I am planning on tearing out my '53 235 this winter and would like to rebuild it...I have alot of smoke coming from the road draft tube and no smoke from the exhaust..plus a few small oil leaks...I would like to rebuild it myself and was wondering if anybody knows of any good books or info on rebuilding the 235? How much have people paid to have it rebuilt professionally? Im just trying to collect as much info as possible before i start this. I tried searching the forums and couldn't really find anything on rebuilding it. Thanks in advance. Tony
Tony, where are you in Chicago? I'm on the Southside and have a few 235s and a 261. Oil leaks are common. Let me guess... from your rear main seal? What do you mean by "a lot" of smoke? You will see some smoke coming out of the road draft tube. That is to be expected. If you don't see smoke coming out of the tail pipe what makes you think you need a rebuild? How does it run? Have you done a compression check?
If i remember correctly, I met you at HRCC on a thursday night. Im good friends with adam. The pile-up was great by the way..thanks...The engine leaks a little from the rear bearing which i gather is normal as well as a little from the timing cover, neither are really serious. I know its supposed to smoke a little, but it will fill a two car garage with smoke in probably 5 minutes...hehe...It runs ok...slow....but ok...haven't done a compression check on it. Im assuming it needs a rebuild because of all the smoke..and the old people i bought the car from said they never rebuilt it but had the valves ground, and it has 103,000 miles on it...oh and im in wheeling..thanks for the reply Tony
were you the guy with the beard? Is your road draft tube attached properly? I think it's weird that it smokes there and nowhere else. Those motors are rugged, but you might need new rings or something. Did you see the Hot Rod 101 post? We're rebuilding a 283 at HRCC next month. You should sign up. It's not the same thing as an I6, but you'll learn a lot and some of that knowledge should be transferrable. BTW, I have tons of info on hopping it up. It doesn't have to be slow. Remember, Inline 6s used to beat Ford flat 8s as much as they'd lose to them back before the SBC.
the guy with the beard was adams brother...i can gaurantee ya i was wearing a black tshirt and jeans, thats all i seem to wear...about the hotrod 101 i was gonna sign up for the powerglide rebuild...i should sign up for both anyway...you don't happen to have any books on rebuilding a 235? Would a 261 fit where a 235 was or do you have to fab new mounts and stuff? Tony
I have books on how to hop them up. A regular shop manual should have the basics of a teardown and reassembly A 261 will have the same mounts as a later 235, but different from the earlier ones, like yours. However, it's real easy to make it fit... just drill 2 holes. The trick is finding a 261. They aren't too common.
The Jalopy Journal
