Good engine for 62 chevy truck?

[markeb01]

Well you can’t really go wrong keeping the 283. Back when they were new it was about the most desirable engine to have, at least until the 327 came along. This would also keep it original. The trade off may be cost and convenience. It may be the same price or even less expensive to just buy a new 350 crate motor with a warranty. There’s a practical and financial reason the 350 is so popular.

I prefer the 350 myself. Often it can cost so much to rebuild the original heads it’s less expensive to buy new ones, and if the machinist isn’t top notch you can spend a lot of money and not get what you paid for. Also if the heads have been resurfaced too many times, it can result in intake manifold leakage problems that are hard to correct. The 350 Chevy crate motor in my 46 Ford traveled 300,000 miles in eight years with never a problem, and the one in my 60 GMC has about 20 years and 140k on it and is still going strong.