on. I did manage to weasel my somewhat oversized self between the bench and the intake enough to get the pictures. First the easy ones…. Here’s where it’s stashed. Did I mention that I hate spiders. And the damper/pulley. Here’s the date and casting numbers as requested. Stage lighting provided by one of the many strange flashlights my wife has given me over the years. It’s a running joke, every Christmas, a new oddball flashlight. Bless her heart. Hard to hold the light just right and take a good picture lying on top of a small block Chevy. Lol. It does indeed have an oil filter and the aluminum bypass insert. I’m not inclined to pull a valve cover or a head at this time. Last time I tried to identify it I didn’t have the power of the HAMB. I couldn’t determine whether it was a 265 or a 283 back then. Maybe we still can’t?
For once it is exactly what I was told it was. How ’bout that. Didn’t some of the real early small blocks have a different rear cam bearing journal? Or was that just the 265s?
block and intake casting dates match, that's pretty rare after all these decades. The heads are likely to match, also, eh?
I was thinking, I have no idea why it was replaced. It would be a bummer to find something terminal inside after carrying it around all these years, wouldn’t it? The heads…. The intake…. I’ve got too much junk. I wish it was all cool and stored neatly like Moriarty’s stuff. Lol
It hasn't ever been apart, it was pulled under warrantee in '57-'58. Carman Pisano got it from the Chevy dealer that he used to do all the fuel injection work for, Harry Mann or Warren Biggs, I can't remember which. I'm sure it was free or a labor trade. It sat in the corner of the service stall at Wedge Engineering, the scattershield company that I worked part time for after high school. It looked fresh and cool back then. Years later, Carman moved the Wedge operation to Long Beach, and I saw it sitting on a pallet in the shop. Like Isky, Carman never threw anything away. Always fun to walk around his place and look at the stuff. I jokingly told Carman, "I see you are still carrying around that old 283." He said, "why don't you buy it and get it out of here" The price was more than I thought it was worth, but I traded him a low miles V6 out of a little Blazer for it. Rather store a complete old 283 than a cheesy V6. I haven't been able to part with it. I figured that if you're going to build a traditional hot rod with a small block Chevy, that it would be a good choice.
Thanks for all the info guys. I guess I should at least get it out, clean and paint it, dress it up and display it. Sounds like a good rainy day project. Were the engines red or Chevy orange in '57?
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