Let's Build a 265 Chevy V8!!!!!

I don't see why you couldn't grind a flat in the appropriate area on your Mallory, using your stock distributor for a guide. It's not that precisioned a job. I, too, have a '56 265 that I plan on building. When I removed the heads, I found five stock pistons and three TRW forged pistons. Now, that's the hot setup!

 

I have a set of '57 heads (late in the year so more like '58), not PP, but if you are interested PM me.
casting # 3748772 date code J237 and K267 and yes of coarse they do have stagered valve cover bolts.

 

here's the article....

 

Let me just throw out some info to complicate things. comparing bore and stroke.

265 engines used a 3.00-inch stroke and a 3.75-inch bore. 5.7 rods

<meta http-equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.1 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 1.25in; margin-top: 1in; margin-bottom: 1in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]'57 283 with its 0.125-inch larger bore (3.875-inch bore, 3.00-inch stroke) 5.7 rods
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307 used a 283 bore and a 327 stroke (3.875-inch bore and a 3.25-inch stroke). 5.7 rods



305 small bore at 3.736-inches,stroke 350 crank at 3.48-inches. 5.7 rods


307 is closer to the 327 and 283 family from the 1960s. However it has a late style large journal 327 crank and 5.7 rods that are in common with 302 327 and 305, 350 large journal small blocks.



305 is closer to the large journal 302, 327, 350 family and sharing only its very small bore with the 265 same as the 265.


There is also an lt-1 style 265 out of caprice cars from the 90s. This one has a longer rods 5.94 same 265 bore and stroke. Its the closest thing you can compare to an early 265 when it comes to bore and stroke.

 

MMM, I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread or maybe I shouldn't as it makes me want to piss about with my 265 motor!

Nick.

 

I was hoping that you would see this thread and it would serve in some purpose. I read your thread sometime ago about perhaps switching over to a 283 from a 265. I love these engines!!!

What state is your motor in now?

 

Jeffery, As far as I know the motor is good(I hope!) I've taken one of the heads off and it looks fine the bores are nice.The motor was FREE so I can't complain, I've been given an early dizzy for mine so I don't have that issue.I LIKE the 265 too and yes it is an SBC, but at least its an old one!I'll replace things as necesarry, but I hope not to spend too much on it, but I will probably beat it with the horsepower stick a bit!

Nick.

 

some early heads, first the 55 2bbl head number 532

next the 1960 283 2bbl head 682

and the 1959 stagger power pack head 550

 

oil filter was canister type..but no provision on the block..
it was mounted above engine..much like a flathead ford V-8

 

55 had the optional top mounted bypass canister filter, 56 had it on the block, but it was optional (some engines got a block off plate instead of the canister)

 

The cams have a notch on the rear journal.

There are two oil holes in the journal. When the notch comes around, the circuit is completed and a squirt of oil goes into the valvetrain. Kind of a pain in the ass when you try to get a new cam. You can simply notch any new cam or grind a notch in between the two holes and install a modern one hole bearing. You'll also have constant pressure.

 

Cool stuff, I used the 097 cam and loved it. I had a 283 that would rev 8k and was a great motor tuned by Johnny Marsh who was a chevy small block wizard and worked on plenty of Speedy Bill Smiths race cars. He could tweek a dual point distributer for super performance also. Loved those solid lifters hammering away as I loped thru the drive inn's lookin for a drag race. Had no issues with driving it on the street and loved the killer sound of it. Oh!! the good old days!! ~Sololobo~

 

It looks like you are on the right path. I can't believe that there are still people who constantly don't read the whole thread before offering advice or offering parts for sale that aren't consistent with what you are trying to do.

The staggered bolt powerpack heads shouldn't be that hard to find but expect to have to do a lot of work to most of them you find. That was a pretty standard swap for the 56 265 guys back in the day but you also had to change to notched pistons when you put the bigger cam and bigger valves in it. I knew more than one guy who picked up a 30-30 cam and the had to change pistons after the valves hit the tops of the pistons. I think I would have gone with a 283 just for the ease of finding goodies for it but this is cool.

Inside the engine I'd use new tech where I could, especially with the valve train and valve springs. Who ever you get your cam from should be able to sell you a matching set of springs and proper retainers and what not that will work great.

The old solid lifter cams are cool sounding but most of us gave them up because we got tired of spending every Saturday morning adjusting the valves after a week of driving the car. 57 Panel in my case with a hot 327 that I wish I had now.

 

When I built my '34 coupe , I was trying to do it in a way that would reflect how I might have built it in 1957. Just as if I had been 18 in 57! Since my Pops was a Chevrolet mechanic, getting a "new" Chevy V8 would have been a must...so I tried to make my 265 look like it had just been pulled out of '56 Chevy. The only year they were painted red.

So here's my "original 265. '57 block, .040 over with a 300hp 327 hydraulic lifter cam. I thought in a smaller displacement engine this cam would sound a little hotter than it does, second time around I'd probably try the 350hp 327 or similar. Anyway, '58 Corvette intake and rebuilt WCFB, '56 Corvette heads and single point diz. Generator and glass sediment bulb fuel filter, '58 ram's horn exhaust and modified '56(?)air cleaner finish it off.

This motor pulls the '34 nicely, revs quick and cruises easily at 70. I like it and I think you will like yours too!! Good Luck

 

I'm also going for a "plucked from the junkyard in '58" with my 283. There is some good info here. That Hot Rod article is sweet!

The only thing mine was missing was the road draft tube. It had been plugged and I felt like I needed to have one. It took me a year- and-a-half to find a good one. Sheesh! Good luck with yours, and I will be watching.

 

why build the smallest motor out there, a327 would look good,

 

way to go

 

Based on these stories heres what I found. Hope everyone enjoys this.
Compression ratio options kept going up and up every year and the over the counter stuff got better too with every year ending in 57.

You can read the rest of the stuff here and also the Mculloch super charger options if you had deep pockets. click!


1955 Chevy 265, Edelbrock tri power intake, other factory goodies, Mculloch twin supercharger set up.


1955 All new 265 “ v8 with 8.0:1 compression in 3 configurations.
Base -Turbo Fire 2brl 162hp
Optional (Power- Pack) Super Turbo Fire 4brl 180hp
Corvette racing edition rated 195hp with added Corvette camshaft and springs to the Power- Pack version.

Factory Power Kit: They could supply you with an over the counter 4 throat carburetor with matching intake manifold and dual exhaust system for a much lower price.

1956 Updates: 4 different 265 engines
Base -Turbo Fire 2brl 162hp
Turbo Fire 2brl 170hp (automatic)
Super Turbo Fire 4brl 205hp (improved cyl. Heads increase in compression 9.25:1)
Corvette racing edition 225hp with “new” twin four barrel carburetor
optional late in the year RPO "449" Duntov camshaft 240hp.

Factory Power Kit: The much awaited twin four barrel carburetor/ aluminum intake setup and “Special High- Lift Camshaft” a solid lifter type known as the “Duntov” camshaft, and improved Super Turbo Fire cyl. Heads.

1957 Updates: 7 small block v8 configurations.
The “new” engine a bored out version of the 265 now displacing 283 cu. in. was available.

Base -265 Turbo Fire 8.0:1cr 2brl 162hp
Base -283 Turbo Fire 8.5:1cr 2brl 185hp
Super Turbo Fire 9.5:1cr 4brl 220hp
Super Turbo Fire 9.5:1cr (2x4 carbs) 245hp
Super Turbo Fire 9.5:1 (Fuel Injection) 250hp

(Corvette Racing Editions)
Base -283 10.5:1cr (2x4 carbs/ Duntov solid) 270hp
Super Turbo Fire 283 10.5:1cr (Fuel Injection/Duntov solid) 283hp

Factory Power Kit: All new 283 small block, costly “Ram-Jet fuel injection /twin four barrel carburetor/ aluminum intake, Duntov solid camshaft, Super Turbo Fire Hyd. Camshaft, and revised Super Turbo Fire cyl Heads in F.I or 2x4 setup.​

 

one more fun scan....1959 chevy parts book listing for cylinder heads. Those 550s I have are interesting, they have bolt holes on one end, I think for the air suspension compressor bracket.

 

I have a set like that. They have 58x cast into the side and have bosses on one end that look like late model heads. They have nice ports.

I've found on the heads that came with 1.72 intake valves the intake runners are narrow around the guide bosses. The runners match a 1.88 valve from the 305 4brl heads better then a 1.94 valve. Don't be to bashfull decking the block or milling the heads. Compression is hard to build into the small cube engines, and it makes all the difference when you add a bigger cam. You can angle mill these heads a long ways since they don't have the cooling holes around the sparkplugs. A zero deck would help a bunch.
Jeff

 

That's exactly what I'm going for!! I keep an eye out for the cams and heads you have.

I actually have the road draft tube and it's in perfect condition so I guess I am fortunate there. Your engine looks great too!

I should not have to explain why I chose this engine. And if I am using you logic a 572BB crate motor should be my logical choice. 327's are cool but not a mid 50's engine which is where I see my car.

Thanks Alex!!!

Thanks to everyone for posting such great material. I still have not heard back from Bass so I went back and reread his thread on the build up of his 265. His machinists really know their shit. They did something so that the cam did not have to be machined for oiling. Can anyone expand on this?

I am not looking for the gnarliest motor this side of the Mississippi, but I would like something that would have been common in the mid to late 50's like in the articles that Squirrel posted. Thanks again and keep it coming!!!

 

Another thing that I want to ask is what are some of the questions that I should start asking engine builders. This is the first engine that I am having built and I would like to get the right people for the job to do the machining. People that have worked with this type of engine before would be preferable I guess.

Anybody know of someone that is relatively close to Charlotte that is versed in early Chevy v8 engines??

 

In that don francisco book he talks about a good build on all out motor in '57 being a 283 block punched to 4" and stroked to 3 1/2.....so a 350....

Also talks about cutting chev 6 valves down to fit the head spacificly the 1.875's but not the 1.94's

 

So what your saying is that the traditional thing to do is to run a 350??? Who would have thought?

I love the ingenuity back then. I would have never though about cutting Chevy 6 valves down or in another case using the Cadillac valves with a spacer. Neat shit!!!

I read in an mag the other day where the guy had a hopped up 265 in his hot rod that he preferred a 4 bbl intake with a Caddy Carter carb as opposed to a corvette dual quad and a three deuce setup. More of that ingenuity!!!

 

Ok, now I'm subscribed.

I'm building a 265, punched to 283, for my modified and need to get some info.

 

One more bit of advice...if you go solid lifter cam, be sure and cross-pin the rocker arm studs or go with screw-in studs. The early model heads have press-in studs from the factory and a few high RPM times through the gears will start backing the studs out. This is the voice of experience from back in the day. I was adjusting valves weekly until I pinned the studs. The adjustment frequency got much longer after that.

-55 265 block, bored .125 with 283 pistons, 098 cam, 2 wcfb's on an early vette manifold, '58 power pack heads, corvette 2-1/2" cast iron exhaust manifolds, corvette dual point distributor, backed by a Chevy 3 speed and 4.11 gears in a '57 150 2 door. Sold it in 1970 and missed it every day since.

 

I certainly do not want to be adjusting valves on this thing every week so I am definitely taking notes!

 

I remember an .097 solid lifter for the 265 and an .098 for the 283. Might be off a little but you do have to notch the rear of the cam. My last 265 which was recent, i put an HEI in it with no problems. The 30-30 cam is way to much and you will not be happy with it.Those solid lifter motors were sweet sounding and would really rev. Like the other guys said, a little cleanup bore and change oil regularly and you are good to go.

 

Good thread, I have all the goodies to to a large cube (sounds like an oxymoron to me) 265.

 

If you bore it out to 283 you can get new domed pistons from Keith Black that have a 4cc dome. The 2 barrel heads have a 67.424 combuston chamber. This will give you 9 to 9.5 CR depending on if the heads have been milled. I think this is just right for pump gas. Also I would use the old 097 Duntov cam. It's not too radical and sounds great.