I am going to help a friend do a engine swap on his 55 chevy pickup. he has a 235 with a manual transmission and is dropping in a 283 out of a 57 and he wants to keep the 3 speed. what are we going to need to do the swap?Just want to make sure we have everything we need before so we don't have to stop in the middle of the swap because we don't have a certain bolt!! any help would be great
Just the front motor mounts are needed to change from 6 to 8 as far as mounts go. On the ones I have done, the holes are already in the crossmember where the mounts go. You will need of course the V8 flywheel for the stick setup. I think that is about it. I had to add this, if the V8 was from an automatic equiped vehicle, do not forget the pilot bushing/bearing in the back of the crank.
V8 bell housing for one. Also, the wiring harness and ignition switch are different because the V8 doesn't use the floor starter like the 6 does. If you find two of them, I could use one too. I have a 55 second series with a 6 and a '57 283 on a stand waiting.
The bellhousing should interchange, my 55 did as well as two 57's we did. Did all the 6 cyl trucks have floor starter ****ons? I do not remember mine having a floor start on it...was back in 1983 when I did it tho. Was it possible to put a starter on the 6 cyl that had an electric solenoid? Sure is nice to have a memory that keeps forgetting....
235 and V-8 bell housing are different. You must have had a 265. Just to confirm, this is a '55 2nd right? If its a '55 1st the story changes a bit. Provided its a 2nd this should be a straight-forward swap since a front mount small block was a factory option for this truck.
A 235 bell wont fit on a v8. Any thruck bell from 63 to 66 even the 230 and 250 6 cyl bell will work use the original 6 clutch fork. 60 and 61,62 trucks used a hyd clutch release. Also a 55 thru 59 V8 bell will work. Will have to fab front pedistal mounts or engine side mounts. The factory V8 trucks have two brackets rivited to the front frame crossmember.Throttle linkage will be different. Use long water pump with clutch fan or fan spacer or relocate radiator closer to fan. need a v8 or late 63 up6 cyl flywheel. The original trans will fit Ok. Just add a start ****on for the selenoid starter. Run a wire fron the selenoid to the coil side of the ballast resistor to boost current for starting.
Why can't you use the original front V8 mounts? Just drill the rivets out then bolt them back in to the front cross member. On the trucks I did, the holes were already there.
you could use original V8 parts. They are kinda scarce and i dont think anybody sells them new. OldWolf
pretty sure they sell repop front mounts. only use the front mounts if you're using the bellhousing mount too.
Is it a 55 second series? No problem,they had a V-8 option.55 first series AD type is a lot more work.
I don't see any problem with the swap as far as the engine and ****** goes. All that is covered by the other posts. That said, the sheet metal/radiator support is different. You can fab some brackets for the radiator, but the sheet metal won't cover the area.
interesting. any info of putting a 350 with a 5 speed stick in a 55 3200. my 235 is running on 5 cylinders and is slower than ****. or some thread links. ive been looking but cant find anything.
For you fellas looking for OEM Chevy TRUCK parts, try www.lmctruck.com or www.cl***icindustries.com I use LMC a lot for original parts. Very good to deal with. I need a diagram or schematic for the throttle linkage from the gas pedal to the carb for a '55 Chevy 2nd series 3100 pickup. I have a SBC with 350 Trans I will be swapping out for a SBC 302 with 700R4 trans. BUT, I do not like the junky throttle pedal setup or its location. Would like to go back to the original Gas Pedal location but preferably with a more updated pedal, though the original setup all the way is fine. I have modified the '69 302 (Z-28) to hold a complete Roller Cam and 3-2s vice the big 4 bbl and the 4 speed 700R4 auto vice the 4 speed manual. I am 73 and MY parts don't work well enough to regularly be pushing a clutch anymore. I also am looking for the original Gas Pedal that mounted with a Pin at the bottom or heel and (apparently) operated a rod that came up through the sloped section of the floorboard. Hope someone can help me with the requested info. Thank you, Murf
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