283 Chevy Engines...are they worth very much nowadays??

Short stroke .....steel crank.......take it to 301 and a Duntov 30/30 cam and there ya go about as trad as it could be .....add the 997 heads , the early two fours and some 9 fin Corvette valve covers.....now that is sweet. But that combo will be pricey........Actually i prefer the lil engine for todays builds even with 327 heads and a hyd cam , mild pistons and you have a great combo for a driver.

 

with the price of fuel today, the 283 makes a lot of sense for a daily driver motor. complete 283 motors go for about $500 around here in Florida. Maybe i just don't find any bargains. Put 3x2 carbs (Rochester 2gc with progressive linkage) on it and you have a very impressive daily driver...jack

 

I'd just want one good steel crank for a 302 build...
You'd probably end up scrapping all 3 blocks boring those out .125"

 

What? you mean its not?

 

a wicked stock car engine with a 30-30 duntov, but got to be in a lighter car used several to get by when i had blew my other engines

deep gears and light tri fives were the rage 35 years ago

got a bored and stroked one in my roadster but thats no racer but a nice runner
little hard to hold down heating on the ones bored 1/8 in

 

Can't even buy an engine in a you pull it yard for $75, the only way you're going to find a cheap one is to buy a whole car for $400, pull the motor, and scrap it for $350. But a Chevy old enough to have a 283 you can at least part out and make a sizable profit on, you'd be a fool to scrap it.

 

Hey Fellas,

Just for the record, I have a 1967 283 that's been sitting here for about 2 years. I was going to use it in my hot rod build until I found an early one. I'd sell it for about $350ish if anyone is looking....

Feel free to contact me. Thanks!

 

I would run a 283 tomorrow in my project .... scarce as hens teeth out here.

Looked at finding one on the left coast to ship out here ..... but the cost of processing it thru customs just went from B.S. to F.O.!!!!

 

Okay I know it's OT but some 283's can have significant value to restorers, and they don't care what the bores look like. I paid big bucks for one when I was restoring my '61 Corvette. Check the casting numbers and date codes. Hell they're worth seventy-five bucks just in scrap value.

 

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

Ya I got one too, needs a rebuild, there out there fellas.

 

Save them. If you can't pass them along to someone, or someones, who can. They are not going to make any more of these, and when they are gone, they are gone.

 

I just picked up one, guy wanted $75 but traded some parts for it. He said it was a 283 or 327. I expected it to be a 283, complete from pan to carb and fan to cast bell. Got home and ran the numbers and its a 62-67 327.

 

For the last 30 years or more an older GM mechanic that I know has been pulling the 283's out of old Chevys and replacing them with 350's. He had lots of customers who wanted this performance "upgrade" done, and they usually just gave him the 283 that was pulled. Then a couple of years ago the older guy decided to clean out his sheds and garages of the motors he had stashed. He had eighteen 283's and a couple of 327's ready to haul to the crusher. I indicated that I was interested in those "old underpowered engines" and he told me I could have them for $45 each. I loaded up 14 of the motors on my big hauling trailer, leaving behind only the engines that wouldn't turn over, had a chip in the block, or some other obvious defect.
Now they are all in MY sheds, and who knows when I will get to them. But, I just couldn't let them go to the crusher! The ones that I didn't take were crushed the next day.

 

Good engines for manual transmissions and tall gears and there is nothing wrong with that. I don't know about any blocks after '57 that could be bored to 4in. but .06 over to 292 was common. If I remember correctly, you couldn't put too large of an intake valve in them. Let's see, alum. heads with 185cc intake runners and 1.9 in intake valves and 50 cc combustion chambers on a 292 withn about a .560 lift solid roller cam. 456 rear with 5 speed trans in a 2500# car.

 

I reciently sold a 67 date code 283 short block for $200 to a guy restoring a 67 PK. Im putting a re ring kit in a 64 283. Im using 602 -305 heads & a 305 cam. Im going to use it to replace a 350 in a 84 PK I have. Im going to use a early rochester 2 bbl . Im hoping to get better fuel economy. Ive never had a 283 with a bad crank. All of them I blew up where piston failures.

 

283 with powerpack heads, will get a 3x2 setup with rochesters and a 30/30 duntov cam, dual 1.75" exhaust... merc 3 speed... 2.79 rear gears

 

Here is my 1957 with original 283 built to 1969 302 specs, cam , intake , carb

 

$75 doesn't buy much now a days...if you got the cash, and a good place to store them.....I would grab them, for many of the reasons stated above.
Cheers, and let us know what you do...

 

Worth saving even minus the main caps if they aren't cracked or otherwise damaged. You might have to sit on them for a while before someone needs one though.

 

$45 each?!?!? man thats one hell of a score!

 

Considering this was originally posted 4 years ago, I'm sure he's already made the decision to get them or not.

I'm a 283 fan myself, got one in my '56 that is the smoothest running engine I've ever had. If I didn't already have a Buick 401 and a Packard 320 that I was tripping over in my garage, I'd pick up another 283 or two.

 

got my wife a ot 67 impala that we have almost finished completly re building, everything .i took out a 307 that ws almost done for and put in a rebuilt 283. punched 60 over choppy cam single 4 barrel,hell all the goodies.runs good and its unbelievably strong.id buy every one i could get my hands on.

 

keep em... keep anything from going to the scrap yard, hell someone is always lookin for what you have, just not at the same time...

 

I recently purchased a 1960 C30 rolling chassis with what I believe are original "283 V" emblems on the front quarter-panels. I would like to put a period correct 283 back in it. Most of the running or re-buildable 283s for sale are from cars. Are these the same as what came in the trucks? Thanks.

 

Just thought I would bump this thread to the top. Ive been playing with a rusty 283 out front and several folks stopped by. They invariably asked what are ya working on. When I replied 283 there wherent any negative comments. there where stories and wish I could find a good one. You got any for sale? A guy I hadn't seen in ten years came by. he back in the late 1960,s drove a 59 chev impala. 348 engine. And the problematic 348 was pulled for a 283 more reliable engine.

 

I love 283's. I'm a crappy mechanic and I can even work on them. I'm old and have always had great luck with them over the years. The one I have in my avatar '33 was never rebuilt, just basically stuck in the truck and run. I did replace the water pump, oil pump, intake, carb, gaskets, etc. and clean it up a bit, but that's about it. I was told it was from a '65 Impala and the numbers did check out. It runs so freakin' smooth, you wouldn't believe it. And, it was lying around outside for some time, too. There were animal and insect nests in it and it barely turned. Thanks to the HAMB, I was guided through bringing it back to life. It has very exciting torque behind a Saginaw 4-speed. Amazing for a basically stock unrebuilt motor!

 

Fleetside66, that's a great testament to a great little SBC.

 

Great story fleetside66!

 

Tell them that there are ten 283 engines for sale on Springfield, MO Craigslist today. Some of them are even standard bore.