So Last Week I bought a 56 Chevy out of a field from a farmer. It was originallyowned by his father who is now in a nursing home. Anyway he did some work on it back in the 60's hence the 55 front end on the 56. I wanted to find out what motor this is in it. It has corvette valve covers on it and there was a late 50's corvette sitting about 50 yards away in the same field with a tarp on it. Corvette motor maybe? original? Let me know where to look to find out. The valve covers do not have the staggered bolt holes. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
There should be a casting number on the back of the block, on top where the bellhousing meets the engine. That'll help. Corvette valve covers were a common swap onto any small block Chevy engine but you never know. Interesting car with the '55 front clip on it.
I believe the staggered bolt holes stopped after '59, so the heads are 1960 or newer. You best info is the stamped numbers facing upward in front of the passenger head. Usually the letters at the end tell the story.
Yeah I know those covers are fairly common, Not getting my hopes up too high but it would be a nice added bonus from a parts car.
This has a four barrel carb on it. Didn't the stock 283 come with a two barrel or was it availabe with both?
out of my price range. I just passed the guys e-mail address onto another Hamber. I just missed a 38 chevy he sold right before I got there.
If your car has the original numbers matching engine out of the Vette it would be worth a good bit to whoever gets it.
The staggered bolt valve covers were used from 1955-1957 only. The even bolt covers started in 1958 and lasted until those ultra-modern stovebolt center bolt covers came along. The heads can be identified by the casting numbers in the rocker valley. The stamped number on the engine boss just froward of the RH(Passenger side) head will tell you year, model, trans, and carb/injection.
the number I got off the front of the block on the pasenger side is f02I2D. The only info I found online is that the F stands for flint michigan. According to the vin the car was from Kansas City Missouri. Were the engines and the cars made in different factories back then? could anyone help me figure out what the rest of the stamping means?
Alright I have some more info. The heads are powerpack 283 #3795896. they were used on the power pack 283 and early 60's corvette327s. The intake number is 384459 which when I google it comes back Corvette/Chevelle 327. Are there any block cast stamps beside the one where the bellhousing meets the trans? There is no may I can currently get to that and clean it off to see it.
Got to the numbers on the back of the block. They are 3789935. I googled it and it comes back 61 Corvette 283, and 63-64-Chevelle. So how do I know which one it is and does it matter. I have a 56 2 door 150 I was going to put it in but is it worthwhile to sell to a corvette guy?
you need the stamped # from the pad on the front of the motor to positively ID the motor. that will tell the HP and the specific application. old motors manuals have these codes. and YES it would be worth selling to a corvette guy ( if that is really what it is)
the number on the pad is f02I2D. I cant find anywhere online that deciphers that completely Mortec was useful for everything else.
I'd be willing to guess that it's a mid sixties 327... If it is in fact a real Corvette engine you could get $1,000 to $1,500just for the engine as is.
According to the October 1, 1966 Chevy Illustration and Special Information Catalog the "D" engine code was used on '60-'64 283 2 bbls. with a PG in full size cars.
Probably more than that if it came out of the Vette you said they have that is covered and you sell it to whoever buys the Vette.
The D doesn't jive with the other numbers, unless they used it on Chevelles also, in which case you'd have a 63-64 Chevelle motor. For what it's worth, my buddy was collecting jeep parts to do a swap with a guy (who ended up screwing him on the deal, but that's another story). So he picked up this AMC Gremlin, set up on a Jeep frame, which had a small block Chevy and adapter in it. On the motor? A set of those valve covers.
alright here is all the info I got. Head#3795896 63-65 283 and 62-64 327 intake#3844459 63-65 327 block# 61-62 283 Late 61 car/corvette Pad#f02I2D ? It looks like 327 Heads and intake thrown on a 283. I would still like to know what the pad stamp stands for. I really appreciate all the help guys. Its obviously not the stock motor since the car is a 56. Just want to know what exactly it is.
You can decode it here. http://www.nastyz28.com/chevy-engine-code-stampings.php CZX 1982 305 Roch E4ME carb. H LG4 145 4 Firebird D 1958 283 Powerglide 185 2 cars & truck D 1960 283 Powerglide 170 2 truck & cars D34 1987 305 LB9 F 190 TPI Firebird D4C 1986 305 LB9 F 190 TPI Firebird
A '64 Chevelle would be "JD" or "J" with some other letter behind it. I don't get too excited about casting numbers, a friend has a 283 that the casting numbers indicate came out of a Chevelle but we know it came out of a truck and even has the 7th bellhousing bolt hole at the top center drilled and tapped for the truck bellhousing. He's owned the engine since the late 70's and is now rebuilding it for his '64 C-10 with factory 4 speed and the bellhousing has the 7th bolt hole........ The F stands for Flint, Michigan assembly plant and the 0212 stands for February 12th assembly date. You'd have to get the year off the foundry "clock" cast into the block. '63-'67 2 & 4 Bbl. 283's used the same heads as the '63-'64 327/250HP but they were a popular swap onto earlier 283's as they are basically the same as the Power Pak heads used on the Vette HI Perf 283's in the late 50's. I go along with the 327 intake swap. It was a VERY popular "upgrade" for the 283, you could pick one up dirt cheap from somebody that had installed a high rise and Holley or AFB on their 250HP 327. Slip the 327/300HP cam in your Mom's old 283 with those heads and intake and it made a noticeable improvement. Chevy did it for the 283/220HP in the Chevelle and Chevy II. Very fun cars with a 4 speed and 3.73's. Has to be out of a Vette though, every Chevy V-8 anybody put in anything back in the 60's and 70's came out of a Vette.......
Thanks for all the info. Im glad I got it all figured out. Now I just have to pull it out of the more door and drop it in my 150. Its gotta be quicker than the 235 in it now!
I have a rebuilt 283 in the garage that I would put up against most stock 327's of the garden variety (not the 350hp) and it would probably outrun them without a problem. If you build them correctly they're great engines...and more traditional to boot.
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