I've searched before I step in doodoo about searching lol. My question is, is the 283 swap the same as swapping in a 350 that I would have to get crossmembers? Next question I have a 52 gmc pickup will the 3 on the tree bolt up to this motor and everything line up like it's suppose to(torque tube etc) without modifications? Any info on this swap would be greatly appreciated. PS gettin the motor free from my neighbor that just did a 454 swap in his 63 impala. I'm getting the 2 spd powerglide as well but I want to stick with manual. Thanks Tony
Tony, what are you doing down there? 350 will bolt in place of a 57 and later 283. As far as the transmission and crossmember, what transmission are you going to use??? If you stay with the torque tube you have to use a transmission that has the pivot for the tube.
Nothing will easily bolt in with that swap. The steering box is in the way of the engine. The back of the 228 engine is the same as the old Chevy 216/235 engine, which is completely different than the V8. The transmission you have will probably bolt to the back of a Chevy V8 bellhousing, but the mounts to the crossmember are different. Plus, you'll have the exhaust manifold and steering box trying to occupy the same space. Some times it's better to figure out what is the best way to do a swap, and get the necessary parts. rather than try to use what you can get for free.
I suppose that it depends on the 283, no side mounts equals different motor mounts for instance. The 6 cylinder tranny may bolt up with the proper bellhousing. The 3 speed built in '52 was made out of paper and you may break it with the 283, that depends on driving style and the 283 of course. As far as bolting up and the transmissin being in the correct position that is a matter of leaving the tranny bolted in place then mounting the engine in the proper location to match up to the bellhousing. The 283 is shorter then the inline 6 from bell to water pump tso having room to get it in there is not a problem, clearance for the exhaust and a fan shroud will be a concern. The reason that most of those old AD style trucks never got V8s back in the day was exhaust problems, there are some tricks that used to get used, that I won't go into here as today we have headers. The small block in the Ravens '53 got custom made headers by the beaner.
Thanks for the replies. I would totally go 350 or 305 but if I can get the motor for free thats better. I know it runs and there is nothing wrong with it. On top of that I am not building a race car. My delima right now is that I have a 228 with a 3 on the tree, and a 248 with a four on the floor with transmission hand brake, both of them are shot. So I don't have a motor to put in my truck and would like to get it running by June. So I am borderline going to tear down both motors and see which block is better and rebuild it or swap in a v8. I dont know how to weld so if there is any dierection for something that is bolt in perfect. I have angle grinders and cut off wheels to cut the living p**** out of things, but never learned to weld. Again any help/direction will greatly be appreciated.
Mine was set up pretty much as you would have to do it befo/re I swapped to open drive. You need a 55/60 or so V8 stick bellhousing and the V8 flywheel and clutch. That will bolt the engine to the center crossmember under the bellhousing and support the back of the engine. Front mounts depend on what you have to work with. A tube crossmember works great if the engine is set up for side mounts. If not you will have to figure out front mounts but it isn't that hard. The real pain in the butt on these is that the left side (drivers side) exhaust manifold hits or gets real close to the steering box no matter what manifold you have and the fix has normally been moving the box out an inch and a half for clearance. That is rather ugly though.
Lets see.. Our SB engines still have the early front mushroom mount holes down by the bottom of the block on each side next to the crank. Next, will a Tri-5 side mount bell housing help you??? And, imho, it is way cool to see the tranny hung out without a rear tranny mount! pdq67
We shall see what happens, im still waiting for my neighbor to finish everything up before I get the motor. Yes I do have plenty of time, just dont have patience lol. When I get a few days off this week I am going to go ahead and disassemble the 248 and see where it gets me. Im hoping it wont be too bad because I have everything I need to make that one work.
I did this swap about 40 years ago, with a 50 Chev PU, 216 CI engine and a 4-speed transmission. The 4-speed bolted up to the 283 bellhousing. How I got around the steering issue was to move the engine/transmission over about an inch. It was a long time ago, but it seemed to be a fairly straight forward swap.
FC, A lot of the fellas still move the engine over. We used to cut the section out of the rams horns between the 5 and 7 cylinder then weld a piece of bent water pipe in its place with enough arc to clear the steering.
IIRC I think that I used 265 exhaust manifolds, as they gave me a little more room than the rams horns gave me. It was kind of a beater work truck anyway.
How do you move the engine transmission unit over an inch and still hook up the torque tube which cannot be moved? On any open drive setup moving the egine and inch or two is not a big deal but with closed drive? To the of the thread, how about upgrading to a 250 late model six?
I am looking at this same swap. 1st shot will be to see if my old 228 runs. That steering box is definitely in a horrible place!
t It isn't going to work on a truck with a torque tube. When you move the engine over to the side (which works quite well you have already swapped out the rear axle.
I'd suggest putting in the 283/glide combo, offset the engine/trans, install a highway friendly open drive rear a be very happy.
That would make it a nice little driver that he could have a lot of fun with. If fhe were closer I'd even swap him one of my sets of 5 lug front brakes and backing plates for his six lug and he could run a 5 lug rear.
The 50 Chevy pickup I bought in 1999 already had a V8 in it, 307. Behind that was the original 4-speed and driveshaft. (Farm truck) So it can be done. You'll need a 63-68 6-cylinder truck cast iron bellhousing. http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engines/bellhousings.html And a 54-55.1 bellhousing crossmember with the angle mounts. Your crossmember has flat mounts. http://www.1954advance-design.com/Documents/EngineeringFeatures/slides/orig_Page49.html The steering box is the big problem. Mine was spaced out from the frame about 1.5" This reprint of an old magazine article covers that pretty good. http://www.speedprint.com/deves50/doc/v8stovebolt.pdf Good luck.
Don't! move the steering box over just enough for the V8. We did this on my brothers 51 AD. We removed the rivets that hold the steering box to the frame and then we steering box over about a inch and used spacers with grade 8 bolts. Worked like a charm.
You don't move the engine over with a torque tube. Most fellas even back when I was a kid if they were converting to a V-8 also converted to open drive at the same time.
Like another poster said. I used 265 exhaust manifolds and 55-57 type front motor mounts. I had a adapter bellhousing from the 6 trans to V8 engine.Don't know if they make them anymore. John
Well I got some time to mess with the 248, and looks like she'll be good to go. Just need to flush out the water jackets really well. Tman I have a whole 228, that if you need parts lmk. Anything I don't use for the 248 you can have dibs on. The block is cracked on the outside, I did have it running, but I checked the dipstick and there's some water in the oil. Might just be a head gasket but I'm not messing with it. Maybe if I have spare time I'll tear it down and see what is all wrong with it. But let me know what you need!
The Jalopy Journal
