How much should a 283 cost?

I was recently offered a Chevy 283. It is a complete motor, basically stock aside from the cam. It has a new 600 cfm carb. I was wondering, what is a reasonable price?

 

What ever you can afford ,really and it depends basic and depends on where you get it

 

If it's a correctly fresh built engine, it's worth up to $1,000.00

 

The engine isn't fresh, but I will be able to hear it run. The seller is pulling it out of his 57 Chevy in favor of a 327. He says (of course) that it is a good motor.

 

a 283 that needs a total rebuild can go for $50-$100. to do a basic rebuild with with a bore job , new pistons/rings , heads redone ,all new cam/lifters/timing chain/oil pump , clean the block and magnaflux ,etc can cost about $1200 -$1400

so i'd say somewhere inbetween

 

Drive it around, listen close, see if it smokes on startup or after decellerating down a hill, do a compression check, etc. If he already has it out of the car it's worth no more than a couple hundred, because you can't do these things.

 

I had a 57 283 given to me. It had had the rotating ***embly and a set of early Fuelie heads. Neither had been run in over 10 years.

I sold the heads for $500 and the rest for $50.

 

Heres some inspiration...

 

If it runs good, doesn't smoke or leak excessively, and appears to be something you can drop in and run as is, I'd pay $300-$400 for it, providing a 283 is what you want. Since it's coming out of a '57, check the code stamping. If it's the original block, it's worth more than that to a restorer.

 

I posted a request on the cl***ifieds here for a 283 at the start of this week. Had a couple responses - $100 for a "rebuilder", $250 for a "runner" that needed freshend up (new rings, etc.), to $400 for a running motor. BTW - the first two came complete with Powerglide trannies - and the guy (Orange54) offered to throw in a spare block.

I ended up being offered one (and a powerglide) virtually free. It's surprising what shows up when you ask around.

The point is, like some of the other's said, actual prices depend a lot on condition - and in the case of the old stuff, the possible inclusion of certain "desireable" components.

One good way to get a handle on prices is to check the HAMB cl***ifeds regularly. All sorts of stuff shows up there, and it usually doesn't take long to find examples of what you're looking for (all cl***ifieds must contain the asking price).

Good luck -

 

Try and figure where he's coming from. If he think it's a gold mine it's one price, if his wife wants the junk out of the garage it's another.

 

For used engines I use a $1 per cubic inch rule of thumb, unless it's something really collectable.