1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

[Joe C.]

I have an 862 block with a cast date of "B 6 63". Did Chevrolet ever use an 862 T small block in a Corvette? If not, then what was the application... Impala? BelAir? Biscayne? ChevyII? Truck?

Joe

[John H.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

Joe -

862? Sure it's not 852 or 362? What's the full number?

[Joe C.]

Ooops! It's An 870, Not An 862. *NM*

[Mike M.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

870 flint small blocks were the only cases installed in 63 vets.The other chevy foundry, in tonawanda, n.y., cast 870 blocks also, but the tonawanda blocks were found in the pass cars & lite trucks. flint 870s were also installed in pass cars & trucks but the 63 vets only got flint blocks

[Joe C.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

Mike:

So, were 327's installed in Impalas, BelAires, Biscaynes, and trucks for 1963? I seem to remember 283ci motors for most pass cars. Trucks?

Joe

[Joe L.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

Joe

327s were used as early as 1962 in passenger cars. Many 62 Impalas had them. In fact, the cross flag, "V" emblem on the front fender of 62 Impalas sporting the 327 engine was exactly the same as the fender emblem used on most 62 Corvettes, all of which, of course, were equipped with 327 engines.

1962 Impalas with 283 engine used a "V" emblem with no crossed flags.

[Duke W.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

The 250 and 300 HP 327s were optional in full sized passenger cars beginning in 1962 and their configuration was essentially the same as the Corvette versions.

One of the hot setups back then was a stripped down Biscayne two-door sedan with the 300 HP engine, WR four-speed and 3.36 positraction axle.

The Special High Performance 340/365 HP and Fuel Injections 360/375 HP engines were unique to the Corvette. The 350 HP version of the 327 was available in Novas beginning in '66 I recall, but very few were made that year.

Duke

[William C.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

350HP was also available in the '65 Chevelle, with a 3.73 cog and wide box four-speed it made life very bad for unsuspecting GTOs. Especially after the 327 flags "fell off" the fender and "283" flags jumped up to fill the holes.

[Mike M.]

Re: 1963 Tonowanda 862 Mousemotor

clup and all these years I've NEVER suspected you where a cheater.

[Joe C.]

Thanks To All.....

.....so now I know that this motor belongs to a 1963 Impala/BelAir/Biscayne. The ChevyII (Nova) had an optional 283, and the Malibu wasn't born yet. I assume trucks used the boat anchor 348/409.

Joe