Engine indentification

[Guest]

I have a '57 Bel Air I am restoring that originally came with a 6cyl engine, and the previous owner got the car, it had a 327 in it. I know this isn't the original engine, but is there anyway I can track this engine and see what it came out of?

Travis

[rocketraider]

327 were available 1962-69 in several performance levels. I think your best bet is to find an old Chilton or Motor general service manual that covers those years and look up the engine code in that (I have a 69 Chilton Professional Edition that I can check if you can give me the engine code).

The V8 engine code is found on a machined pad on the right front of the block, just under the cylinder head. There'll be a T or F (or sometimes a C), followed by numbers, followed by a two-letter code. The two-letter code will tell you what the engine was originally installed in.

Other than being a little expensive to buy internal parts for now, the 327 is an excellent engine choice AND AT LEAST IT AIN'T A 350!!! I get SO tired of seeing crate 350s stuck in everything...

[Guest]

Thanks for the Info. I will get the number. Do you know of a place on-line where that would be listed?

[Guest]

Mine only has one letter at the end. The whole thing is F0404D.

Travis

[Guest]

Ok, can someone tell me if I have this right.

My engine ident. number is F0404D

From what I am coming up with it should be

F= Flint motor plant

0404 = April 4th

D= 283 powerglide.

This is what I am coming up with from the web. Sound about right?

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Travis,

That sounds plausible...

And...a 283 would be a "correct" engine for a '57 Chevy (first year for the 283).

The 283 is a fine running engine, and has some pep as is from the factory...I believe the 283 in my '66 Impala was rated at 185 HP, with stock manifolds and the 2-barrel Rochester 2GC carb.

Now, somebody may have worked this block up to 327 by boring/stroking...you won't know that until youget inside and start measuring.

If your small-block is in decent shape, it may be the engine to stick with for now...235 Chevy sixes are around, but they are more expensive to re-build than a small-block, and the performance is not as good. Also, you might want to find out whar rar-end ratio is in your car: six cylinder cars usually had "lower" rear-ends than their V-8 cousins, and if you plan on highway cruising, you might want to consider a rear-end thats a better match for the V-8 & Powerglide.

[rocketraider]

Tried to reply last night and the ISP started their weekly maintenance thing just as I hit the button. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Yup- my 1969 Chilton lists code D as 1962-63-64 283 Powerglide. A factory air car with 'Glide would have been DK. 1962 is as far back as it goes, but I would guess it was the same code all the way back to 1957.

F is Flint MI engine palnt, T is Tonawanda NY.

Aside from being a correct engine for your car, the 283 is a fine engine unto itself. 283/327 are both good engines. 350s are good engines, but they are boring beyond belief.