I have a 1957 Chevy that I am slowly improving. It's a four-door sedan, which means it'll never be worth a ton. So I'm trying to be cost-effective in everything I do. I would like it to be fun to drive, and reliable on pump gas.
I have only driven it short distances while working on things like lights and brakes. I am just getting into the engine now.
The car came to me from a guy who bought it from a widow, whose husband apparently raced it a little, or wanted to race it. It had traction bars in the trunk. It has a B&M shifter and had a tachometer with shift light blocking the view of the speedometer. I have replaced that with a set of gauges under the dash, including tach. It had a bad gas tank (replaced but haven't run the fuel line yet since I need to weld some floor patches in).
The reason I am posting here is that I suspect the engine is from a 1973 Camaro. The casting number is 3970014. The number on the front passenger side of the engine is T0509CKL. I think T is where the engine was made, 05 is May, 09 is May 9, and CKL means the types of vehicles the engine was intended for. One letter means Camaro, another means Chevelle, and I'm not sure about the other one, passenger car I think. The partial VIN is 13B585996.
The engine is paired with a T400 transmission. I was told it's four-bolt main but have not verified. I am replacing all of the gaskets, so I'll see pretty soon one way or the other. I was told the engine and transmission came out of a 1969 truck. Which is possible, maybe I am reading the numbers wrong, or maybe the engine was transplanted to a truck first and later to the '57.
I have an Edelbrock Performer intake and a Holley 3310 carb. I put an HEI distributor on it.
The engine had a harmonic balancer from a 265 or 283 on it. I speculate that the guy who raced it or wanted to race it swapped that on from the original engine. I am swapping on a 350 harmonic balancer a friend had available. The engine rocked a lot side to side, very visibly (both with the old points distributor and the new HEI distributor). I replaced the motor mounts but haven't put the engine back in since doing that.
It has what I assume to be stock manifolds (stock on the '73 engine, not the '57 car). I have not gotten eyes on the cam and I haven't taken the heads off to look at pistons or cylinders yet. The engine sounds to me like it has some cam. It does crank and run (right now using a 3-gallon temporary tank). That is as far as I have gotten with it.
My question is basically what people would suggest for a BUDGET build and what else I should check. Also any general wisdom people have based on this info.
Again, my goal is relatively cheap fun and reliability. I am not planning a mega-build because being a four-door sedan puts a cap on what the car will be worth even if fully restored.
Thanks for any tips or info! Sorry if this post doesn't belong here. The car is not a Z28, but the engine may be.
I have only driven it short distances while working on things like lights and brakes. I am just getting into the engine now.
The car came to me from a guy who bought it from a widow, whose husband apparently raced it a little, or wanted to race it. It had traction bars in the trunk. It has a B&M shifter and had a tachometer with shift light blocking the view of the speedometer. I have replaced that with a set of gauges under the dash, including tach. It had a bad gas tank (replaced but haven't run the fuel line yet since I need to weld some floor patches in).
The reason I am posting here is that I suspect the engine is from a 1973 Camaro. The casting number is 3970014. The number on the front passenger side of the engine is T0509CKL. I think T is where the engine was made, 05 is May, 09 is May 9, and CKL means the types of vehicles the engine was intended for. One letter means Camaro, another means Chevelle, and I'm not sure about the other one, passenger car I think. The partial VIN is 13B585996.
The engine is paired with a T400 transmission. I was told it's four-bolt main but have not verified. I am replacing all of the gaskets, so I'll see pretty soon one way or the other. I was told the engine and transmission came out of a 1969 truck. Which is possible, maybe I am reading the numbers wrong, or maybe the engine was transplanted to a truck first and later to the '57.
I have an Edelbrock Performer intake and a Holley 3310 carb. I put an HEI distributor on it.
The engine had a harmonic balancer from a 265 or 283 on it. I speculate that the guy who raced it or wanted to race it swapped that on from the original engine. I am swapping on a 350 harmonic balancer a friend had available. The engine rocked a lot side to side, very visibly (both with the old points distributor and the new HEI distributor). I replaced the motor mounts but haven't put the engine back in since doing that.
It has what I assume to be stock manifolds (stock on the '73 engine, not the '57 car). I have not gotten eyes on the cam and I haven't taken the heads off to look at pistons or cylinders yet. The engine sounds to me like it has some cam. It does crank and run (right now using a 3-gallon temporary tank). That is as far as I have gotten with it.
My question is basically what people would suggest for a BUDGET build and what else I should check. Also any general wisdom people have based on this info.
Again, my goal is relatively cheap fun and reliability. I am not planning a mega-build because being a four-door sedan puts a cap on what the car will be worth even if fully restored.
Thanks for any tips or info! Sorry if this post doesn't belong here. The car is not a Z28, but the engine may be.
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