Hey, welcome. For one site, you can ask right here, we love to mix and match parts. and then there is OPGI(original parts group). others will jump in shortly with more places and advice. fill out your profile for some on here to help you find the nearest swap meet in your area

 

Hi drake, welcome from Idaho. Glad you've joined us. Thank you for your introduction. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your 1960 El Camino. Where abouts are you located? These are great people here to share ideas with. Have fun with your 1960 El Camino and the community.

 

Need to know the motor in it. could be a few different ones.
Tom

 

im in washington on the border of idaho. it has a 283 v8 in it

 

60 Impala will interchange with the El Camino for body and suspension parts. Any 59 through 64 Impala suspension parts are interchangeable. Kore3 for really good brake upgrade, Global West for suspension upgrades. Or you can get a Art Morrison or Roadster Shop frame and have El Co that handles and stops like a Corvette. SBC parts are readily available everywhere. It all depends on what you want out of your ride.

 

Sadly most 283's are not the best candidates for performance upgrades due to their age. Unless its a matched # block maybe a mild 350 would be a better solution? Many sbc parts are able to be used directly on your engine, some may require other mods to work. It depends on what you want to do and how your going to use it.

 

Sadly most 283's are not the best candidates for performance upgrades due to their age. Unless its a matched # block maybe a mild 350 would be a better solution?

I know this thread is a little old, but I just came to the realization that I need to re-build my numbers matching 283. I do want to keep the basic block and set up, but I want to squeeze a little more HP out of the little motor.
It is a 195hp 2bbl with stock power pack heads (I think 1.74/1.5 valves?) single exhaust.
I'm thinking of rebuilding heads with larger valves (any ideas of what size is good for street?) going with side pipes off the stock manifolds to open up the exhaust, probably bore it .030 over with forged pistons and rods, and looking for ideas to beef up the 2bbl Rochester a little (I think the circle track guys build these when they are restricted to 2bbl). Has anyone had any experience with porting the intake, heads and exhaust manifolds?
I'm looking for a fun street car not a drag strip car. I've kept it bone stock all these years and now it's time for a little fun.

 

Drake , Welcome to the site and hopefully other members will have more info for you . In the meantime you may want to look at a book like the one I recently purchased on E-Bay for my 59 Camino . Not sure how to use it yet but the tiltle is Chevrolet Interchangeable Parts Catalog - Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac-General Motors Trucks , 1959 edition . Has 451 pages of part numbers . Not sure why they call it a catalog . I have not had time to get to understand how to use it yet . It is from Faxon Auto Literature ,800-458-2734 , www.faxonautolit.com . Price was $ 34.95 . As Pair`O`60`s mentioned is what you plan and want to do with your 60 Camino money and use wise . If you are interested in numbers matching or upgrade to more power . If you end up going with another motor , there are several available that have mild to wild horsepower . A nice , 350 cu. in. is priced reasonably , burns regular gas and is enough to power a 60 that is a bit larger and heavier that a lot of other rides . If you have not already , I recommend you purchase a service manual and a supplement , that is available on E-Bay for your 1960 .

 

Drake , Welcome to the site and hopefully other members will have more info for you . In the meantime you may want to look at a book like the one I recently purchased on E-Bay for my 59 Camino . Not sure how to use it yet but the tiltle is Chevrolet Interchangeable Parts Catalog - Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac-General Motors Trucks , 1959 edition . Has 451 pages of part numbers . Not sure why they call it a catalog . I have not had time to get to understand how to use it yet . It is from Faxon Auto Literature ,800-458-2734 , www.faxonautolit.com . Price was $ 34.95 . As Pair`O`60`s mentioned is what you plan and want to do with your 60 Camino money and use wise . If you are interested in numbers matching or upgrade to more power . If you end up going with another motor , there are several available that have mild to wild horsepower . A nice , 350 cu. in. is priced reasonably , burns regular gas and is enough to power a 60 that is a bit larger and heavier that a lot of other rides . If you have not already , I recommend you purchase a service manual and a supplement , that is available on E-Bay for your 1960 .

thats what i was lookin for, not interested in upgrading wanna try and get it running and keep it original except breaks, maybe down the road when the body is done i'll swap engines. i got an assembly manual recently and it is helping but it has alot of info i dont need or doesn't apple to my specific vehicle.

 

You want to find some 283 Power Pack heads. That would be the easiest way to up the power. This will raise the compression ratio. Below is an easy way to identify them.

 

As far as porting the heads, unless you have a little experience, I'd do some research as you can lose power or ruin a head if incorrectly ported.

 

Thanks,
My engine came factory with those power pack heads. My machine shop s rebuilding them and putting 1.84 intake valves in.
I'm not going to port them, I was thinking of that when I was trying to use the stock exhaust manifolds to help them flow better. I decided to order the Hooker cast manifolds that are already designed to flow better.
I bought a Quadrajet intake manifold and I'm going to have a Quadrajet Carb built fresh for me.