So the 235 in my '53 BelAir gave up the gost and I was able to buy a rebuilt 235 from a guy that's out of a '58 Chev pickup. I haven't done any measuring yet and haven't got the motor back to my garage but will this thing bolt right up? I got the rebuilt one for $400 so I couldn't p*** it up. It's 100% complete from carb to oil pan. Are these motors different? My car is a 4dr with a stock 3 speed manual. What things can I use off the stock 235 that will bolt to the truck 235 to get this in my car? Everyone say just do a 350/350 combo in it but I want that cl***ic 235 under the hood. Anyhway, any help before I swap engines will surely be appreciated. Thanks.
Mounts could be an issue, seems like 52-54 cars use a side mount, you'd have to change it to the 49-51 car style mount or build a set of mounts for the front of it. Should bolt up otherwise. If you're staying 6V then switch flywheels and be sure to use the 6V starter, the tooth count changes on the 12V engines. Unless it came with reciepts I'd open it up and verify the bottom end is actually rebuilt right before I run it, just in case.
I got a 58 pickup 235 in my 54 210. probably the same job you are going to do. 1st issue was the motor mounts weren't in the right place on the side of the block. one side I drilled new holes in the motormount, the other side I put a thin flat plate as an adaptor to get the motor mount in the right place. 2nd was the newer motor has the new style water pump. bought one from Patrick's, but you can modify one yourself by pressing the hub further down the pump shaft so that a new style large pulley will fit and line up the belt with the crank pulley. You need the fan from the new motor, too. The new pump and fan run slower than the orig 53-54. 3 rd the radiator needed to go on the other side of the radiator support and then still another maybe 3/4 inch forward with spacers. This then needed the air baffle on the hood to be trimmed. Everything else worked fine and transfered over from the old engine. I used the truck oil pan. Good time to put the truck flywheel on and change to a 12 volt system, too. Frank.
Thanks for the replys. I've already done a 12v conversion by replacing all the bulbs, switching to an alternator and all the other electrical stuff. So will I have to use the flywheel off my existing motor or can I use the one on the '58? The starter is the original 6v one that was on the car. As far as the motor mounts, that should be easy. I'm going to have to do some work with the water pump. I bought an aluminum radiator on e-bay and will install it with the '58 motor. I had overheating issues right after I removed the stock exhaust manifold and went with fenton headers. I bought the water heater kit from Langdon's to heat the intake and have had problems ever since. Thats another story. I just want to get a full pressure oiler 235 in my car and drive the piss out of her!
I re-read the post and looks like I could just use the truck flywheel. Hope it'll work with 6v starter I have in the car even though its converted to 12v. Sorry if I'm repeating myhself with stuff but since the issues I've had with this motor, I feel overwhelmed with possible solutions to get her back on the road. The car was 100% stock when I got it and have slowly been converting her into the car I've always envisioned. Anyway, I'm open to any and all possible suggestions anyone has to make this easy for me.
Just use your old flywheel and starter. I always used a 6V starter on my 47 Chev without any problems. On the later water pump, as was mentioned with the newer pump you'll need to press the hub back toward the engine and cut the end of the shaft (it is easy to to). What I used was a 60's Ford pulley that worked fine. You'll just have to find something fairly shallow that will line up with where ever you put the hub.
As for the water pump, if you buy an adapter plate, you can then reuse your '53-54 water pump and balancer. Then the pump is in the correct location, and the radiator doesn't need to be moved. Modify the side mounts like gas pumper suggested. If there is nothing wrong with your current starter, then I would reuse all of your exisitng parts from the flywheel back including the starter. If you decide to use the '58 flywheel, then you will also need to change out the starter to a '55-62 (12 volts), and you will probably find that the clutch and pressure plate will need to change to a different size.
If you decide to use the later flywheel, check it with size to the earlier flywheel as it might not work in the with the earlier bellhousing and starter. That is one thing that I've never tried.
I appreciate all the advice and tips. I'll check the 58 motor cause I think its got a starter that came with it. May get the adapter plate Snarl suggested. I'm also contemplating a T-5 swap since I'm going to have the motor out anyway. I've got the trans and can get the adapter and crossmember from Hot Rod Works in Idaho. If I do, I'll get a rearend out of a 4x4 S10 cause its the right width.
If the starter is out of a '58 truck it probably won't work for your application because the trucks used a foot stomper type starter. You would need a starter out of a 12-volt 6 cylinder car, I think.
That's right. I forgot about the food stomp starter on those trucks. The one in my car is good. I'll just use it.
Yes, it will work. 11" pressure plates sometimes won't clear the inside of some early bells without some grinding.
Like said before, 6 volt starter with '54-earlier flywheel. 12 volt starter with 55-up flywheel. both 6 and 12 volt starters came in foot or solenoid start, it all depends on original application. cars were all solenoid from '49-62. trucks were optional thru '59, solenoid '60-62.
Its been a while since I posted, thanks again for all the reply's. After a lot of thinking, I've decided to just go with a 350 and an auto trans. Seems like there are more pro's than con's by doing this. I think I'll just keep the '58 235 for another truck project down the road.
Man how things change in a sort period of time. I just scored a sweet 235 out of a '55 Chevy car that is backed by a nice 3sp with a hurst floor shifter. I've picked up an S10 4x4 rear end to put behind it as well. This 235 should bolt right in without any mods needed. I've heard that minor changes to the motor mounts may be necessary but no biggie. The motor even has the stock exhaust manifold split which will give me the sound I like and allow me to get rid of the fentons I had on my original 235. I think this will definately be a better choice than the 350/auto swap I had planned on.
Lol, "on the road again..." Isn't that a song? Anyway, I can't wait to drive her again! Rose City Round Up, here we come!!
'55-57 engines do not have provision for the 3 bolt sidemounts. You will need to fab some mounts to go off the front corners of the block. And you will still have the water pump issue. Your fork angle will be different also, and will not work properly with the stock clutch linkage. I do have a solution available for that, though....
It shouldn't be too hard to fab some mounts for it. For the water pump, we'll just have to see what we can make work for the least amount of money.
Don't the 55 bell have the motor mounts on them to go along with the front mounts and no mount on the trans? And the 55 trans is the modern wide bolt nose and the 53 the early small pattern? your bell and trans is the way to go here, I think. Unless you go T-5.
Hey gas pumper, thanks again for that info. It sounds like that's the job I'm gonna be doing. I was hoping that because it was out of a '55 car it would bolt right in. Oh well, its a sweet setup and it shouldn't be hard to get it all in the '53. Thanks again.
If the engine ,bell and trans are all genuine '55, then it's like I said. While the '55 bell would have provisions for side mounts, you still need to do some fab work if you plan on doing that instead of using a mount under the transmission, as well as everything else I mentioned before. Using a T5 instead of a 3spd wouldn't change the situation regarding mounting.
Thanks guys, I guess we'll have to just pull the old motor, set the new one in there and start fabbing up mounts for it. Yetiskustoms is experienced with these car and I'm lucky to have him to help out. Between the 2 of us we should be able to get the job done.
Great thread! Someone I know stopped in to check out my '54 Belair in the driveway and on stands and was telling me about another 235 that he knew about with low miles. Sounds good. I'm not even sure what I've got with mine yet. Haven't run a compression test or anything and I'm waiting for points and the rest of the tune up to show up but a comparatively fresh 235 can't be a bad thing. He said stop by his house and another guy I know is going to be there and knows all about the motor. I stop in and it's he says it's a 55 - 57 ( didn't know it mattered so didn't pay much attention to that part), has the power glide, power steering, generator ( some generator something else combo), Fan to tailshaft and carb to pan, and it's $500. I figured that I could get at least close to half that back for the glide and accessories I won't use so it sounds good. Full pressure oiling system and all. Now I know that it may be a bit more involed than I thought. Still will probably do it, but I will be going at it knowing a lot more. When my engine comes out there shouldn't be the nasty surprises!
I was out looking at the motor I bought and luckily it has the 3 bolt holes on each side of the motor. Looks like I can use the motor mounts from my old 6 and bolt them up on my new one. I was pretty happy to see those. Any chance to make this quicker and easier, I'll get on the road quicker. So take a look at the block of your "new" engine and check for the 3 bolt holes to mount your '53 style motor mounts, you may get lucky like I did.
Then it's not a '55-57 motor. '58-62 enignes have a 3 bolt sidemount setup, but the pattern is different than the '52-54 cars had, so you will need to modify the '53 mounts in order to reuse them. A '55 first series truck motor would have the correct 3 bolt sidemounts (probably not tapped) and the older style water pump just like the your '53 car has.
Cool, thanks for the heads up on the hole pattern being different snarl, would have been a suprise when I went to bolt them up. Looks like we'll have to make some mounts no matter what. Hey 53 Handyman, its kinda shocking huh? I've got to get her back on the road.
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