1961 Impala 2 Door Sedan - Let's Get Started...
- Thread starter tcb-1
- Start date
And oh by the way,the 67 283 heads had the same markings as those 57 heads that you talked about,jut different casting numbers.Pull the valve covers and see.It also could be that the spark plug seats in the heads have been modified to use the tapered seat plugs.It's a simple process to do and you can broaden your choices in plugs.Chevrolet went gasketless on the plugs in 69.Chevrolet 283's are sweet little engines,but they don't have enough sense to know when to quit winding.
I hope you bought it from a guy with the last name of Washington and it does indeed have all the internals as represented. I recall one time here years ago someone misrepresented something like that.
Good luck. Those 283's we're tough. You won't get hurt for $700 for sure.
Dave, the guy I bought it from builds off shore racing engines and was very upfront with it. He had built it for a friend, but he coaxed his friend into going big block. The seller even had a borescope I was able to use. I removed the timing cover, valve covers, and pan when I finally got it home to verify everything was indeed new!
Don, I'll post up a few pics of the markings. It would make way more sense that they were late year '66 casting than late year '56 castings.
Here are the head casting #’s
Curious plug on both heads. Never seen this before, have I just missed it with all the sbc heads I’ve looked at through the years??
Last, the heads don’t appear to have been reworked for the taper plugs. Crush gasket it is...
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I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never seen an overheat tab, but you are correct!! After research, it looks like the middle of the plug melts at 260f.
If mom asks if I learned anything from school today, I’ll say Professor Don taught me about overheat tabs!!!!
If mom asks if I learned anything from school today, I’ll say Professor Don taught me about overheat tabs!!!!
If the valve cover is a staggered bolt pattern then you would have a 56 casting head if it is a straight pattern then you will have a 66 head casting. I think around 1959 Chevy went from a staggered valve cover bolt pattern where the top two bolts are closer together than the bottom two to a straight pattern where top and bottom are the same distance apart.
1955 + 1956 Chevrolet 265 in engines had the staggered bot valve cover casting & early run 1957 265 engines
Just saying !!
Just saying !!
Hey Doug, I might have missed this previously, do you know the "born on" date or assembly date of your '61?
Was it before or after October 1960?
Cheers! TomK
Was it before or after October 1960?
Cheers! TomK
Tom, let me check the original 235 engine stamp tonight. I want to say it wasn’t an early build. It did come from the StL assembly plant and was sold in Brunswick MO and that’s where it stayed it’s entire life. The cowl tag won’t tell what it’s born on date was, if I remember correctly.
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