In my HUMBLE opinion,the 283's,and the 327's,(especially truck engines),were the best (V-8) engines Chevrolet produced. They achieved both performance and economy. Decent fuel mileage,as well as minimal maintenance.I worked for a roofing company,back in about'79,or '80. When the I.H.C. "Loadstar" 1600 threw a rod,I was assigned the task of getting the 1960 "Apache" 60 running,again. The truck sat for about 10-years prior to that. It took a day of cleaning the plugs,new S.P. wires,cap,rotor,de-gunking/re-building the carburetor,and installed a new battery. "She fired right up,and we used "Her" nearly every day,for the next decade,or so. The company went out of business,and "She" went to the scrap-yard,where they used "Her" for another 5-6 years,until the engine finally "pooped". It was,of course,a 283. I also drove a couple of '69-'71 C-60's. The'69 had a 283,and the '71 had a 366. Both were great trucks,as far as haulers. The big difference was the 366 would get about 80-miles out of a tank of fuel,and the 283 would get about double the mileage,with about the same performance. This may not be the case in every scenario,but that's what I experienced. Both trucks were equipped with 4-speeds,/2-speed rear-ends. Hope this helps.
