The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop inline six

I'm thinking of using my original 59 for parts since the 58 I just bought is in better shape and has a running v-8 283,so the question is, the smooth running 6,thiftmaster worth anything?I would sell it with the working 3-speed column shift with spare head and exhaust manifold.what would this be worth? I live 1 hour north of the dakota border in Canada.-would use the cash to fund the other truck,please make note thet I'm only considering my options and any feedback from you professional bolters would be appreciated.

Well you know how it is when you ask for opinions; like something else, everybody has one.
Here's mine: Inline Engines Rule.

A good 235 engine/tranny combo is worth at least $250 or more depending on condition of course. And your "283" is perhaps a 265 if original to the truck. I'm not sure what year Chevy made the switch to the 283, could have been 58'.

well the #s arent matching in both trucks and I was asssuming the guy waz being honest .,,hahhaaha,anyway will do engine # search and find the truth,he called it camel heads!!!whatever that meansthank you for the input.

We had a 1957 Belair all original and it had a 283 with powerglide.

You 235 will sell fast and easy for around $250, but I weould seriously consider seling the 283 instead.

Boo

I got $500 for my 235. It was detailed & tuned.I,d run the v8 especially since it is already in there.

You mean to tell me you guys would prefer to drive a 6 cylinder over a V-8? Why?
Scott

More expensive to maintain, parts harder to find, less power, being different. You know - all that normal stuff.

-ftyler

I hear ya,
Scott

The 283 came out in 57. I don't remember if the 265 was available for a while, but I don't think so. Any V-8 from 57 to 61 was probably a 283.
Jerry

Jerry - the 265 was the 'standard' V8 thru [most of] 57, w/ the 283 being an option that was the standard 'big truck' V8 for 57 - 265 was dropped after 57

I'd keep a 235 too, if I had an extra, if only for a spare [have both myself in my current 2 trucks] - for the one 'in progress' I might put a 235 if I had a good one handy, but will rebuild a 283, which I have lots of

Bill

People are astounded when you open that huge hood and they look in and they can see the ground.

andre, the "camel heads " refers to the shape of the patterns cast into the end faces of the heads used to roughly identify the attributes of the heads.[the shape is propably similar to camels' humps, a popular performance head].

Gasryg,when I loked at them they didn't have any curves so maybee he's ful of .... and the chrome heads had chevrolet imbedded in em so i'll go with283 until otherwise.any wayt with all the discussion and it only being worth 250,i'll just keep it in her and maybee give it to my oldest.it runs ,drives,stops great,just alot of canadian cacer,,,,,
thank you all for your all input!!!

tell ya what. give me a 235 with a 4 barrel clifford intake, and headers, hotter coil, and lighter vacuum advance springs, and bring yer 283 on! gimme a 292 set up the same way and make it a 350! near the end of a 1/4 mile you ought to be gaining on me, but not enough!

se if you guys can find a link to "spears and hamilton" who ran an opel g.t. in the 70's with a 292 in it. i think it ran the I-gas class. lot's of people hated the thing, and for good reason. they saw alittle more of the back of an opel than they wanted to. this country never put the time or effort into inline engines necessary to really make them into what they could have been. it took the japs and 4 bangers to do that. (too bad really). guess i'll hear about THAT remark!

the thing is--i have raced on and off the street as a kid, and believe in 6 bangers. i still do.

why else be here?

Koolkar, if the 283 has a four barrel and hotter cam too, you might be in trouble!

...and for all of those uninitiated out there who have no understanding or appreciation of Inline engines, a friend of mine holds the current world record for a 6 (SIX) cylinder inliner at 8.97 & 168mph. Put your 283, 327 or your 454 up to that!
:p

p.s. the 283 did come out in 57' but 265's were still used in PU and in standard stick shift cars. So many of you think that ALL 57 V8's were 283 cid but not true.

I would ask, why are you even on The Stovebolt Page. Doesn't "Stovebolt" refer to the old Chevy inline sixes?

Had a 235 souped up in a 61 Chevy Impala Conv't. would run fast against 283's stock. There is so many options to old 6's How much do you want to spend? If I had one motor to build ("old") tho it would have to be a straight flathead 8. Now we are talking. popcorn The Truth is Out There (V8's are easy and cheap to build)

The inline 6 still has some life left in it...BMW has been using them for years, and GM recently released the new Vortec inline 5s and 6s. My 2001 Jeep Cherokee has an inline 6. It might not be the most compact designe ever, but mmm......torque.......

The only reason the "Stovebolt" era trucks didn't come with small or big blocks is, they weren't available yet. The V-8 engine is progress, replacing the weaker 6 cylinders. I understand the affection for the days of old but it's just that, old. I walk on both sides of the fence with having 6's and 8's. The truck that I built to actually work has a V-8 in it and nobody can tell me that a 6 cylinder truck of the same age and size is just as good, I have both.
If you want to race, I could put less money into a small block as one could put in an inline and end up with twice the engine.
I just don't understand why people are down on the V-8's. They do there job and do it well. They can't be all bad if they are still being produced after 50 years.
Let the arguing begin,
Scott

There is a place for a 6 and a place for a V8. Under the hood of my '51 is the place for a 6. Under the hood of my '79 Thunderbird is the place for a V8.

If anybody needs to know what engine should be under their hood, I will be glad to help!!!

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but on a 283, aren't the top side valve cover bolts directly in line with the bottom valve cover bolts, and on the 265, the bottom valve cover bolts spaced a little farther apart that the top valve cover bolts? I could be thinking 307 or 327 valve covers are different but I thought 283 valve covers were different that 265 also?

I don't have anything against the 350 small block - my '77 'Vette has one, and it should be there. However, go to any car show that has a lot of hot rods...and you will see row after row of different makes of cars, all with small-block Chebby engines. It's just rather boring. "Oh look! I've got a 350! I'm just like everyone else here, including those guys driving Fords, Dodges, and Hudsons..." A hopped-up 6 will get attention, just for being different.

Cubic inch for cubic inch, an inline 6 will produce more torque than an V engine of the same displacement and technological advancement. If there wasn't something to the design, BMW and Jeep would have abandonded it long ago, and GM wouldn't be going back to it.

Well -- Well -- Well it looks like the enigmatic Boo Radley is going to have to straighten a few things out! First and foremost, this is STOVEBOLT.COM -- Get it?

Further, any dufus can bolt in a 350 crate motor and pretend they did something. It takes talent and skill to make an old 235 scream at ya, but if ya do it right it sounds like something is coming to kill you and eat your children, and while its making all that radical sound it impresses the heck out of everyone who sees it run!! Pop your hood and show off your six banger and people are craning their necks like they never will to look at one more small block.

If I wanted a modern truck, I'd go buy one, and I wouldn't be hangin' around the STOVEBOLT forum!

Boo

I like the six for the ease of working on it.
I had a stock 350, but the F*#d 302's kept kicking my a%s.
Don't get me wrong, I bleed chevy orange, but for the cubic displacement of a 350 I expected a lot more per each of those 350 cubic inches.
I have a stock L-6 250 and it gives me everything I want from it and more, I get more bang for each cubic inch.
I'm really just waiting for someone to design a 350ci inline 6, maybe something with a 4.20" bore and a 4.20" stroke?
In the mean time I'm still looking for a 292.
INLINES 4 EVER!
My $0.02
Dano
You may now proceed to mock my post! :p

Heck, I have more fun running the old 230. When I raise the hood I get a double take when they see a stock 6 inline, and that's the way my Dad would have want it.

Pakrat, the break point on the offset bolt holes in the valve covers was 1959. After that, all the smallblock V-8's had valve cover bolts straight across from each other. That would make the 265's, and early 283's the ones with the offset bolts. Also, the 1955 model 265 engines did not have a block-mounted oil filter. It's not a big thing, but if you're doing a restoration, that engine is HARD to find!
Jerry

I just love the six vs. eight war.

Its your truck, run what makes sense to you in it. My own feeling is that if you're going to run it daily you just might be happier with modern induction and ignition, and while you can do that on a six, modern v-8's already have it.

Some of my trucks have eights and some have sixes. Some are going to change from sixes to eights and none are going to change the other way.

Where were the six lovers when I wanted to sell the 235 out of my '54? It took months to find anyone interested even in having me deliver it. The '54 isn't finished yet, but it will have a small block Chevy V-8 when completed and I'm convinced for the way I want to use it, that's the only reasonable choice.

It's an enigma! I had a 53 burb that I put a screamin hot 327 in when I was just a pup. Now I have a 1970 C/10 with a 250 inline and if anyone suggests a V8 I just look at them with the special look I reserve for people I think must be completely insane
Boo

I must be 2 years older because I have a '55 Suburban and a '72 C10. Of course the '72 is a 350 and the '55 is a 270 (GMC).

Most hot rods and custom cars are running V8 motors. Be different. Remember "V8's are like a-holes, everyone has one". Saw a mild custom AD with a 235, 4 barrel, HEI and a split exhaust manifold. It sure drew a lot of attention.,

I have a 58 fleetside with a 235. alot of the guy's around here tried to talk me into swapping for a 350 with an auto tranny. but you know there are alot of 350's out there and not alot of 235's left, so i think i'll be different and keep it. Besides there are enough mod's i can do to my 235 to make it a very interesting ride.
plus pound for pound the 235 is one of the most reliable engines ever produced.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/Hotrod6/Engine_47_01.jpg[/img]
We don't need no stinking V/8!

Lookin' good, Hotrod6. Very clean engine compartment.

Is that an oil filter mount attached to your manifold or a manifold heater?

Cletis,

Thanks!

That is an oil filter. It is a remote mount/spin-on from NAPA. It is a by-pass NAPA 1320 filter and is plummed with steel line.

One of the steel intake manifold heat lines running from the header is visable in the photo just to the right of the oil filter mount.

Hotrod

the two hump heads are big valve 202s if it was a triangle shape its a for barroll head if its flat or no shape its a 2 barroll head missspelled to late at night

very nice 6,I think I'm gonna hold on to her for a while,your right it is reliable,it hasn't failed me as of yet,maybee I can do something with the rear end to give it better highway speed?any suggestions?

Forget the rear end, just add an overdrive

i took my 54/3100 in to the shop yesterday to have the muffler replaced that a backfire destroyed. plenty of hangers on there, asked what kind of engine i had in the truck. my answer was a corvette. they thought LT1, not so, early corvettes had a 235 (53). just don't let them look. i also have duals so it helps with the illusion. would like to have the new straight 6 for all the air and other improvements. but will stay with the old 235. ron

Well I have the best of both worlds don't i ,,
but a few yaers of work ahead,I heard that s-10 5-speed tranny will fit on the 6 ,is it true,would they fit on a 283?? just wondering