The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Looking for 57 GM 283 surviviors

Hi all. Have a Canadian 57 GM 1/2 ton short box with factory 283. Wondering if anyone has or knows of any other surviviors out there.
Gord

Ive got a 59 chevy with 283.

I think for the most part 57 pickups didn't come with a 283 in them, still had the 265. The Cameo may have been an exception. All cars with the V8 were 283. Someone that is a whiz at looking up production figures should take a look at this.

US made blue chip (GMC) trucks did not come with Chevrolet motors. I thought by the first part of the blue chip series all Canadian GMC trucks were running the same motors as US made GMC trucks, but I don't recall documentation for that so it could be wrong.

Unless you can prove this is a factory truck you're going to be arguing about that motor as long as its in the truck.

Send Bobb a private message and get him reading this thread. If anyone knows if that motor is stock he would.

Got to take exception with coilover. In 1957 cars could be bought with either a 283 or what they called an economy engine which was a 265. It was painted a yellowish green color and not many were sold, I only saw one. This is a good one to start an argument.

57 cars had both the 265 and 283 available. Light duty trucks had a 265 and the 283 was only available in HD trucks. Canadian trucks were different in many ways so it is entirely possible that light duty trucks came with a 283.
Fred

Hy Guys, as usual the Canadian trucks are somewhat different than their American cousins. Canadian trucks started being equipped with the Chevrolet 283 in 1957. Canadian GMCs were basically the same as Chevrolets, other than the grills, trim, and the dashboards. Canadian GMCs never used the Pontiac V8, or had GMC 6s in them, but used Chevrolet engines, the only exception was the Buick 322 that was used in the largest Chevrolet [1900 series] and its GMC cousin the [9900 series]. As a matter of fact when the V6 started to be used in the GMC trucks in the states, Canadian light trucks still used Chevrolet inline 6s, only the larger GMCs used the V6. I have never been able to determine why these differences in production exist, but have learned to deal with them, I hope that helps to answer some questions about the Canadian production differences.

The 265 engine was the standard V-8 in 1957 passenger cars with a 3-speed transmission. And as retired wrench says, the engines were a yellowish color. I think that was the standard color for the truck V-8s at one point, before the red engines in trucks- that was a long time ago... But except for the '57 3-speed transmission/V-8 combination, passenger car V-8 engines were red from the beginning.

Harvester

My first car was a '57 Chevy 210 and it had a 265 V8 with a Powerglide. I have no idea what color it was.

Anybody ever see one of the GMC V-12s what a chunk of iron.

Back when the family shop was working on a lot of them, the 57 283 V-8s were absolute dawgs! The 55's with good-running 265's were outrunning them regularly! There were also plenty of problems with the steering, mostly the rubber idler arm bushings which wore out on a regular basis! There was a ball-bearing conversion for the bushing that was called "poor man's power steering". The 57's ran 14-inch wheels with no vent holes between the wheel centers and the rims, which overheated the brakes and wore them out. Poor engineering all over the place!
Jerry

Just to clear up some things, the truck is a numbers matching 283 with documention from GM Canada. I have the build date and delivery date and dealer it was sold from. It came with 3 on the tree, radio, bush guards,(missing when I got it) 15" 6 bolt wheels. I appreaciate everyones feedback, seems like this dicussion has added to the knowledge bin on these trucks. I've had the truck for 5 years and have been trying to find more info on them. Thought maybe if there any left out there that this would be a good site to find them.
Gord

Try to post a link to some photos.

pictures

Hope this works, not very good on a computor.
Gord

I've got a '58 with a 283 that I believe to be original.
Where do I find the numbers and how do I verify?

That 283 is a LOT of motor for that truck, I'll tell you that much!

maybe for a stock 57 ....but a 501 is a lot of motor now there are lots of old stovebolts out with BIG motors in them i have a 400...in my 55-2 but it don't have the old drive line and brakes .......!!!!!

Hi 58Stepside. You have to send your VIN to GM, pay a small fee and they will send info on your truck. There are a few VIN decoding sites on the internet that may be of some help. Good Luck,
Gord

Wow, I had not heard of this from GM. Will they give more info than the online VIN decoders give? Buildsheets?

More info, please!

thanks!

cfesting - check the tech tips, info about the Restoration Kit is there - or take a look at Kieths site, I think he's posted the general 56 pack

Bill

OK, I've seen that info and do use the pack from Keith's site - a lot.

I got excited and read too much into "they'll send you info on *your* truck" - as in build sheets, etc., specific to my personal truck.

Thanks for clearing that up!

Sorry to get you so excited. GM didn't keep records of builds until the mid 60's I believe. What they do give you is Date of build, date of shipping and where it was shipped to and which engine it was built with. Sometimes if the dealer is still in business they may have some info stored away, but again, for a fee.
Gord

That's OK, Gord. I'm a very excitable boy.