Have changed engine to 235 1955 in line six. Put on a short water pump. bought a radiator that is supposed to be for 6 cly. and fit 47-54 pickups. The fan hits the bottom of the radiator and if we take off the adapter it hits the harmonic balancer. The bottom outlet is too close to the engines timing chain cover and we can not find a bottom radiator hose. now what? We also put a 4 speed saginaw transmission and we need a floor shifter kit like Patricks sold. Anyone have any suggestions.
My students and I did this one for friends of mine 38 years ago and one of the guys who did a lot of work on it then owns it now. 53 3100 with a 56 235 and drive train. I dug a V8 pulley out of the pulley bin that was short enough to move the fan back just enough to clear and not a whole lot more. Too far and you get into the bottom pulley. laid both pulleys on a flat surface and measured the difference and then we pressed the hub back on the pulley that exact distance. We cut the end of the shaft off leaving just a stub to center the fan on. As you can see that doesn't leave you much room. Looking at the flex fan I have stashed for my 48 you don't gain any room with it. A lot of guys slip the radiator in in front of the back side of the core support to gain room but they end up hacking the top bar off the core support weakening the whole setup.
I had a '48 that needed a new engine and got an unknown year 235. We must've swapped most of the 216 stuff onto the 235 long block. I don't recall any issues like this.
40 bucks for one of these and an early pump might be the best investment. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-1962-...ER-PUMP-ADAPTER-stainless-steel-/142578007830 He even gives the whole how to. Another source https://www.streetrodhq.com/detail/..._Adapter_Plate_For_55_Up_235_261_Engines.html I wish I had known about that when I did the one I showed the photo of.
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