68hemi

Here is the story and another good one you will like.

Back in about 1975 I was in a junkyard in rural Illinois and asked the owner if he had any old factory type hipo parts like dual quads or FI stuff. He said I have a dual 4 barrel air cleaner off of I think a 57 Chevy. I said what do you want for it? He said in a muffled voice 7. I thought he said $70. but could not hear him clearly. I said HOW much? He said $7.00 and not a penny less. I asked if I could see it. He walked over to a 53 Chevy 4 door, opened the back door and pulled out that ugly monstrosity with both oil baths attached with the factory decals. I said I will take it.

I ran an ad in Hemmings to sell it for $300. and the first guy to call bought it and the phone rang on that ad for 6 months. It turned out it was worth about $700. even back then.

I was also snooping around in an old Chevy garage in a town of about 800 people at the same time and saw a 57 FI unit being used to prop the door opened to the oil room at the back of the shop. I asked the mechanic “how much do you want for that old door stop?” he responded with his chest puffed out “do you know what it is?” I said “I think it is an old FI unit.” He said “yeap, a customer ordered a new car with it and we could not make that piece of crap run right so we took it off and put a carb on it.” I asked what he wanted for it and he said “what will you give me for it?” I said “$100. and he quickly said sold.” While I was picking it up after I paid him he said “wait a minute” and walked over to his work bench and from underneath it in the back he pulled out the distributor for it. He said “you will need this for it to run if you can figure it out, I can’t remember what happened to the air cleaner.” I said that’s OK. I bet if I would have offered him $50. for it he would have taken it.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!

cheapstreetduster

Ive had quite a few stories like that... steering wheels, floor consoles..
so if the 283 57-61 daul quad intake is part number 3739653
can anyone tell me the part number for the 62- daul quad intake manifold for the 327" is?

DZAUTO

The LAST year for 2x4 carbs on a small block Chevy engine (283 only) was 1961. The 62 327 engines got a Carter AFB or FI.

cheapstreetduster

ah.. so 62 is a single 4 bbl...
no wonder i couldnt find anything past 61..

MikeM

A set up like this was available from Edelbrock. Ports are the right size. I ran a set like this on a 327. Ran good but I don't know if it was any more powerful than the Chevy 2X4 set up it replaced.

https://picclick.com/VINTAGE-1955-19...426887838.html

cheapstreetduster

my biggest concern. and i have a edelbrock intake avail. i just have not put the two together. side by side yet to measure
but.
I want to use the stock air cleaner and carb spacing and or baseplate height might be a problem fitting it.
i want to use the stock carb linkage and again. might be an issue.
as well as plenum ports for vacuum and heater and temp sensor locations..
its definitely bigger.. port wise..
i am strongly considering just welding the port roofs up to add alloy . then gasket matching them back up.
i just want to study it a bit more..

GTOguy

The Edelbrock 2x4 intake Mike posted looks to be super low profile....My bet is that it would work. I looked around at a bunch of them, and they vary....some have the hole in front for the oil filler tube and others do not. All were around $400. Intriguing to me, as I am running '65 461 heads with the big ports and a stock 270 HP '61 2x4 intake with tiny ports. My main concern is the possibility of gasket failure between the two over time. Mine held up fine for 4 years of use, but when I pulled it apart last weekend, not a lot of contact at the lower part of the intake gasket, where it needs to seal very well.

cheapstreetduster

After investigation.. it looks like i have this intake..its the edelbrock one I mention'd earlier.. so as long as the carb spacing on it allows for the stock air cleaner.. then i am going to see about the fitment of this intake.
i can take measurements of both side by side if anyone would like to see the differences..
right a way the intake windows are larger.. square..
and the carb primary bores are much larger than the factory 283 intake.

GTOguy

If you could take side by side measurements, I would like to see the difference if any. Am rebuilding the 383 in my '61 and wondering about putting the stock 2x4 intake back on vs one that matches my head ports. Hood clearance is tight as on all these cars!