Making a new 350 look like a 57 small block? TECH QUESTION

What is that intake? 2 duece SBC?

 

Paint it orange.

 

Tuck here is my list;
Pertronix in an old ~Centrifugal advance ~distributor housing
Small clipon distributor cap[1956]
1/8" PIPE plug into the webbed area above water pump to oil galley
Painted script valve covers.
CORRECT- cast IRON water kneck on intake that sicks straight forwards at 45 degrees.
2-1/2" outlets on the RamsHorns[available in repop]
Heads-if not using the "triple crown" originals [powerPacks]-
install no newer than the time when they cast the edge at bottom of heads STRAIGHT and not "dipped" along that bottom edge as the early ones were.
use a Blow-by tube out the backon drivers side....
Install a PCV valve UNDER the intake[shielded] with it plumbed to a T fitting hooked to the rear of the carbs base......
That oughta keep you busy ,till the snow clears off in KANADIA......[July4]

 

Oy - 'ere's me mouse.

Mouse poop: http://www.roadsters.com/sbc/

Rat poop: http://www.roadsters.com/power/

Dave Mann
(602) 233-8400
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Oh yea Tommy those billet pulleys had me thinking 1960 for sure, Give me a break. Build a 301 and forget about it. That is traditional and will run.

 

Another thing--get a catalog from a Corvette resto place and study early oddities like the low wiring routes, brackets, and such. Vette stuff is always the default choice if not using early speed stuff. Early Chevy rodders had the Corvette catalog memorized, and jumped right on each new upgrade.

 

I'm suprised this pic never made it into this post:



This one's a '55 though... no oil filter.

-Dave

 

By the way, it was and is quite possible to build a biggish Chevy using the early block. By the early sixties, standard hotrod displacements for 283 builds were 352 (4" X 3.5") for those who could afford an expensive crank and 301, 4" X 3" for those needing a rebuild but not rich enough for a 352.
I doubt any rodder in the history of the universe ever bored a worn out 283 to .030--any need for engine work was an excuse to go straight for 4".
A 1957 352 would be fairly expensive, but could certainly be done. I think early heads should be faked--later heads are a quantum leap better.
Solid lifters are a must for anything pre-65. An engine with no clatter was for grandma, and every set of feeler gauges had some chewed-up blades from setting Chevies while running.

 

Just as soon as 283s existed, hot rodders knew what the limit was. Reath had ads in late '57 HRMs for 1/2 inch stroker kits with 4 inch pistons. On the subject of disguised heads, one of my friends ground down the bosses on the ends of a pair of '69 350/300 heads to resemble the early heads.

 

My motor was not cast for a mech fuel pump so I drilled and tapped the block and took a fuel pump apart removed the pump lever and milled the inside out of it until I could run a fuel line straight through it so it looked functional. My fuel pump and regulator are mounted out of sight underneath the car.

 

I must say, after seeing the lengths some of you go to, I think I'd just put a 283 in it. Every one of them made looked like a 283!

 

Good point! I know lots of guys that were racing circle tracks back in the late fifties and early sixties that tell stories about going way overboard with the 283, big bores and bigger cams.

 

...and after all of your exhaustive efforts to dress your 350 up to look like a 265 or 283, people will walk past it and say "Yep...just another small block Chevy!".

 

I'm afraid he's right, if it's got rams horns, a oil fill tube and a hidden PVC system, and a alt. in a gen. case, and an earlier style dizzy, most will mistake it for an earlier engine.

I heard some that just plug the holes in the front of the later heads with JB weld, sand it down and paint it.

A well done SBC looks as good as any other engine... 'cept maybe a flathead.

 

Go all out...build a '55 block with no oil filter.

 

i haven't seen any one in this post mention the dip stick on 79 (i think) they switched to a passenger side dip stick i have my engine all done up 60's style but that fucking dipstick is a dead give away . so if you wanna make a late 350 look early 283 make sure you use a 350 block that is pre 79.

jp

 

Have A 32 Ford Sedan With A 63,283 In It.if I Can Add Anything It
Would Be About The Carb.carter Only,no Holly.i Am Not Trying To Hide The Fact Of What I Have,the Car Was Built In The Early 80's
And Have Added A Few Things,like Sanderson Headers,80457-2 Holley,electric Fan,alt.and Hei.edelbrock Still Makes A 4bbl Manifold,but You Have To Drill Out The Hole For The Oil Filler.
Deucemanab

 

Don't for get to fill the bolt hole on the front of the crank and use a pressed on ballancer only......corse that's just plain stupid.

 

According to a book I have on the history of the SBC, that bolt is not even about retaining the balancer--its job is tensioning the front journal, which apparently was to stop a broken crank problem on early 350's! I guess it stiffened an area that was concentrating the jerking around forces of damping...
I've got an early 350 with no bolt or hole.
But anyway, deleting the bolt would indeed seem dumb...you'd also have to replace the dampener witha simple flange hub like 283! Just use a Corvette type mount and paint everything below it flat black so nobody can see that stuff...

 

Yessiree, that's just funny and so true!

 

I was tring to find better pix of Bobbys roadster his is pretty nice with the magneto and all..

 

Nooooooooooooooooo!

 

At least if it's going in something with no hood, he won't have to worry about sawing the front end in half when the balancer flies off.

A buddy of mine had a 57 that he insisted on going the no hole route. He was actually looking down at the balancer (wondering what was causing the vibration) when it shit itself, landed on the crossmember and went THROUGH the inner fender. No thanks...

 

DAMN! that car is a beauty!!

 

You could make the late heads look older to the casual eye by running 57-58-(?) Olds valve covers - not the stamped "Rocket" ones everyone uses, but the plain ones that came out after. They wouldn't look like 283 covers, but they'd be different enough a guy who thought he knew what he was looking at would scratch his head a little.

I wouldn't knock myself out on making it look old though - like Fat Hack said, very few guys will notice or pay much attention. Run a generator, early manifolds, early intake, points-style distributor, whatever valve covers look best, and regular belts on it, paint it orange, should be good enough.

 

on my 64 283 I've got the hurst front mount. originally when I got it the motor was setup to go in a later car with a pcv system and a Q-jet etc. it had a big harmonic balancer on the front of it. it came with the original front pully mount with no balancer at all as well. the balancer won't clear the hurst mount on my motor, so I took it off and just put the lower pulley mount on it. Does the 283 need a harmonic balancer or will it tear itself apart?

 

what manifold is that?!

 

I hate to bring up ford in a chevy post but I'm just curious if anyone has done the same with a 302 SB - make it look like a ford 57. I'm starting to do that with mine. thx

 

If you wanted a newer set of heads that still look like old heads. Brzezinski racing can do it. www. castheads.com

 

Anyone making an "off set "fuel pump so you can use a front mount Hurst motor mount and a mechanical pump??