235/ 3 speed at highway speeds?

get used to it, because this is what you are going to hear: " dont you know nothin??? If it has a tall side cover and a triangular plate on the drivers side, its gotta be a babbit pounder. Study up, cause you dont know jack about your motor. Besides, they didn't make a 235 until 1953, you ****. By the way, how did you get it to run like that??"

You be nice to people with that motor, flop.

 

I gotta say the t5, 55 rear and 12 volt clutch makes it more fun to drive. If you do switch to an open rear, posies springs cured most of the wheel hop.

 

Oooopps, don't think JB weld will hold that, :~) My 235 had a sweet spot at about 60, it was hard to tell exact speed cause when i hit a little over 55 the speedo started bouncing and if i wound it up to 70-75 it was really screaming. Those old six bangers are solid but even a solid can break down. I can tell that as mentioned above, when i went to an open drivetrain and new rear it made a differnce.

 

I've been driving a '37 Chevy coupe with a '61 vintage 235, for 15 years. I drive the snot out of it, including a 3600-mile trip from Rochester, NY to Rapid City. SD and Devil's Tower in WY., following I-90 all the way, usually rolling at 70-75 mph where possible. It has the stock 3-speed and 3.78 gears with a .72 overdrive installed in the torque tube which would give it around a 3.40 final drive. I got 23 mpg overall mileage and had zero problems on the trip.

I've logged approx 50k miles on the engine since I rebuilt it, about 35k without the OD, and have had no major problems.

My 2¢

 

If the '54 is stock, it has a full pressure 235, and being a 3spd, that would mean it has a 3:70 rearend. If it was a powerglide, it would have a 3:55.
Depending on how good the balance is on the engine, you shouldn't have any trouble doing 60mph, especially with tall tires. There are web sites out there with gear calculators that can help you figure out what rpms you will be running at.
While the 235 engine went through a mulitude of changes over the years, for a novice I would suggest checking the casting number on the block, and also the stamped number behind the dizzy. The stamped codes can be found in a Hollander interchange manual, otherwise post them here, and I or others can help you with that. Casting numbers can be found over at inliners.org

The 235/261 engines like crusing around 1800-2500 rpms. I highly recommend getting it balanced should you ever rebuild one.
Its been my experience that this type of engine has a wierd harmonic vibe in the 2800-3200 range. It can be nearly eliminated with proper balancing. Try not to cruise in that range if possible. Perhaps its not an issue on every one, but you won't know until you try it.

 

Got my daily driver 1962 235 with stock 3 speed, torque tube and 3.55 rear for 13 years now and almost 100K miles.

Just stay under 3000 rpm and you can go forever.

The engine was already at least 15 years old when I got her, since last rebuild.

The sweet spot is around 2800 rpm on mine....everything gets really quiet and smooth and I get 18-20 mpg.

Dual carbs/exhaust is the best upgrade on these engines.

 

I agree if the engine is sound,you can run it for hours down the road at 2800 rpm.Of course lower rpm's mean ya get better fuel mileage.
When bigger Chevy trucks had 235-261 engines,the factory governors were set at around 3200 rpm and that was a heavy truck,throttle against the governor all the time.Since these engine are all old steel,3200 rpm might not be a good idea unless you like running over the crankshaft

 

I gotta say the 6 Volt clutch worked just fine . Actually, I liked the 6 Volt foot-actuated starter.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

54 chevy truck with a 3.45 rear, s10 4 speed and 56 235, tires are 215/70/15 i cruise at 60mph at 3,000 rpms. i'm putting in a T5 soon to bring the rpms down, dont feel comfortable pushing it p***ed 3k even though it's rebuilt.

 

I drove my 50 with a '55 235 in it and 3 speed trans all over the place and kept up with Chicago traffic... 65-70, but I had it up to 80 once and it never complained. It might've had a 53-54 rear in it, but I don't know.

My wife's 51 had a '60 235 in it with a 3.73 '54 rear end and 3 speed trans in it and she drove it from Chicago to Maryland without any problems and we took the highway the whole way so... 55-70mph

 

My first car was a 54 Chevy 235 stick shift with 3.78 gears. I put over 100,000 miles on it normally running 70 at the most. Its kind of busy at that speed with the stock gearing, sounds like it needs 1 more gear. Never had any motor problems, used up lots of generator brushes and voltage regulators is all. I did keep the oil changed every 2000 miles. A dump truck ran into me at a red light and that was the end of it

 

I ran my first '53 with a '58 235, stock three speed and 3.70 rear at 65mph most of the time without incident, although I'd keep my eyes open for a '50-'54 PG rear end if I were you.

 

you can gear a 235 as high as 2.73-2.50. i have did it and drove one for 5 years. most people dont know this because they have not done it. i never here any one say they have to high a gear in a 235 always to low. if you want to drive in az you need to keep up with traffic and thats 75-80 most every where. a 235 has a 90lb crankshaft and is a torque motor not a rpm deal like a small block chevy.

 

got the motor from 6inarow seems like it should have some serious history behind it. doesnt look like any galleys were inlarged . jimmy pump was in there . also has a huuuuuge oil pan dont know if that will fit in my 47 yet.

 

good point in addition to a overdrive T-5 i've considered swapping out the the 3.45 gears in my ford 7.5 rear to something like 3.08's or 2.73's. i care more about cruising comfortably, gas millage and making long trips rather than acceleration

 

Some late 40s - early 50s Chevys had an after-market torque tube overdrive giving 2:96 final ratio... !

They had a recurring problem though, that was not fun to rebuilt.

PG 3.55 rear is still to the day the best and cheapest option with closed driveshaft.

Gear Vendors make a really good torque-tube OD, if you got spare $$$$ !!

 

mine has a babbit pounder, stock 3spd and 3.70 54 rear. has a sweet spot around 60 and then again at about 67. get's real quiet and runs smooth. still would like another gear though.

 

I had a 58 Biscayne 6 cyl after my 54 got wrecked. I changed the 3.70 stock gear out to a 3.36 which was a big improvement. Of course its a lot easier with an open driveline