I need some help in Identifying a Chevy engine, is there a easy way to determine whether a 1957 Chevy engine is a 265 or a 283??
ok, i think the 265 has off set valve cover screws, 283 are line up, check numbers on front of head at block deck,
I always thought all the early chevy v-8's had valve coverscrews that line up? And, I thought that they didn't become off set until the early 60's?
If it hasn't been bored the 265 will be 3.750". Any dimension between that and 3.870 will be a 265 with a bore. You can actually bore a 265 to the 283 bore but it is unlikely one would have survived from the old days. Also you might find remenants of the yellow color that '57 265's were painted to identify them early in the '57 model run. You can also refer to the ID numbers in any old Motors Manual to identify them. Frank
Valve cover bolts changed mid year 59, they went from staggered to straight. Look at the number stamped on the deck at the front, pass side, should see something like F123CD if the letter(s) at the end (after the numbers) are C or CD or CE it's a 265, if something else then it's not a 265.
All '57 heads have the offset valve cover bolts. The way to identify the engine is by the suffix code on the front pad. The 1957 codes for 265 engines were C, CD, and CE for cars and L, LA, LB, and M for trucks. There may be others also. The block casting number should be 3731548, but this casting could have also been used for 283's. Some early '57 engines may have had the 3720991 casting number.
Ohh? Well, see how much I know about this stuff. Oh well, its a learning process for me. Thanks for seting me straight about that.
FritzJr has the most accurate answer on this thread, although fab32 and Heathen also provide some good info. The only way to know is by the ID code on the stamped pad in front of the head on the passenger side...as mentioned above....or by checking bore size. Casting number 3731458 was used for both 265 and 283 engines in '57. That is the only casting number for '57 that could possibly be a 265, unless your '57 ended up with a left over 3720991 casting, which is technically a '56 265. A '57 265 would have originally been painted Chartreuse instead of Chevrolet Orange. Chances are if you do find one it may have already been overbored to 3.875...pretty common. Sure seems to be a lot of dis-information out there about early small blocks.
I believe that ONLY the 55 model V8's had a external filter. The rest had a provision on the block for a oil filter. Early V8's had a cannister and later one were spin on. Early V8 Novas were the first to get the spin on filter. Then the others came later.
Yes, '55 was the only year that the 265 lacked an external oil cannister (filter) on the left rear of the block. It also had a different road draft tube design that allowed the road draft tube to run behind the flywheel in the bellhousing area and protrude through the left rear side of the block. There's also an extra pad with a freeze plug right next to the distributor that no other 265-283 had. First year for side mounts was 1958. All '57 283 engines were mounted off of the front of the block and lacked side mounts. There were also other improvements to the '57 283 over the '56 blocks. For instance, the oiling was changed to a more modern design that did away with the need for the notch in the rear cam journal to feed the top end, and the main webbing was also thicker.
What model chevs had 265 CI engines AFTER 55? I'd like to see that info from some genuine GM source or manual.Tell me I'm wrong if I am but I believe the 265 was a one year displacement for 1955( remember they came alive in 55? ,,the motto?) All the 265's I recall had a remote mount oil filter cannister which had a bracket secured ( sandwiched) between the thermostat housing and intake manifold water outlet. there was NO pad for the oil filter cannister on the bottom of the engine ,,NO SUCH THING as a spin on oil filter until much later. NO engine side mounts until the 57 283 came along. Seems like everyone around has a different recollection of what was what with these small blocks and this is mine.
OK,,Chevy Performance manual sez 265s were around through 57, the 55 engine had a remote filter, all 265's lacked side mounts. in stock form only the 57 block provided full pressure oiling, prior to this the upper valve train was oiled via a notch in the rearmost cam journal.
You see, this is the sort of thing I was alluding to when I said there seems to be a lot of disinformation out there about early small block Chevrolets. I really wish you would have done the research that you obviously did after posting your first response before you made the first post. The only correct statement in your first post is that the '55 265 had the oil canister mounted on the intake manifold with a bracket under the thermostat housing. And if I'm not mistaken, isn't that pretty much exactly what I wrote in post #16? Sorry if I come off a bit brash here, but you just so happened to fall right in line with an example of the sort of disinformation I was referring to.
I also need help I just bought a 57 Chevy BelAir and the engine pad code reads T 0127 D. I do not see the D suffic in any of the info I have found does anyone know what this engine is? I cannot seethe casting number. Thanks for any help, bob.
Slightly OT but a buddy had a Chevy SB engine awhile back that had me baffled as far as the Suffix code and I'm normally pretty good with them. Turned out to be from a Studebaker that was built with a Chevy engine. It had an odd code all it's own but I can't seem to remember now what it was.
For post 21 D suffix code shows 58-64 Impala sized body 283 with powerglide and 2bbl carb AND 55-56 truck 265 with manual tranny and a 4bbl carb 40 series truck
Hope you all don't mind if I join in. I have a 1955 1 1/2 ton trk. w/SBC 2 bbl. carb. Air cleaner say 283 but that doesn't mean much as far as the engine. The front passenger side deck has the #'s 37512. No letters. I can't find any info as to what engine it is. Thanks, Wes
I'm pretty sure the only 57 265s were 2 barrel stick shift cars. Side mounts did not show up until 1958. 56 up had block mounted filters and in 56 and 57 the filter was longer.
Yes, you couldn't specificaly order a 265 in '57; the transmission you got determined what 2 bbl V8 came with it. Stick cars with base V8s got 265s, while PG equipped cars got 283s.
No it doesn't, not even close. I just remembered that I could ck the intake, it would give me an idea what motors it was used on. Might help. That's not a trk air cleaner so the motor more than likely originated in a car. The firewall is too close so I can't see the date code or the casting number. I'm going to sell the motor and the almost rust free cab, fenders, hood, etc.
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