Hey,,I have a question,, I have a small block Chevy dated June 9th 1962. I was told it was a 283,,all the visual indicators that are showing say that it might be a 327. One book I have says that the casting No. was used by both displacements (283 & 327). The block's Casting Number is "3789817". Five out of six of my casting books say that it's a 327. I pulled the heads and they're in great shape, the valves are tall & the bore is a hair under 4 inches. I think it's a 283 with one rebuild possibly.The cylinders thickness is amazing though. It feels like 1/4 inch or more. The weirdest thing about this engine is that this engine comes from the factory with NO harmonic balancer. It has a pressed fit flange that is tapped on the crank snout and the lower crank pulley bolts on there too. I have enclosed pictures and was interested in knowing what it is,, what it's used for. The timing cover has a dual timing tab welded on.One side fits a small balancer the other timing tab fits the flange with NO balancer. I have never seen anything like this in 32 years of messin' with sbc's. The Suffix Code on the deck's front surface reads : "TO827D". The crank is forged. Thanks.
We've established that Dick. What's up with NO Balancer from the factory. The Heads are Power Packs with one point.
Mark, can't give an explanation but I've seen 2 early 60's 283s with the flange instead of the balancer, One for sure came out of a truck with a granny gear 4 speed. Even some of the later 283s had a very thin balancer,maybe 3/4 inch thick or less.
I checked Chevymania! they said the D code was a 62 283 170HP. I have also seen the flange only on a 283 still have the flange. good luck. Jim
it looks like a 283 because the block has that little divit on the passenger side that you can stick your thumb in
I believe the earlier Chevy V8s were internal balance, which would mean they wouldn't need external balancing at the flywheel or the crank pulley. It is odd to see an engine of that size without a harmonic dampner though.
Hey Mark, here's my line of thinking based on your 20 not far from me. Some good ole poor boy knocked the balancer ring off because his dirt car racing watchin buddy said it would make it go faster. He had some PP heads laying around only because they weren't cracked in 1982. I ain't never seen ANYBODY do ANY hodgepodge poorboy stuff ANYWHERE close to the Tram Roads. Country poor folks have many ways to make due with what's available. No keyboard bodyslams intended. I have lived in Perry County.
I've got a couple of unmolested 62 283's and they both have the hub with no ring as shown in your pic.
The early 265's and 283's came with the pulley riveted to the hub. Has side mounts, so, it's a 283; unless someone has thrown together a collage of SBC parts. That era 283/327 engine blocks bore the same casting numbers; which is why I've been told THAT era 283 will take a 4 inch overbore to make the fabled 301 (or 302 if you prefer). The front, homemade, motor mount is interesting. Butch/56sedandelivery.
Yup I have seen a lot of those front hubs.... most got thrown away and replaced with a later madel harmonic balancer over the years.
A mate of mine had a bone stock original '57 Chev with the same flange/pulley setup as yours. No balancer got my attention too
all three 283`s that i own have the same set up as yoyrs all came out of 62/3 chev belairs here in australia(all factory left hand drive cars ,not sure if that makes any difference)
that small hub was used on alot of 283. it is factory. i used to get all of them i could to use on dirt car motors. you are right about the wall thickness. the 817 and 810 blocks were 327 blocks that were not bored to 4" they will take a 4" bore with no problem. they are also machined to take the 327 crank. you will also fimd some 327 blocks with the same casting number.
Thanks for the Info I really appreciate it. I have never seen this factory no balancer stuff and wondered about it.I couldn't find anything about it in books. To some of you with ideas of slung balancers or backyard fab work,,this is an intact engine from the factory. This one has never been apart,,the parts all date match. The heads are dated F 27 62 and F28 62,,the casting numbers are 3795896. Thanks again,,now I know,,I guess I need to build a 301 if I could only find pistons,,lol. Hey Patrick2965,, I don't get your condescending barbs, did I anger you at some point? I moved out here 20 years ago to get away from the city trash and just finished a big 2 story,, I hope you choke on a U-Joint,,lol.
I apologize, took a few days to get back. I was trying to make a joke about myself too. I really appreciate being able to live in THAT part of close to LR and being able to have calm country life. PM has been sent. No ill will intended with my comment.
Yep I have a couple of original 283s with the solid hub on the crank too. These early engines came from the factory with screw driver head bolts on the tining cover and oil pan. Another oddity. Most of the engines came with a single fan belt pulley and I see yours has a dual belt pulley as this might explain why it is bolted instead of riveted >>>>.
4 inch bore pistons for the 3 inch stroke should be easy to find. Check the Keith Black KB802 . 4 in bore 3 in stroke 5.7 rod length. Plenty of others make them but those were easy to find.
I have found a 283 with out a crank; its a good block with no over bore, it has pistons, push rods and cam.<o></o> I could save some space if I can run with just a flange as pictured in the first post,<o></o> Q- how do I go about getting a crank for it?..Are Internally balanced after market cranks available ?? .. . <o></o>
I'd like to find out if Scat sells 3.00" stroke large journal cranks... Yes I'd like to build a 302 for a Nova or something....
There used to be bearing spacers available to put a small journal crank in a large journal block...you would use normal small journal bearings with them...havent seen them in a while, might be a reason for that?!
i used to go in and window shop the circle track shops and they always had engines withe the biggest BIGGEST 350 balancers on display nothing like a bigger heavy flywheel on a racing engine I always used a small 327 or 283 ballancer some of the old 327 were nice and small
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