Im working on a 265 chevy and are wondering if we can get away with boreing out .125, was this done alot in the past, its the same stroke as 283, and yeah i know al about sonic testing it, im just wondering if people did this or not? thanks jeff
There's an article in the current R&C about Duffy Livingstone and it says he did that exact thing in the 50s, but someone else should chime in on it
I've read it's been done, but probably better just to get a 283 block unless you care about the oil fiter and motor mounts
why bother? put good heads on a 350 and use a cool intake, nobody will know and you save $3000 looking for a block with enough meat.
It has been a lot over the yers, but I would sonic test the block to make sure that 50 years of corrosion have not gotten to it.
I dont think i asked for opinions weather i should do it or not, i just was asking if it was done in the past, i am doing this motor for a customer and he wants the original block in his 56 chevy, were are going with 2x4 set up too, he wants to make it look factory, is that enough back ground, i have 7 350's a bunch of 327's and 283 but this is what he wants, plain and simple. and thanks everyone for the helpful input. thanks jeff
yes , it has been done in the past. i believe chevy did it themself. i've always heard that the first factory 283s were bored out 265 blocks....so, don't think you will have any problems with a 265 block...i say go for it. do you know what casting number it is?
3720991 is the casting number 56-265, it has the oil filter boss on it, and no motor mounts, it had the power pack heads and a 4bbl but were going with camel backs and a 2x4 intake. jeff
Go for it! I did one back in the 70's for a 56 Vette. I talked to an old machinist and he said he had done lots of them and no problems with thin cylinder walls. I had a nice set of stock 283 pistons and I used them and had a 350HP 327 cam milled (back journal for oiling-look at the stock 265 cam) and used the stock distributor (has a flat spot that works with the cam slot) and a Corvette 2X4 set-up. It was a screamer for a small engine and worked fine. overspray
A lot will say it can't be done but i'm on the go for it fence. If the block turns out a little thin you could run a 1/2 fill and a oil cooler. Some late model vettes had a water oil cooler that fits between the oil filter and block and can be tapped in to to drain plug holes and could be inobvious if hard piped carefully. That would be my approach anyway, make sure you let us know how you get on.
I did it in '67 on a '55 block....no problems. Ran an 098 Duntov solid cam, early vette dual point distributor, 650 Holley, Hedman Headers.
cant hurt to try it, A high reving motor is a whole nouther beast, I had a 69' 302 chev block in a 26' Ford roadster, shifting at 7k is alot of fun
I have one out in the shop, '56 265 bored 283, ported power pak heads, back in early 60s ran 3x2 setup in a T roadster, mid 60s Enderle injected in an altered roadster. Now I got it, mostly just needs cleaning from sitting for about 20 years. Olin Tieman in Taylor has a 265 bored 283 in his 32 coupe, been running it since '57. Very doable.
I bored out a 265 .125 to a 283 in the 60s,drove it home from the west coast with 4-11 gears. ran fine but was at 210 degrees all the time.So it has been done,dont recommend wasting a block,bore it to a good clean up bore. you really do not gain that much by taking it out to.125.
If the customer is REALLY picky, he'll want 3731762 casting heads. Double humps are later model. ('60-'67)
A friend of mine who does **** restorations on '56 Chevies took out a 265 to 283 without issues. I would suggest getting the block checked for core shift before you do it though. He has also turned one into a 350, but it required wet sleeving 2 of the cylinders, using/modifying a 350 crank, and some other stuff. He did it because he could, and he wanted to keep the car "numbers correct". The car is a trailer queen, so how well it would hold up to regular use, is debatable...
Jeff- It can be done if there's no core shift in the block. If you want any help on this, let me know. I've got some great local connects for machine work.
we went with 461 or 462's cant remember, 194 150 valves, not 202's Scotch, when my work close i bought all the machine shop equipment, so i can do it all at home. JEFF
Did just what you're talking about to a '55 block in about '62. Used '57 power pack heads& 4bbl intake and a WCFB off an Olds with the original .012 & .018 Duntov cam, all in a '53 Studebaker coupe. It was a fast car in it's day, especially on top end. Now that sonic testing is fairly easily available I would check the block for core shift before using the boring bar This could save you from killing a now increasingly rare block for those that just gotta have the correct numbers and configuration stuff. Dave
oh, by the way, i already bored the block to .030 and ordered up pistons, its been a while since i posted the original question. but thanks for all the fresh input, i may have to do one of these in the future! JEFF
Really? Wow- that's cool. So..check the cylinder wall thickness and do the math to determine core shift and go from there. If I need help with some machine stuff, I'll let ya know. Are you moving into this kind of work more now, or is car building still your primary focus? I could send more work your way if you're doing engine machining stuff. My 'race engine' guys are great so there's usually a long wait. Some pals of mine wanting to do more mild builds might be interested in working with you to get some projects moving forward.
i know its been a while with this thread. i am plaanning to do this same build. i have a similar question to add. i have a set of 283 pistons, that are new, that are .030 over. can i make these work in my 56 265. or is that just too much? i will try .125 over but i would like to use what i have.
I punched out my 265 .125" and that was the absolute max that I could go so another .30 would be a no go. I think just getting the correct parts would be you best bet.
Yep !! I've done this exact same thing to save some original vette engine blocks to keep the car original !!! >>>>.
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