283 ci engine

[Patrick H.]

Dear Friends,
I'm Patrick from France and restoring my 1959 C1.
I took off the 350ci and bought two weeks ago an old worn out 1958 283CI with good casting numbers (3737739) but wrong assembly stamping : F 918 D.
It would be possible to restore it and I found a specialist for machining it: cilinder boring? change the cilinder liner?.
Could you advice me a good technical book for rebuilding this engine .
Thank you for your help.
Best regards
Patrick

[Gary C.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Patrick,

You might want to contact Rob Musquetier in the Netherlands. You can find Rob listed in the Members pull down menu and send him an email.

Rob knows a good engine rebuilder and could be very helpful to you since he owns a very nice 1959.

Good luck and welcome to NCRS.

Gary
....

[Dan A.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Unless you have an very early '59 the 739 block casting would not be considered a good casting number for a 1959 model year Corvette if at all.

[Ed S.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Patrick, I am going to try to attach a PDF file - it is a technical reference published by GM, specifically for the 1959 Corvette - it is a great reference, I am also attaching a link to the document. You can find it on the GM Heritage Center website. Lots of good info - scroll down to page 24 of the document - that is where the details about the engine clearances and measurements are. Hope this helps. https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/doc...-Corvette.pdfp

[Gary C.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Patrick,

Another good contact is Tom Falconer in the UK. Tom's also listed in the Members tab pull down menu.

Gary
....

[Joe L.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Dear Friends,
I'm Patrick from France and restoring my 1959 C1.
I took off the 350ci and bought two weeks ago an old worn out 1958 283CI with good casting numbers (3737739) but wrong assembly stamping : F 918 D.
It would be possible to restore it and I found a specialist for machining it: cilinder boring? change the cilinder liner?.
Could you advice me a good technical book for rebuilding this engine .
Thank you for your help.
Best regards
Patrick

Patrick------


A good reference for rebuilding small block Chevrolets is "How To Rebuild Small Block Chevrolets" by David Vizard. It's published by HP Books but I do not know if it's currently in print. It's a very practical tutorial on Gen I small block engine rebuilding. Of course, it's only in English. Even if it's out-of-print you could probably obtain a copy on eBay.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Gary,
thank you for your message

[Patrick H.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Dan,
Thank you for your note.
The VIN number is J59S102308: if I don't make a mistake, the car was assembly in November 1958 so it's not to bad and better than a 1969 350ci?
And it's very difficult to find a old 283ci in France.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Ed,
Many thanks for these links.I still have a lot of work!!!
C185.jpgDSCN2448.jpgDSCN2553.jpg

[Patrick H.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Joe,
Thank you for this reference: I order it on Amazon without difficulty!

[Bert L.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Allo Patrick,....Best of luck with your restoration project, please continue to keep us updated as you progress...
Your photos are excellent!

[Patrick H.]

Re: 283 ci engine

Dear Bert,
I perform this restoration at home: thank you for your interest.
I think I'd still have many questions even the 1958-1960 5th edition CTIMJ Guide is very useful!