Ok so last sat I was driving my car and it just started knocking and smoking like crazy. It didn't shut off and at idle speed it ran fine. As soon as you give it gas it just sounds like it's gonna explode. I shut it off and had it towed home. I have had the car for about a year and other than some timing issues it has ran great. I haven't had a chance to do anything to it since getting it home. What are your thoughts? Should I tear into the motor or just look into replacing it? It is the original motor with 46000 miles on it. Thanks for any advice.
My dump truck with a 216 did the same thing this winter. My guess is something happened to the babbit bearings. You might get away with redoing the babbit.
That was what a friend of mine said too.. I have also been told that it is actually a 216 that's in my car. But when I ran the block number online it came back as a 235
If your car is a standard it is probably the original 235 babbit pounder. My 53 210 has a babbit 235. Only the PowerGlide cars got the full pressure 235 for 53. The next year the babbit motor was dropped. I never got why Chevy kept babbit bearings and the splasher oil system long after everyone else had dumped it in the early 30s. From what I understand in large trucks (1 1/2 ton and up) the babbit pounders would puke out after only 40-50k. They aren't the toughest motors or longest lived motors out there. Better than a Crosely tin block four but I can't think of any other six cylinder of the era that is worse.
It might be a rod knock, or not. Even if it is a rod it may not be too hard to fix. Have you posted this question on the Chevy 216 social group? Some of those guys know their babbit motors.
If you don't know how to pour babbit it is going to be a pain in the *** to fix. You don't find a lot of fellas anymore that have the knowlege or the tools. If I had a slash oiler and it started knocking I would take that as an omen and find anothet engine to take its place. Of course I am not a total purest when it comes to drive trains.
I have not had experience with pouring babbit. To be completely honest I would like to keep the original motor in it but would if it's gonna be a pain to fix then I might as well replace it with a full pressure one. I do defenetly want to keep a six in it though.
I see NOS 216/235 babbited rods on eBay occasionally. Every service/replacement part for that motor is still available. It might be that the offending rod still has some adjustment left by removing shims. Or not. Crank might be scoured. Something else may have ****ped besides a rod. You said it started smoking. Maybe it dropped a valve. Did it leak an oil puddle? What dis***embly and inspection have you done so far? It might be toast! Or it might not... but I agree that a 53 PG or 54-later full pressure 235 has a better oiling system. Good luck with it.
Yeah the noise started low and just got louder and louder and it started bilowing smoke out the exaust but it hasn't leaked a drop
have a friend with a tow rope and vid camera follow you then put the peddle to the metal and see how long it holds before it blows....
Don't even THINK about pouring babbit yourself. There are many folks out there who do that on a regular basis--spe******ts on vintage engines. You will enhance your engine smarts if you go ahead and tear it down to see what happened to it but the best bet is to take advantage of one of the offers posted here and buy a replacement 235-one with insert bearings.. The only reason to keep a 216 is if you're deeply into concours quality restorations.
I don't know why people are talking about pouring babbit. They may be referred to as "babbit pounders", but the main bearings are replaceable inserts, and I see n.o.s. babbitted rods for sale for 216/235s all the time, and they don't bring that much money. That being said, when the original engine gave up in my first '53 Chevy, I took the oppurtunity to upgrade to a '58 full pressure engine.
The reason they call them "Babbit Beaters" is because the bearing journals wear egg shaped. Unless you take the crankshaft out and have it reground perfectly round to the next undersize and use that size rod when you get those cheap N.O.S. poured babbit rods it is going to do it again. When I was younger I had a 1940 Chevrolet and would take the pan off and take shims out of the rods. That would last one round trip from Portland to Seattle, then I would have to do it again.
First off, it should be a 235. Only the sedan deliveries got the 216. All 216's have a sidecover that goes all the way to the top of the cylinder head. You can tell if a 235 is a splash oiler by looking for the 3 bolt kidney bean shaped plate on the drivers side of the block. This is the oil distribution cover. The 235 in my '53 had the same problem when I got it. #2 rod journal. The cranshaft seemed to have all the wear, not the rod. Not that it matters. To fix it properly you will need to have the crankshaft ground and new bearings, etc.... If you are concerned about originallity, it is possible to have that engine converted to full pressure. Talk to Beck's Machine about that. It's their specialty. Otherwise, probably the easiest thing to do would be to find a '53 powerglide, or a '54 any, or '55 first series truck engine, and install that. These would be full pressure and will have the right motor mounts and water pump for your car. Otherwise, a '58-62 235 or 261 would be the next best thing, but the motor mounts need to be reworked, anf the water pump needs to be shortened or you need to buy an adapter plate to run the old style pump.
I buy new 216/235 babbitt rods in the box from a specialty house in Vancouver. Why mess with pouring the babbitt when you can get a new one which is factory original? Save what you have to send in as a Core. They also stock the Shims for this application. Normbc9
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