Chevy 262 ci V-8, good,bad,opinions?

There's a '29 A Coupe for sale that really appeals to me. It's professionally done. The only downfall I see, and maybe it's not at all, is the engine. It's a 262ci Chevy V-8 apparently unmodified. I have no experience at all with one of these and from what I can determine, Chevy only made them for 2 yrs. around '74-'75 for compact Monzas. I think it's rated at a rather anemic 110 HP. I'm sure that's enough to push around a lightweight '29 Hiboy Coupe and it sits nicely between the frame rails. I also understand that they ran cool due to the small bore and relatively low compression. That's a plus. Anybody have any thoughts or experience with these motors? I'm not looking for a race car, more for cruising and reliability. That said, I would like for it to be able to get up and go a little bit. Car has a 5spd and I believe a 3:25 rear....Any advice is appreciated....Thanks, Don.

 

Not sure if you are talking about a 4.3 chevy,if so hp is higher than 110
tbi is 165 and fi is 195 they were turbocharged in syclones and typhoons
very good motor 350 minus 2 cylinders

 

A buddy of mine had one in his A. He drove it for a lot of miles without problem. Ran cool, decent mileage. The only complaint I ever heard from him was lack of power, 'course his previous ride was a 455 Olds powered Henry J.

 

I've got one of those in my '03 S-10 (V-6). Plenty of get up and go there. This is a 262 V-8. Guess that would be a 4.3 litre V-8! Thanks.

 

I have one in my 40 GMC.
Around the turn of the century I got a NEW in the GM crate short block from Joe Reath for $400 and couldn't pass it up.
I put on some World Products S/R 305 58cc heads to raise the compression and breath better, Performer intake, 1 5/8" dia tube headers and "Fad-T" mufflers and '69 Camaro Q-jet and distributor on it and it has way more than the 110 horse the factory smog motor did.
It's quite adequate for a 3000# vehicle.

This engine is a V8, not the V6 used in Astro Vans and S10's it just happens to measure out to around 4.3 liters, similar to the V6.

 

Yea, I had a Monza with a 262 in it. Good enough motor, but it will never be a big HP maker (bore is 3.67, stroke 3.10).

But, it would be easy to swap in a larger SB in the future if you wanted to.

 

Not gonna set the world on fire, but a good engine to get you down the road. Sounds like you're not looking to impress with HP and burnouts, ought to be a winner for what you want.

 

the 262 is the same size as a 350 , pull that piece of crap out and put a 350 in its place.

 

Put that crank in a 350 and rev 'er up !

 

it's the prius of small block chevys. just enough to get you around town. should be fine. in a light weight car you'll have enough power to move around. just make it breath well and you should be set.

 

Put that crank in a 350 block, 310 or so good reving cubes, kinda like the 3" stroke of the 301's but cast large journal

 

i wouldnt let that turn me away from a clean car. worst case scenario, pull it and swap in a diff small block......

 

Those would be a V6, not the V8 he asked about.

Other advice was good, either run with the 262 and be happy with the power, or bolt in something larger.


cheers
Ed N.

 

Popular hotrodding had a writeup on project x someyears ago and chevy had installed one of these with a 700r4 didn't run to bad I think it had 4:11 gears.

 

Thanks for the words of wisdom, fellas. It's all much appreciated.

 

I considered putting one of those little V8s in my daily driver '64 El Camino when gas was $4 a gallon but couldn't locate one. They're pretty scarce.

However, a little research showed that an early '60s 283 with power pack heads (not camel humps), a mild street cam and a 390 cfm 4-barrel will run serious rings around a 262 and give great gas mileage on regular gas at the same time. And you can find 'em everywhere!

And, it's my understanding that all 283s had forged cranks so you can beat on 'em pretty hard without worrying too much about breaking them. Sounds to me like a perfect motor for an A-bone with a five-speed and gears!

Just my $.02

 

sorry , not true.....many had cast cranks. all were forged up to about 1963 , then after that it they could be cast depending on application

 

283 is nice is a light vehicle.When looking for heads for a 283 don't pass by a #416 305 head.The 416 head outflows any Power Pak head and they are readily available and cheap.The 58 cc chambers gives a little more compression too.But they have the accessory holes on the head which may or may not be the look you want in a vintage engine.In fact a 305 is fine if not needing more than maybe 250 hp.
But in terms of power for bucks spent,you can't beat the common 350.

 

good small motor just another sbc but the gearing sound bad too high of a diff gear in 5th

 

I just put a little 283 like that in my 68 biscayne. I freshened it up but didnt touch the short block since it ran fine. A valve job on those 305 heads mentioned. Look at the pic on the heads. 305's have bigger valves and smaller combustion chambers. I put in a mild 266 crane energizer cam, dual plane intake, HEI. Car has the 3sp manual. Im hopping to break 20mph on the freeways. My big 63 bel air all stock(other than HEI), tired 2bbl, has been getting 17mpg while running at 2800rpm

 

thats what i have in my 81 el camino daily, with a 450 cfm holley, Built T-400 and mild perf. cam it's a little over 20 mpg highway and some performance. Not really too happy, but it is a 3300# car

 

That little 2bbl motor seems to run pretty well in the quarter mile:

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'76 Chevy[/SIZE]</TD><TD>[SIZE=-1]Atco, NJ[/SIZE]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top bgColor=#eeeeee><TD align=left>[SIZE=-1]R/SA[/SIZE]</TD><TD align=right>[SIZE=-1]13.01[/SIZE]</TD><TD align=right>[SIZE=-1]103.14[/SIZE]</TD><TD align?middle?>[SIZE=-1]06/13/08[/SIZE]</TD><TD>[SIZE=-1]Briane Philbrick - Vineland, ON
'76 Monza[/SIZE]</TD><TD>[SIZE=-1]Atco, NJ[/SIZE]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

It does look like that little motor has some potential.

 

A few years ago a friend of mine bought a Chevy tilt bed from a scrap yard{they were using it},he hauled lots of cars,scrap,derby cars,etc. The truck was powered by a 262 v8 out of a monza.It was no powerhouse,but it made money for him while he was building a 350 to replace it.The 262 then powered several derby rides,I think he still has it sitting in the garage.

 

Used to have a '63 Bel Air 4 door with 283, 2 barrel, and Powerglide. It would get 22 MPG all day long on the open road. Ran pretty decent as well.

 

There are no bad SBC's, some are just better than others.

 

If the price is right and you like the car buy it. The only rub on the 262 Is that it isn't a powerhouse but what the hay it should run down the freeway with the big boys and pass a few gas stations in the process. Down the road a ways if it gets tired or you decide you need a much stouter engine you can easily do a swap to one with more power.

 

I had a 262 V8 in my Malibu wagon. I loved it. Pretty fair in the performance dept and it got around 26mpg. I think that's great gas millage for a wagon. There was a later version in a 267 CID. Not anything to get excited about in my opinion.