The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 283 to 350 swap

Finally got the Blueprint 350 delivered. Easy install, and the huge HEI actually fits! This should almost double my Hp and tourqe values.

A School Bus with some Oomph! Nice!

I see you used the original "Bird Legs" set-up, did you have to modify anything up front to accomplish that?

Nothing at all. Installed some new rubber bushings and good to go. Everything lined up well and I see why they call em bird legs now too:)

I’ve been pondering adding side motor mounts too, a lot of folks say the bird legs are junk. I’m of the opinion they will work fine, they did for many years, right?

My '57 LCF still has the original 283 and as far as I know the original mounts, still going strong! I pulled the engine and tranny a few years ago to replace the clutch, put it back together with the same mounts it came with. I was curious just in case I have to swap engines, I have a 383 that I built for my Vette but decided to keep the plastic Chevrolet stock, so an extra small block is ok for me to hang on to.

The "birds legs" are only carrying the weight of the front of the engine, all of the rotational torque is handled by the bell housing mounts. I've never seen a "failed" bird leg other than dry rotted cushions.

Mike B

Wow, that's a nice looking engine and clean frame off resto! I'm afraid my bus doesn't look that swanky, but 30 years ago I had a yard full of Cadillacs and that kind of SBC power would have cost me ten grand in 1995 dollars. So I put this Cadillac in out of Dad's car.

One thing I finally did do, that I should have done before, is move the whole engine/trans assembly forward two inches. There were two holes in the frame, one on each side in front of the bellhousing mount, exactly 2 1/16" ahead of the old ones, so I just removed all the old rivets and, with front motor mounts loose, disconnected the driveline and just pushed each side of the assembly in turn, forward 2" til the holes lined up. Then measured, it all looked straight, so I drilled and bolted everything up. What this does, is give you enough room between the firewall and valve covers, to actually get to the bolts to remove 'em if you need to. I had to have the front segment of driveshaft lengthened two inches, and I was already reworking the exhaust so that didn't matter much.

I had to move/rework/reweld engine mounts, but I had already done a lot of that work back in the '90s so it wasn't too terrible. Had to move right side bracket forward so the new block hugger headers would clear; added benefit of no longer having that hot header pipe right next to the starter.

My point of all this, is that you might want to consider moving the assembly forward an inch or two-it can make a huge difference in serviceability, as in my '65 C60 bus. the original SBC wasn't even much fun to service being so far back in there.

Edit: yes I subsequently replaced that ugly air cleaner!

Thanks for all the great info y’all. This site and it’s members are pure gold.

Front clip installed, looks like I’ll need the short water pump to clear the radiator…….. Cant help thinking I want to move the drivetrain forward and use the straight six position for the radiator……

Wow, that front clip looks fresh! Are any of those parts new, or were you able to save all the old ones and just refinish?

All original sheet metal! Lots of cracks and rust but it all eventually cleaned up nicely.👍🏽

Impressive!