i bought a 265 from an old 2dr 55 chevy. it is said to be a good running engine. its really nice with a edelbrock single plane and corvette finned valve covers. my question is what are my trans options. i understand it requires a starter adapter. will a 265 manual bell housing with the old starter mount work with a later saginaw or muncie? is there a special pilot bushing. will a later flywheel work with the old style starter? what would a clutch option be. i was gonna use a starter adapter to a th350 but i got a stellar deal on a nice sag 4 speed.
Yes, later 3/4/5 speeds are the same pattern as the '55 bell housing, although the diameter of the front bearing retainer may or may not be the same. Stock pilot bushing will work with later transmissions, and any 168 tooth flywheel up to 1985 will work.
The difference is that trucks starting in 1968 mostly used a larger size hole in the bellhousing, to work with the larger diameter bearing retainer on the SM465 granny 4 speed introduced that year. Truck saginaw 3 speeds usually have the larger retainer, you can swap to a car retainer to use the bellhousing with a small hole. Trucks from 55-72 used a bellhousing that mounted to a crossmember, and had a starter mount for the same 3 hole starter used on the 55-or so chevy cars.
Least desirable of the early sbc's for the formentioned lack of oil filter unless your doing a numbers matching 55 project,my suggestion is to try to sell and get at least a 283 or 327.
Really? I guess all them guys with flatheads should sell them for a later model engine with an oil filter. . .The '55 265 in my coupe runs just fine without an oil filter. Just do regular oil changes and you'll have years of reliable service.
Something to do with oil getting to the lifter galleys. There's a flat on the rear cam bearing journal, and the distributor body has some funkyness where it fits in the oil p***ages.
Honestly, you'll be best off trashing the edelbrock single plane, they aren't worth a damn at low rpm's due to the lack of runners letting the air switch directions back and forth as valves open and too big for the small amount of air even a warm 265 will pull As for clutch, a big 11" clutch certainly wont fit in an early bellhousing, and some others might not fit also....
Great info guys. I knew the cam was different but did not know about the dizzy. I have a core 1965 283 but wanted something a little less belIy ****on than that. I like that it has now side mount provisions. I kinda prefer stock so the edelbrok will go for a stock setup with a dual quad factory set up in the future. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
as i recall, to put a later cam (or aftermarket cam) in that engine, you have to cut a flat spot on the rear bearing of the cam--something about oiling.
You could use an old Lakewood bell and the block plate , it has the bolt holes for the early starter and will accept the Muncie , T10 or Sagnaw.. It also has provision for the trifive rear mounts.. Hey , if it runs okay , leave it !
Simply remove the cam from the 265 and make sure the new cam has a slot on the rear as big as what it was on the old cam. You can grind the slot in at home.
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