1958 Fuelie question

[Arthur T.]

Restoring a 1958 283/250. The car is largely original with matching numbers. One detail which I am concerned about : the Fuel Injection air induction system sports an original equipment air intake duct hose connecting the radiator frame inlet opening to the air cleaner. All reference materials including NCRS judging manuals tell me this car should not have this piece of equipment.

There several possible explanations.
(1) The hose was installed at the factory, implying the NCRS judging guide is incorrect.
(2) The hose was installed by the dealer before sale to a retail customer.
(3) The car was originally a solid lifter car and was modified prior to 1975.
(4) The car was originally a 283 / 250 and one of the owners between 1958 and 1963 modified the air intake.

What I know :
The car is an original fuel car. The evidence for this is overwhelming including the direct reports of prior owners going back to 1963.
The FI unit with the car is a 4900 not a 4900R.
The block is a 1958 283 casting number 3737793 cast and assembled about 17 and 14 days respectively before the car assembled. Its assembly stamp is FXXXCR. It has hydraulic lifters and camshaft.
The heads and covers were replaced in 1968 with current production 250hp heads. The distributor was replaced with an aftermarket item at this time. I have interviewed the owner who did this and he says the block was not replaced or decked.
The original generator is in the car. It is a tachometer drive unit.
The tach is original. I have to check it to see of its an 8K unit, but I think that it is. I have seen conflicting information that this tach was used on the low horse fuelie as well as the solid lifter cars in 1958 and the difference is a stamp on the back of the tach indicating its cable speed.

Any thoughts on this?

[Jim L.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

I vote for option #4. Adding the forward air inlet hose is trivial and it's a good idea.

What piques my curiosity is your mention of an aftermarket distributor. AFAIK, there have never been aftermarket distributors with provisions for the FI pump drive. What is the evidence this distributor is "aftermarket" and how about posting some pictures of it?

Jim

[William C.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

My first Corvette (circa 1966) Was a '58 250hp, it HAD the closeoff block as the 250 did not use the cold air hose from the rad support to the aircleaner. Tach info will be on the back as indicated. Sorry about the underline, I can't figure how to turn it off at the moment!

[Dick W.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

. Sorry about the underline, I can't figure how to turn it off at the moment![/U]

Control U or go to GO Advanced in the posting area. You will see the U there and just click on it to turn it off.

[Loren L.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

What is the tach connected to, distributor or generator? Why would a 250 need an 8K tach?

[William C.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

Gen drive would be correct for 250 hp, is the generator original, dates etc? My '58 had an engine revolution counter in the tach. l don't remember the scale.

[John D.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

HI Arthur. The lack of a hose from the air cleaner to the radiator support is a feature of the LHP 58 to 61's. That info is 100% correct and something I knew long before I ever heard of NCRS.
If in fact your engine block came with the car and is stamped CR then it sounds like you have the correct 250 HP engine block. CR was used from 58 to 60 and maybe on some of the 61 HHP cars.
You have the correct generator for a 250HP. By the way it would be helpful if you would tell us what the XXX CR stands for. There were several low HP FI's used on 58's. The early 58's used left over '57 FI's and also a service replacement HHP 7014800R.
I am going to guess that someone put in an over the counter '070 distributor as they were readily available from Chevy. Problem is the advance curve of that distributor is way off from the '915 that you need. When you are hunting an original 1110915 distributor don't be concerned about the right date as all of them were made in late '57. If you see one with a tag dated later than '57 then it's a fake tag
.
There is also the possibility that your car may need a '57 style LHP distributor. Need your engine casting date and build date please to establish that.
Your car should have a sheet metal block off plate and screws holding it onto the core support to be original. But if you are not planning on showing the car the hose is a good idea.

As far as the 8K tach goes that item would have been dealer installed.
It is quite impressive that your '58 has the original engine as '58 FI's were famous for bending rods and blowing engines because of the lack of a good syphon breaker on the FI unit. Make sure your FI has this feature installed if it isn't already there.
Keep the questions coming. Thanks, John

[Arthur T.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

John,

Indeed, a '070 is what was in the car when I got it. However, I also recovered the original 1110915 from a previous owner 37 years ago. Date code is 7J6. The Engine is F606CR. I checked the Tachometer. It is a 6K unit. My recollections were in error.

The car is a late June '58.

Now, back to that air intake hose. I have the original air hoses both right and left from this car. They are of identical material and age. I also have the original bracket hardware from both sides and they are also authentic. The radiator frame intakes are identical. There is a hardware cloth screen, maybe a number 4 mesh mounted with 3 phillips head screws over both duct intakes. Obviously there is no blank plate on either side. What should I find there in the case of a factory installed FI intake hose?

As to the preservation of the engine block, the car was owned from 1963 to 1973 by three men who worked at Rochester Products and were all assigned to the F.I. project. I think you know one of them : Jon Blanchette. In any event, he and Jim Neuffer knew each other well and I know you are acquainted with Jim. The FI in this car was tip-top when I bought it in 1975.

Also, any of these three owners had the skill to install that duct hose, but I think it likely it was on the car before any of them ever saw it.

[William C.]

Re: 1958 Fuelie question

The three holes currently holding the screen were originally used to secure a flat plate to the front of the rad support to cover the hose inlet opening at the rad, at least that is how mine was configured (early '58 build, owned circa 1966-68). Do you have a picture of the duct supports that you are describing?