Taking the 283 Apart, Just For Fun

P., with his homemade air compressor, adds some true trailer-park ambience with the sound of impact tools and the scattering of engine parts among the weeds.  After we had the 283 out, we realized that we should have done a brick-on-the-gas-pedal 7,000-RPM Destructive Test on the old engine.  P. had done this with a Pinto and declared it "fun as shit," especially the part that involved dropping a handful of nuts and bolts down the carburetor.  We figured, having missed out on this pleasure with the Impala's 283, the least we could do was dismantle it and leave the parts rusting in my yard for a few weeks.  I wish I'd saved the original forged crank, which might be worth something today, but the pistons live on as ashtrays in slacker apartments in London, Oakland, and other exotic cities.