[1Bad62Pro/Street]

I would take the 283.
Do you know what year it is?


The debut of the 283 in 1957 marked the end of the 265. Chevrolet went to an new motor mounting system placing the mounts near the freeze plugs on the side of the block. The old system had mounts located on the front of the block at either side of the timing cover.

Since around 1964 most small block Chevys have had two threaded holes at the rear of the block on the drivers side near the oil filter boss. These are to accommodate the clutch counter shaft for vehicles equipt with manual transmissions. Only one of the holes are required. Some vehicles used a counter shaft located approx 6" further to the rear,thus the need for the rear hole. Early blocks have only one hole and are pretty much worthless to a vehicle that require the rear hole for their clutch assemblies.

Before 63, small block Chevy engine used a "Road Draft Tube" to ventilate the crankcase.Featuring a large hole at the top rear of the block inside the lifter valley,these blocks are from the 50's through to the mid 60's. The PCV(positive crankcase ventilation system) replaced the daft tube in 1963.The vent hole disappeared in 68 when the system was redesigned to ventilate through the oil filler tube located at the front of the intake manifold. Later engine ventilated through the valve cover.

In 62 Chevy brought out the Chevy II, or Chevy Deuce. Using an inverted front suspension, the Chevy II had shock towers in the enginebay,which put the steering arms right where an oil pan would go. This little problem was solved for the small block applications (4 and 6 cylinder applications had no problem with this configuration) with a special block with a recessed oil filter boss, and an oil dipstick located on the passenger side. The problem was done away with in 68 with a new chassis and body style. The unique 64-67 blocks are in demand by collectors due to the recessed oil filter boss.

With the debut of the 327 in 62, Chevrolet fans were in heaven. Fitted with its own unique valve cover the featured a flat spot for a decal like "327 Turbo Fire". This design was used until around 1965 and is very popular with collectors today.1956-1967, small block Chevys also used a cartridge type oil filter inside a steel canister, joining other manufacturers in 68 with a spin on style oil filter. There are adapters available to update the older style blocks to the newer style.

Several other changes took place to the small block Chevy in 67. It was the last year of the 283 and the first year of the 350 (Camaro only).It was also the first of three years for the very famous 302 Chevy(283 crank in a 327 block)


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