VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1958-1960 1958 biscayne

I feel pretty good about this guy, he is a good friend of my good friend,, and he trust him, never the less you are right,iknow there is goung to be lot of changes,, but for the most part
Kick down lever
Pipes
Motor mounts
Are what i am thinking,,
the rad is the same no ?
the elect is still the same ?
I just added oil (40w) and the oil pressure is looking getter, hot its 15 lbs, i do have a small oil leak i am guessing from the oil pan cause i couldn,t get sealent there, but small though,i just dont know,he is only wanting 150 for the motor complete even if i got it and done a slow rebuild on it ? It would be a good motor, like i said i just dont know
Thanks for helping so much i do need it

lilrobo,
The 327 is a great motor and maybe you will get lucky and this one is okay as is. I rebuilt a 327 in my '68 about 2 years ago, it was pumping oil past the rings,valves and lifters bad.It cost me roughly $1000 for machining and parts and since the motor was out rebuilt the powerglide, another $400. Just pointing out that the time/$ can get big. The 60s small block motors seldom ran well past 100K miles. Also,unless the 327 comes with a good flexplate/starter ringgear I think you will buy a new one. I owned a '58 with abig block 348 way back (loved it) and it cooled well with the big radiator.I thought the 235 had a smaller rad -my memory ain't what it was so perhaps one of the other chat folks remembers. You might want that rad cleaned out anyway after 54 years. New front seal a must on the tranny. Lots of little things to consider. Maybe better driving it with the 6 for awhile unless you have a fat wallet and want more grease under your fingernails?
DFC

yeah your right ,,i do need to rebuild the tranny while its out ,,i will get the flex plate and things i would say , he seems like a great old man, and yeah the rad is another thing i will get later on down the road, i could just rebuild the 6 cyl but i am told that can get costly also and the 350 would be the way to go ,,i will do some more research on the 327 i just want to make sure that i dont have anything hidden that pops up on me

again thanks for all the info

As they say....."you get what you pay for".
Beware of the easy way out

I know , getting leary now, icould just the motor and rebuild it before it goes in,,i know then i would have a good motor ,, but the tranny is getting me ,,i could do the motor and then find a tranny to go with that ,,a nd install them both ,,,i just dont know , could be like quick sand ?

A guy sent me this
When I ran the numbers on the engine I believe it said 1958 to 1962 passenger car, the 4 digit code for the date ended in "zero" that indicated it was built in 1960.The engine Number is 375659 and the date code is J280--look it up.

This is for a 283 motor he is asking 350 ,you know i am looking for something simple ,dont see why the 283 wont just bolt up, being tha it came from a 1960 it should have the same tranny( cast iron ), even if i took my time and rebuild it before hand ?

Thansk guys

You may want to check out the engine on the FOR SALE forum.

A 1957 block would be difficult to bolt in due to the motor mount changes.

yeah i say that would be hard ,, but i don't understand why a 1960 v8 wouldn't work i know the tranny is a little different i was told that the clutches are different but the bolt pattern is the same
The engine Number is 375659 and the date code is J280
says it came from a 1960 and a 283 ??

A guy sent me this
When I ran the numbers on the engine I believe it said 1958 to 1962 passenger car, the 4 digit code for the date ended in "zero" that indicated it was built in 1960.The engine Number is 375659 and the date code is J280--look it up.

This is for a 283 motor he is asking 350 ,you know i am looking for something simple ,dont see why the 283 wont just bolt up, being tha it came from a 1960 it should have the same tranny( cast iron ), even if i took my time and rebuild it before hand ?

Thansk guys

The above is the same information that you already posted earlier today.

sorry about that
here is what i know so far 283 was 57-67, 327 was 62-69 so i have 2 choices 283 or rebuild mine ,i sure have learned a lot in the last few days you guys have been a great help thanks you all , now i have to make up my mind

thanks again

Just to add my prejudice to the discussion. If it were mine I would keep the six. Two reasons: 1 - it was originally built that way. 2 - you don't see many sixes as too many have switched to V-8s thinking that they are improving the vehicle. In fact the six will get better gas mileage and has the drivability of the V-8 only lacking a bit on towing.

How may people will stare or comment on a V-8 in a '58? Not nearly as many as for the six!

very good point chipper, i was just going by what i was told by engin builder he said about 1100 for short block and he could do a sb v8 complete for that ,, but you are right it dose look better,, i am talking to this guy about the 283 if the price is right i might ,, it would still look original ,, but anyay thanks for the input well noted
thanks

looks like ii went with a v8 all i would have to get is a adapt ring ,if i go with v8 dont know yet

thanks

well looks like the starter, flex plate, and mounts are the same on the i6 and v8(283) i just all the parts up and they have the same part number , so looking good for far,, only thing so far is linkage and pips

i took betesy( my 58 biscayne ) out for a speen today she ran pretty good , i still could hear the rattle noise mainly after she got hot ,, but never the less went for a hour drive, she did good but seems like she was a little hotter than normal,, here is a pic of the temp hand you guys tell me

I'd be getting a bit nervous if mine was that warm. You might want to check the ignition timing, that can cause it to run on the warm side. Don

I have tryed its hard to see the dot on flywheel ,, i need to see how its done also.
I will change the stat and flush the block also
Thanks

i got the stat out and it looks OEM its a 180 i got a 160 to go back , is there any way i can flush the engine ??

i hat to cut the hose and install that kit it looks tacky

how do you read engine code i have one that i am looking at
283 Part #375659 J280
R/H Head # is 3774682 , has K30 and GM with the number 11 under it.
L/H Head # is 3774682 , has K20 and GM with the number 2 under it
F1104D is on the flat area of the block forward of the r/h head. No intake or carb i can get it for 250 maybe less maybe 200
what do you think ??

Do a google search for : Chevrolet engine numbers and engine casting numbers. Here is a good one for Chevrolet V/8 engines:
Chevrolet engine casting numbers just plug in the number in the search box, or scroll down until you find the number.
By the way the block part number is not the casting number. but the head # 3774682 shows a 60-68 283/327 head

i think he left a number off its 3756519, he left the 1 out , now it show to be a 58-62 283 2 bolt, i might try to talk him down a little

yeap he left out the 1 ,, it should fit ????
took betsey out for another spin after i flushed the rad and engine block and installed a 160 stat ,, and now it runs about the 5/8 spot not as hot as it was i dont think never the less i am thinking about having it looked at ,also i tighten the belt a little too, i think i need a fan shroud that could make the difference dont know, i hate to do a elect fan it takes away for the look dont you think