I have the opportunity to purchase an original 1957 chevy truck 283 staggered bolt engine. I am interested seen how it would be very neat to have the original engine in my truck. I have read that the staggered bolt engines are the 265 bored out to 283 and are known for overheating because of how thin the walls are from being bored out and that these engines are rare. This is all I really know about them and I am not sure that is even accurate.
Any information would be great. I would like to know if it is possible to get more horsepower and torque out of these engines. Are parts easy enough to come by? I have read positive things about the corvette 283's, Belair 283's, etc. seen how those 283's information is easy enough to come by but I can't find anything on the truck ones. Maybe because they are rare?
Would this his engine even be compatible with my TH350 transmission? I just want to understand more about this engine before purchasing it.
It will bolt to a T350.....However, I dont think the 57 engines had provisions for side mounts yet. They still used the front and bell housing mounts. If you want to use a T350 with the rear mount on a cross member, you should use side mounts on the engine too
Does the starter on those old engines bolt to the block or the trans. ??
Your 350 it has to bolt to the block. Not sure if this block has provisions for a block mounted starter.I thought there was a change in '63
TMJ
57 motor mounts bolted to the front of the engine . no side mounts . starter bolted to bell housing. used a large flywheel with the smaller clutch . 168 tooth if i remember right . the motor mounts on the bell took most of the load. not worth the trouble if you are not running stock components . if you are looking to hop something up. drop in a modern motor with injection bolted to any thing other then a th350. not many original 283 blocks out there but the 322 I would consider rare.
I don't think there is enough meat in the block flange to drill and tape holes for the starter. Somewhere I have pics that show the difference. A couple of years later you could drill if needed. 1957 engines all used the 538 block and had the up-dated oiling system so you can bore it out to 283 from a 265. 1956 engines were a 991 block and while having an oil filter it still used the old cam metering of oil to the right side of the block. I would just use a newer block unless your wanting to put i in a 57 Chev .
-- Edited by Jess on Tuesday 16th of September 2014 07:44:31 AM
Thanks for the advice everyone. I did want to put the 283 into my 57 chevy pickup but it doesn't sound like there is much breathing room to add any more horsepower to it and it sounds like adding a starter would be a real challenge.
The starter might be a problem but getting horsepower from a 283 shouldn't,. Corvette 283 cu. in. fuelie gives 283 horses, dual quads 240-270 hp. With the newer speed equipment available you should be able to get even more at a reasonable price.
The problem I think with the 57 283 for the chevy truck is there isn't a lot more room to bore them out, the walls get thin. I read that the ones from 58 forward were a little more forgiving for boring them out and had an increase of stock horsepower each year.
