Nah, I want a 261 because I want to keep it orginal and I was wonderin' does the 261 bolt up the the foot starter I have? If I wanted power, I'd be dumpin' a High Performance V-8 in this truck. I don't want that, I want it to be orginal and have enough power to be able to pull a hill with a load on it. We're gonna be usin' it for its intended purpose, which is to work. But at the same time we will restore it.
hahaha!! I thought they only came on 235s Did it come with a 235 or a 261? If it didn't come with a 261, you wouldn't be keeping it "original" As for the foot starter, I'm putting a 261 into my 48 coupe and am planning on keeping the foot starter, but am converting to an open drive line. This project is WAY on the back burner and I figured all this stuff out years ago by reading Inliners.org but there's a way to do it. You need a bell housing with the foot starter lever bosses OR you'll have to find a way to attach the lever. Not hard. I think most 216-235-261 bells will bolt up, but the clutch/flywheels aren't so interchangeable. Do some research.
My buddy Anthony here, who posed the original question, is 15 and just picked himself up a '59 Chevy 3800 hence the 235/261 questions. Anthony, I believe a 261 is a direct bolt-in replacement for the 235 including the foot starter and if I'm wrong I know someone will correct me. Heck, you might already have 261 in that big boy so check it out and ID what you have in there right now.
How light is that car? Like 2000 lbs? That would be like over 400 hp.Unless you have a lot of free parts,the machining alone for such and engine will be pushing 2000 bucks.
Just built a 261 for my 49 pickup. Yes they are a 50 year old engine with a few small quirks that seem odd today but that is part of the fun. Plan to get another 50 years out of it. Cannot wait to fire it up Dale
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