I'm rebuilding a 235 from a 61 chevy truck to put in my 49 Styleline car. I've read the tech article from the Inliners.org site on putting a remote oil filter and full flow oiling system on a 235. I've also read the posts from last summer when Action Girl was having oiling problems with a 235. The 235 has been taken apart and will be taken to a machine shop for checking over, cleaning up, and doing any work that needs to be done before putting it back together with new parts as needed. It has been rebuilt at least once before and is bored 40 0ver. I would like eventually to have this become a daily driver so I want to do what is best for the engine. My questions here are: 1. Has anyone done this conversion and could give me tips and suggestions including parts needed? 2. Does anyone have pictures of the finished conversion including the location of the filter, etc.? 3. Now here's the one that will get the most action...does anyone have opinions on this conversion or not doing it? Thanks for the help. Bill
I belive there is a how to on this web site: www.stoveboltengineco.com or call tom there and he can tell ya the ins and outs of it. he is a inline god. want to know something cool? small block chevys come stock with full pressure oil Bryan
We just got my kid's 59 pickup running...has a 57 truck 235, all redone inside, .060 over pistons (it was standard, and would not clean up at .040), reground crank, new cam and valvetrain, decked block and milled head, etc. The whole works (I took advantage of my temporary part time job at the machine shop). We left the oiling system stock...but the rest of the engine is stock too. We added the original accessory byp*** type oil filter, which the engine did not have. The crank had never been out of the engine, it managed to live for all those years without any oil filter at all! I think that's pretty amazing, and kind of disproves the need for a full flow oil filter on those engines.
Most failed Stovebolts I've seen blew up because the external lines cracked and pumped all the oil out. The ones that had the filter removed and the holes plugged ran forever, with very sporadic maintenance (Farmers, you know?). With modern quality oils and frequent changes, no filter is no problem.
If I'm not mistaken, your 235 has a full flow oiling system, just not a built in filter. As I understand it, all 235s from 1954 are full oilers and the 53 powerglide models, too. Maybe I just misunderstood your post, but I figured you were worried about the old splash oiling system on the earlier stovebolts. As for adding a full-flow filter, that's a different story.
235s that have filters still dont filter all of the oil as it is pumped around. the "conversion" is supposed to re-route the flow through the filter first, then to the parts, if im not mistaken. i have a 54 car and a 62 truck motor, the setup is identical.
That's right. The only Chevy sixes that had full flow oil filtration were the 261s, and then only in trucks. I pulled a 261 out of a '58 canadian Pontiac, and it had the 235 type byp*** system.
It seems some of ya'll are confusing full pressure & full flow. The main bearings on '53 powerglide & '54 & later 235s had "full pressure" lubrication- not the splash oiling of 216s & early 235s. The clamp-on canister filters only filter 20-30% of the oil at any time due to the p***age way design. 261s past 1956 I believe are full flow, thus if you plug the block holes( due to a broken or missing line) your engine will starve for oil & lock up.
You can do the full flow conversion, but from everything I've read, it's really not necessary. If you simply want to convert it to a modern spin-on filter, you can get the adaptor from Speedway (I have one). It will filter the same amount as the cannister type (i.e., not much) and won't look as cool and tradional, but individual filters cost less ($5 vs. $10-15)
I guess it's when I hear only 10%-20% of the oil getting filtered with the original byp*** filter that I think the conversion to a full flow system that filters 100% of the oil would be preferable. But then many people remind me that there are tons of these 235's out there running for quite a long time with only the original oil system. I just don't know if I'm asking the engine to do more with the 5 speed and new rear end so I should be upgrading the oil system while I have the engine torn apart and before I send it to the machine shop. Bill
while it's at the machine shop anyway it wouldn't hurt. check out that Stovebolt link as well as Inliners.org's tech links on what needs to be done
I think you'll be asking LESS of the engine with the new gearing....at least less rpm, which usually means less wear and tear.
That was kinda what I was thinking. The Inliners.org page is where I first heard of it...I don't find anything on the Stovebolt link.
My cousin had a '57 Chevy pickup with a 235 with no oil filter. He changed the oil every 1000 miles, and the engine stayed clean and had no problems; he didn't baby it either!
Be careful when you simply modify the byp*** oil filter system. A long time ago before I realized it was a byp*** setup I simply changed out the tiny oil hoses to some larger ones and put on a spin on oil filter adapter. I thought I was improving my oiling situation but ended up byp***ing too much oil and wasted the cam gears. After that lesson I did modify the 235 for full filtration by intercepting the oil pump supply tube in the pan but not sure that it was worth the work. The 261 I'm now running has taps in the block to allow full filtration as was already mentioned in previous posts.
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