1958 283 in my 34 Ford. It is pretty much a stock rebuild but everything was a little optimized , CR ist 10.25 :1. Runs very well and is pretty zippy
I did similar as I wanted something right out of the old mags: '62 327 destroked and bore to a 311, real Dontov 30/30 cam, X fuelie heads, Ansen mounts, Spalding dual coil ignition, early matched AFB's on a rare Creitz intake. All the internal jazz backed up with an early Hydro-Motive drag 4 speed with stall fluid coupling. I still love the look and sound but keep in mind some early goodies do not make an easy driver... there is always something to tune and adjust. My coveted Spalding flamethrower had me restoring distributor machine to keep it in check (thats why its got a look-a like mag in this pic. The compression is killer on the early style starters and high revs on a restored generator was costly. The Creitz intake cool in theory but a big open plenum making it terrible under 3k, and that Hydro-Stick will beat your back on the 2-3 shift. But... I love it, to me it's a hot rod.
Here’s mine. Minus the alternator and the U joints for my Vega box, I’d say it’s pretty 60s. Mallory brown cap dizzy, cal custom valve covers, corvette manifolds painted white,
Engine in my 29. 1964 327 , 1958 vette intake , Mallory dual point, air cleaner is a more recent edelbrock but it matches the valve covers pretty well.
I know a guy who milled camel humps into his aftermarket aluminum heads on his Corvette to look original and to cheat in the stock head autocross class.
Yeah having looked at many rods throughout the decades the it seemed the release of the barracuda and the GTO quickly started a change in trends. Also around the time kustom guys(not traditionalists....continualists lol) starting morphing into modern lowrider builders.
@G_Don not trying to pick on you. I honestly don't know for sure so I'll ask here. Are those winged valve cover bolts period correct? I know they boomed later but not sure when they started.
This one was built in the early 60s, picture was taken in 2005...yeah, there's more than one hot rod with a 2bbl on a small block.
That's what I tried to do.....with a couple of exceptions. As the period pieces were tarnished with age, I just left everything that way....no polishing. It does have a Zips and the Thickstun carb. cleaners are new ( I dulled the finish on them).....the headers are driveshaft.
You can buy them cast that way from Trick Flow. Trick Flow Specialties TFS-30210003 Trick Flow® DHC™ 175 Cylinder Heads for Small Block Chevrolet | Trick Flow Specialties
Every part of the country had different ideas of what they did to make the engine like they thought was the right look.
Hello, So many hot rodders of today wish to have the 60s look for their rides and builds. It was a fun time, indeed. As the years progressed, things changed as more money flowed into the pockets of the young hot rod builders. There were definite differences in the style and action of cars between late 59 to 63 groups versus the mid 60s-70s. It has to be noted that our teenage cars were not those that came after us from 1965 into the 1970 timeline. But, as teenagers, we were limited. The ones that had jobs afterschool and on the weekends always had spending money earned. So, their purchases were dedicated to the trend at the time. A simple looking 57 Bel Air Sedan with chrome wheels and visible set of Traction Masters underneath. But, a change from a single 4 barrel to dual quads was the best improvement. The next thing was having the local expert, Jocko’s Porting Service do a full port and polish on the 283 heads. Those two things made the Chevy Bel Air instantly faster than anything around.(except for my 348/280 HP Impala) The final thing that made this 283 motor powerful was the Duntov Cam from the factory parts department. If the same motor were to be built today, those would still be the exact parts for a 283 SBC motor. Powerful, but not over the top. All parts were tried and trued 1960-61 building techniques. My teenage friend had a great job after school. He earned enough money to do the most to his cool 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop Sedan. The first things was a set of finned aluminum valve covers. Not the Corvette version, but just the normal finned version and we added a set of Moon Breathers to the finned covers. Some of the others we saw did not grind down the middle fins and installed the Moon Breathers on the sides. The drag racers at Lion’s Dragstrip used them on most of the valve covers, aluminum or not. Timeline 1959: Our first SBC motor we bought was a long block 283. All we needed was carbs, manifold, heads and valve covers. So, we got those. But, since Jocko’s was close by, they ported and polished our Chevy truck heads. Our original purchase in late 1959 was block first. Stock crank, pistons and rods, along with a Isky Cam and kit. We wanted a set of Hilborn injectors. But no one including Reath Automotive was able to get the Hilborn injectors to run on the street. So, we opted for dual quads. The small speed shop owner had a set of dual quads, but said the 6 Stromberg 97s would be better, overall. Now we had the building blocks for the complete motor assembly. By the end of the year, it was assembled and ready to installed our prepped 40 Willys Coupe. Timeline March 1960: We ran the 283 + Strombergs for 3 months and it was giving us good speeds and times for a carburetor powered SBC. Good for the drags and daily driving for the streets. Now, my brother had saved up enough to get started on a supercharged motor. We did not want a used 671 supercharger, so we were able to get a new, display model as the Diesel Motor Shop owner was going for an all polished look for the large diesel truck motors. He gave us a deal as it technically was used, but never ran on a motor of any kind. Then we were able to get one of the first Isky-Gilmer Belt Drive Kits for an SBC motor. And everything started on the new build. Reath Auto bored the 283 to 292 and said it was a safe increase using all blower spec parts + the new 671. Our 2nd version of a 671 supercharged 292 c.i. SBC motor in our 40 Willys Coupe. Prior version of the Willys /SBC start up was the 6 Strombergs only, on a 283 motor with a 3 speed LaSalle transmission. There was a definite difference in power and acceleration with the new build. Jnaki Only a few teens had enough money to have actual American Racing Equipment 5 spoke wheels when they were approved for street use. So, chrome wheels were easily purchased with blackwall tires. Or, if it came with whitewall tires, those were turned to the inside and got covered within a week of regular street driving. So, blackwall tires were on the majority of the sedans of our teenage cars. But, the 57 Chevy had a 4 barrel carb that we traded for a set of dual 4 barrel carbs and a set of hedman headers. No huge tires could be used as there was little room in the rear. But, my original 7 inch wide Bruce Slicks were added underneath when the moment or event demanded more traction. Prior to getting the final dual carb 283 motor set up, over one winter, we were the manager and worker for a Christmas tree lot. This is what the whole delivery process looked like almost weekly during the December month. It was a daily driver and 1000s of hours of driving it all over So Cal was the most fun winter thing most of us did during our high school days. 1959-62. The heavily modified 57 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop was fast, undefeated, (except to a 58 Impala) and a pleasure to drive anywhere. No one had high front ends and a fake gas tank out in front. that was late 6os-into 70s. Note: Other teens that came after us into the 70s had their own versions of hot rod and daily cruisers. It was like another whole ball game. The styles of teenagers had changed and move on to a different look that most of us in the prior years did not like or participated. We liked smooth custom hot rods that went fast and my own version ended up like this photo: thanks, @The Moose It was originally my brother’s new car in 1957, a tow vehicle for our 40 Willys Coupe 671 SBC motor build in 1960 and finally, a cool, but fast street cruiser/racer until I sold it to go to college. YRMV
Ya know, Im not too sure. They came with some Aluminum Cal Custom valve covers I bought at hershey, and theyre too tall for the chrome ones, but I like them better than using an allen key or a wrench. As shown how tall they are in the pic below. I love those offy valve covers. Finding ones without the breather for a straight bolt pattern has proved difficult. Wish they reproduced the straight hole with no breather. The only set I saw were pricey and couldnt afford them.
Most everything has been covered. Since your engine is a ‘64 you might as well stay with the ‘62-64 era. The alternators came out in ‘62 but they were the external regulator type, not the 1-wire. Three twos or inline dual quads seemed to be the choices of the guys who could afford more than the stock intake and WCFB. Use a pair of early small mouth AFBs (or WCFBs/Rochester 4 Jet), not Edelbrocks. Any early 2 bbls on a 3x2. Most early manifolds had the breather tube in front. A flat top Mallory was common or a stock distributor (no HEI). Rams horn manifolds or Hedman headers for inside the frame. No aluminum water pump or pulleys. No mini-starters. Valve covers are all over the map, chromed stock covers, Corvette covers, no-name finned covers like Cal Custom or Moon. Of course, old Edelbrocks, Weiand, Fenton are cool if you can find your favorite. Pay attention to the details: hose clamps, fittings, nuts and bolts (no stainless button heads) spark plug wires, stuff like that.
The guys got this one pretty good. Locally the hot lick Small block dress up thing in the early 60's was a pair of Corvette valve covers from the Local Chev garage (30 something for the pair and they usually kept 3 pairs on the shelf along with at least 3 30-30 Duntov cams at all times. They kept early and late pattern covers as a lot of guys buying a 55/57 ran down and got a pair not long after he bought the car in the early 60's. That and a chrome air cleaner and breather cap. Other than that, paint detail and maybe polish the 64 alternator cases and get a chrome fan for it. They used to sell chrome covers for the voltage regulator even though that one is a bit hard to see. I have to agree with looking at rod magazines from 1964 or plus or minus a year or so. See what trinkets like valve covers were advertised in 64. I bought a Hellings & Stellings air cleaner for my 55 Buick in 1966 that was already on the "no longer hot lick stuff" table at B&B auto parts in Renton Wa. Still to me one of the prettiest pieces of shiny stuff I ever put on a car but already considered dated by 1966 standards when the 12 inch filters with open elements were the hot lick.
Used a 350, crate motor, 290 horse, found vintage parts and made it into a 60's SBC. Valve covers are a one year only style. Check the triangles on either side of the badge. I even ground down the front of the heads, filled the holes and stuck double hump sheet metal pads, all done using high temp epoxy. So far so good. 57 Chevy 265 pulleys, fan, distributor, and generator. Rebuilt a Holley 600 CFM mechanical secondaries. Thumpr cam, thin head gaskets, mild port job, with an aluminum intake Looks pretty retro, but goes like stink. 4 speed, Hurst, quick change, with 4:11 gears. Fun combo!!
Correct from a performance 4bbl. But actually there was a 55 Alum wcfb 4bbl. It's odd, has bolt holes for adding oil filter.
No, that's an intake manifold from a Chevy powered swamp buggy used by the armed forces. The two bolt boss was for part of the underwater equipment to bolt to. I've seen lots of guys try to pass them off as a Corvette intake.
What year? Had small ports, heads would date to pre 1959. Still GM. I used to think Marine application, light weight.
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