Chevy small block that sat for 25 years gets torn down

We simply wrapped up our Jeep XJ restore and there's no time to sit around idle as we solve back at it with a 283 Chevy Small Block. This iconic engine last ran in 1997 and now, 25 years later on, it's getting the rebuild long due it. Ben had some fun pulling all of it apart, however Davin actions in to get clean whatever up in our Gladiator parts washer.

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Chevy small block that sat for 25 years gets torn down

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27 Comments

    1. I saw a guy here on YouTube that did an entire engine tear apart that was 28 min long and he did it in VERTICAL video from his phone … ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿฝโ€โ™‚๏ธ …

  1. I love these videos. I would love to see you guys rebuild a Ford engine, something like a 351 Cleveland. What determines what you guys are going to rebuild?

  2. Davin, when you showed the oil filter canister it brought back a memory of me watching my Dad do the oil changes on the families ’64 Chevrolet Impala with the 327 V8. My Dad would wash the canister out with kerosene and drain it dry and install a new canister filter to bolt it back on the drivers’ side of the engine.

  3. First engine I rebuilt out of school was a 65 283 in my buddy’s Biscayne. That was 1978 and it’s still running on that rebuild since it’s not a daily driver.

  4. Love this channel great editing looks so cool coming apart by itself LOL always like these videos. Thanks for the post keep up the great work from Canada.

  5. Those old 283’s were real warhorses back in the day. You could spin those up to crazy RPM’s; install a better cam and better springs and a set of headers and you were on your way to some fun!

    1. you bet…those short strokes were wild. I had a 327 that would turn 9K but it was scary to see it do that. With a .505 lift cam it breathed well and the headers let it flow.

  6. My old ’67 283 had the oil filter system like that ’66. I kept it as it was easy to maintain and never had to worry about whether I had enough “spin” on it nor did it have sealing problems. I switched the road draft tube to a pcv system and it was easy to do.

  7. Great engine Davin, those things are antiques now, who would ever have thought they would be “rare.”

  8. I always enjoy all of the Hagerty rebuilds. I have a 1980 Chevy 305 that could use a freshening up. A price list of all of the parts and machining costs of this build would be very useful to a great many viewers.

    1. Rebuilding a 305 and 350 costs the same, it may be worthwhile to buy a 350 core and then do your rebuild, if you car is not a collectable affected by being numbers matching.

    2. @Skyline Fever Yup, I was gonna say the same. The 305 is not exactly the most desirable of Chevy Small Blocks.

  9. If I๏ธ could ask Santa (respectfully) for one thing, it would be for the time to take apart an engine in time lapse.

  10. Love your videos, always interesting . Keep seeing the Sun tester in the back ground think it would great to see it in action .

  11. Great engine to build. It would have had a PCV valve though. I believe just about all US makes did away with the road draft tubes from about 1960 on.

  12. Hey Davin, great video as always. I thoroughly enjoy the older engine rebuilds and hope you can continue doing them. When I was a teenager in the early 80โ€™s, I had a โ€˜67 Pontiac LeMans Sprint which was all original and had the OHC six cylinder engine, 4-bbl carb and Muncie 4 speed manual transmission. That car was crazy fun to drive and had such a unique sound! I regret to this day that I sold it, butโ€ฆโ€ฆ. Itโ€™d be awesome to see Hagerty obtain one and have you go through it and bring it back to life! Hereโ€™s another interesting story; while I was in high school, my auto shop class at Kent Skills Center had a store room that had several complete and factory new cylinder heads for that engine just sitting on the shelves. I never got up the nerve to offer to buy one or two of them, just to have. Another regret! Anyway, keep up the great work!

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