I am surprised that no 1957 Corvette guys have spoken up on this question. I have one with the Power PAC engine. While not original to my car it is dated properly, 2 x 4's, four speed, dual point distributor, good gears in the rear end and Duntov cam or equivalent, the 283 was a monster in 1957. Mine is built close to the original spec's. of 270 hp but a big brother was available that put out 283 hp for the 283 CID. That is how you need to consider the car, the year and the engine. It was the top of the line and would forever be the base of our Small Block Chev. addiction. As mentioned they do have a few "quirks" but my gosh we are all getting older and that was 60 years ago with the engineering of the day. Don't be afraid of the engine at all. This is my 2 cents.
Al
Alan