Hey, finally got my old blue 58 Apache road worthy and have been driving it around town a bit. It has a 235 with sm420. It seems to lug a bit after changing gears at 2K and easing into the throttle, but it runs fine if you drive by ear and half-pissed off. is that how your supposed to drive those old sixes? Sorry only 18 and have had much experience with those old gals.
also vac advance dont work. and today while easing into throttle after grabbing 3rd it cut out and spit up through the carb
I recently got a slightly newer chevy pickup with the granny 4 speed....put a 305 in it...put a tach in it...the RPM drops in half on the 2-3 upshift. So I usually rev it to 3500-4000 in 2nd if I want to get moving. Shifting at 2k results in lots of lugging.
I drove the piss out of those 235s when I was a kid. Never had a tach but you get the "feeling" of when it's time to shift........Probably ought to go thru the carb and distributor and she won't be burping on you..
Yeah,guys used wind the piss outta those 235's, might have even got to 4000 rpm I believe the car 235's were rated at 140 hp at 4200 rpm by the late 1950's. Rev one up past 4000 today and it sounds like it gonna blow...
The carb on the new 235 is bigger than the one on the factory 235 making me think it is of a 261, but how much does the vac advance affect the motor if it doesn't work?
I dont plan on racing this one. I have two other cars that are cranked up, but i just want one thats a reliable cruiser. not looking to do much over 55 with her.
I have a 283 with an SM420. I get about: 5 mph in first 10 mph in second 30 mph in third 60 mph in fourth You asked about the 6 but the tranny tires and rear diff will be part of it. You'll hear the engine ask for the next gear if you ease into it. Just take your time on it. My truck was the first manual I ever drove and I had to learn it wasn't going to drive like a modern automatic.
Get the 235 running right and you'll be happier with it. Most trucks I had with the SM420 and later SM465 were geared real steep. I've only used 1st gear a few times, mainly with 4000 lbs of scrap iron in the bed. One truck I had, the rear was a 4.56, another had either a 5.38 or 5.57 in it. SM420 gear ratios: 1st 7.0, 2nd 3.6, 3rd 1.7 and of course 4th is 1:1. The truck with the 5.38 - 5.57 gears, it was wound up pretty tight at 50 mph and all I had on that was a 2bbl 283 with headers. Bob
I drove a lot of tow trucks with the SM420 and PTO for the winch. Also some Ford comparables. I never had a tach on any of them, just drove by feel and how the engine sounded. Bob
as my grandfather said when I drove the farm truck , got to wind it up tight then shift otherwise its not going anywhere , and you also did this to the big inlines on the grain trucks too . sounded like your doing 80 but your lucky to be doing 35.. prepared me for driving a Detroit Diesel ..
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