vintage 235 chevy speed equipment

thats the one with the rajo head right? one of the most beautiful engines ive seen, makes me wonder where she found that..but back to the subject at hand...

langdons stovebolt is a good resource for inline speed equipment. they got packege deals on intakes an matched cams, y-pipes, tube headers, turbo manifolds, and all kinds of other goodies that i have yet been able to afford

 

her engine is pretty bitchen... i was drooling a bit when i looked up her thread..... i'll have to get the numbers off the block first but i was pretty sure the guy had said it was a 235 but who knows he could have been trying to get my blood pumpin by feeding me a line or he could just not know what the heck he was talkin about....
he also put a 12 volt battery in the car..... and it hasn't been switched from a 6 volt. blew the lights he said he just got "too excited" ha hah aha some people.

p.s i was just looking at hot rod deluxe. tonight. pretty sweet!

and isn't the powerglide just an automatic? or have i been a nerd and not read up on this enough.

 

Hey there HotRodLolita,

I can't believe this thread has gone 2 pages without someone telling you about CLIFFORD (tsk, tsk).
The premier six cylinder performance parts warehouse for something like almost 50 years now.
Regardless of make, they're a good resource for parts and research.

Since you asked about Vintage speed parts for your 235, you want to build a "Blue Flame Six", the original Corvette Motor.
Used in the 'vette during the '53 and '54 model years.
It was a standard 235 that featured three 1-bbl. side draught Carter carbs, a cast iron split dual exhaust manifold and a mild performance cam (c.r. may have been slightly higher, too. Offhand, I can't be sure).
Clifford used to offer the cam. The other parts are only going to be available at swap meets and rod runs.
At the time of its introduction, the Blue Flame Six was good for 35 extra ponies (150HP vs. 115HP standard).
A lot of people blamed the motor for the 'vette's lack of performance, but it was saddled with a cast iron Powerglide, which'll sap the power out of anything it was hooked to, so I can't totally blame the motor.
I've heard that in later years, some guys bolted the engine to the standard 4-speed of the time (should be early B-W T-10) and short gears and found that it was a helluva wilder motor than anyone had ever given it credit!
Not in the small block's class, but you asked about vintage speed parts for your 235, so there you go.
I used to have the carbs, but sold them off for way too little money 20 years ago.

I may be able to get you part #'s for the correct parts, if you like.
Please let me know if that interests you.



...btw, Healy used a pair of those same carbs on the 252, when installed in later Nash-Healey's, but the pic above is of an early 'vette.



6narow

 

Didn't Chevy dump the 216 after '49?
I've always heard that the first year for a 235 to show up in a passenger car was '50.

6narow

 

...and if Lolita's motor ends up having babetted bearings, and she wants to stay with a 6, then that might be the way for her to go.
Parts'll be cheaper and easier to find...so will the motors.
Not as "vintagey", but the Nova engines are based on the Stovebolts (think, "improved Stovebolt"), so there are still some key external similarities, looks-wise.



6narow

 

Nailhead,

Do you know this for a fact?
I've seen and heard different. Not in a long time, but I've seen old timey rods with 250's, using the older style motor mounts.



6narow

 

A 63 up194 230 ect wont bolt up to a 235.s motor mounts. Any 235 261 will bolt in. It would require welding and fabrication to use the 63 up engines. And also you would need to convert to and open drive line. GMC 248 and 270s will work but are 1 1/2 inch longer than chevy235,s. The 230,s had the same bell flywheel as v8.s Lots of luck on the build. Nice to hear about women who are into rodding OldWolf

 

The 216 babbit engine was standard for stickshift until '54
The early 235's were babbit engines for the Powerglide until '53

 

Is it possible to have a 'babbit' Blue Flame? I bought a motor recently with all the blue flame markings and what not, however, the block casting # (3701946) reveals its a 53 non-powerglide block. The weird thing is, you mentioned 115 hp and the valve cover says Blue Flame, 115 hp? Is this possible? The head is a 56, could it be that someone used the Blue Flame head on an earlier motor and just painted the block blue to match the valve cover?

 

If you have a 216 these guys are supposed to be good for full pressure conversions and they are in Atascadero I believe.

http://www.inliners.org/becks/

There were some pretty bitchen 216s built back in the day so if that is what you have do not just throw it on the junk pile, though it will cost some money to beef up the bottom end. The Beck site also has some casting numbers listed to help identify what motor you have as well. I believe all the 54 cars all had fthe ull pressure 235, no matter what tranny was in the car. The 54 PG motors may have had hydraulic lifters rather than solid like the 3 speed cars but I'm not 100% sure. Good luck with the car.

 

no extended tappet cover with spark plug holes = full pressure; no babbit. you do seem to have an anomaly there though. appears identical to 53 powerglide-type engine (two bolt valve cover, etc), yet mated to stick trans.

 

oh yes i've been looking at clifford...

 

Zig Zag - mostly correct but not completely. Check the drivers side - if there is a triangular sheet metal cover over a raised area about midway in the block it has the "oil distribution" function in it - it indicates immediately that it is a splash and not full pressure. 53 was a funny year for Chevy 6's

 

Zig Zag,

If it doesn't have 3 side draught carbs and a split dual exhaust manifold, then it isn't a 'vette motor.
Chevy did use that moniker on some of their standard engines, too. IF the "115" on the valve cover refers to HP rating, you have the standard engine.
The 'vette motor was rated at 150HP and all the valve covers I've seen on those 'vette motors were chromed (like in the pic I posted).

-----------------------------------------

Lolita,

Glad to know you're already aware of Clifford. Didn't see it mentioned and didn't know if you knew, so thought I'd mention it.
Good luck with your car. Post some pics when you get it finished.



6narow

 

Forgive me, but I still don't understand why the Nova engine won't bolt up in the older car?
Is the problem with the flywheel ring?


6narow

 

Just looked it up (forgot that its mentioned in one of my manuals).
c.r. was a little higher in the 'vette motor - 8:1 vs. 7.5:1 for the standard motor.
If the head's in good shape and still has enough meat on it, Lolita could probably attain this with a little milling.



6narow

 

this is getting confusing with 6inarow and 6narow. anyhow, 6narow - check out a 230 nova next to a 235. its night and day difference.

 

6narow, i never stated that it was a vette motor

 

Well, I'd be "Elvis" but that name was already taken. "6narow" was the next thing that came off the top of my head.
Sorry for the confusion.

----------------------------------------
Zig Zag,

I never said you said it was.



6narow

 

194 230 250 292 engines have the same backend as the V8's, even use the same flywheel, starter, etc. The 216 235 261 have there own design.

The last year for the 216 in cars was the '52 stick. They did use the 216 in sedan deliveries for '53 though. Trucks still used it in '53.

The first use of the 235 in cars was 1950 with powerglide, but they weren't full pressure until the '53 powerglide, then all in '54-62.

Powerglide motors had hydraulic lifters, sticks were solid lifters, at least before '57 anyway. I believe the 53-55 Corvettes were the only case were they used solid lifters with an automatic.

Not all babbit pounders had a tall sidecover or an oil distribution plate. My '53 stick has the short sidecover and the oil dist. plate. Not positive, but I think the 50-52 automatic cars may not have had the oil dist. plate. I think 50-up PG 235's had the short cover, due to the head design. 50-52 235 had a unique head as I recall. I can verify all of this later with a Hollander interchange manual.

Blue Flame is a generic term. These engines were painted blue, instead of gray (starting in '53). It's not specific to Corvettes. All automatics and '54-up sticks were called this.

53-62 heads are interchangeable, even on the '53 stick babbit pounder (235).

 

If the block is indeed a '53 stick, it will have the oil dist. plate on the drivers side. A '56 head will fit on either '53 235 block.
It would appear that somebody had a '53 automatic car that needed a new engine, so they found a '53 stick motor with a bad head, and swapped out the head for a good one from a '56.

 

Where is the block casting number? I found the stamped serial number by the dizzy and the raised casting number on the head. But I can't find a raised number on the block.

 

I have a '52 coupe with a 3spd attached to a 235. People often want to argue with me about this, but I ran the #'s and it checked out. The final confirmation was when I went to adjust the valve lash after a tune-up and found the motor has hydraulic lifters (after going INSANE trying to adjust them over and over thinking they were MECHANICAL!!!). Maybe my coupe came from the factory late in '52 and actually has a '53 block or it came with a Powerglide originally and someone put in the 3spd along the way.

Anyways, it's still a babbitt-pounder, and while it runs great with 80,000 original miles, I just scored a '54 longblock which is already at the machine shop getting the works. I'm stoked about the upcoming build!

-ns

 

Get you a copy of 'How to hop up a chevy six' by California Bill. Written back in the day and very informative. Re issues turn up on ebay often.

 

What are the numbers, both casting and stamped behind the dizzy??

 

Depends on the year, but they are on the pass. side of the block, sometimes at the front lower corner, later ones near the side motor mounts.
The stamped number can usually be used for identification also. What is it??

 

Check casting date - right above the starter and it will answer a lot of questions really fast.

 

You would think so, but it really doesn't tell you anything other than what month/year it was cast. In cases where casting numbers and stamped ID codes were used for more than one year, such as 55-57, then the date code can help pin it down more completely. Just remember that date codes are by calendar year, not model year.
Because of all the changes that were going on between 50-53, you need to look beyond the date code. The stamped code behind the dizzy along with a Hollander interchange manual, are the best way to ID a 50-53 engine because the codes were very specific to original applications.

 

Serial Number LAA818945

The only other numbers I can see are on the front near the bottm Large GM 7

Above the starter looks like DON 4 G73 <<< Not sure about that.

 

LAA would be a '53 car 235 with stick. Babbit pounder.
If I had my "book of numbers" handy I could tell you what plant it was made in also.

G73 would be July 7, 1953


53-54 casting number is on the lower right front corner, just above the pan rail.