Technical 235 Question

I need to replace the '61 235 (3 on the tree) in my truck and have a possible fantastic deal on a low miles 235 from a '53 Bel Air. But in the pics the seller sent it looks like the bell housing is different. Will my bell housing bolt to the '53 motor so I can use my existing tranny? Thanks...

 

The bellhousings are different from '48-'62 trucks compared to '49-'54 cars, however, everything is interchangeable. You will probably want to use you '62 flywheel on the '53 motor as the trucks generally had a 10" clutch where as the '53 car will be a 9".

 

That '53 235 could be splash oiled. Check the block behind the exhaust pipe, down by the pan rail.If there's a triangular steel plate screwed to the block, it's a "dipper", not a good candidate for a swap. Also the mount holes are in different places from the later car.
If you have access to the '53 car, check the oil pressure guage. Dippers have a 30# scale, pressure oiled have 60#.

 

should be a dipper, and the mounts will be different, water pump location will be different, it will have a 6v flywheel (the teeth on it match the teeth on a 6v starter motor) so you'll want to change the entire flywheel/clutch/bellhousing, etc.

It would be better to get the right motor....that 235 would be an ok one to swap into an earlier car, but not the best. The dipper motors do work fine, they just aren't the best for performance upgrades.

 

Not 100% on this but pretty sure in 53 a stick would be splash and a powerglide would be full pressure engine. That was why my dad waited for a 54 with a stick. Splash motors had the valve cover bolts on top and full pressure ones had the bolts on the bottom ridge of the valve cover

 

Water pump will sit higher on the 53 motor.

 

Check Patrick's website for Chevy 6 I.D. Also the side plate on a splash oiler is tall, goes right up to the top of the head.

 

the side cover is tall on a 216, short on a 235....right? it's not the oil system that determines that

 

Wow, thanks for all the info! This old novice sure appreciates it. Looks like we're definitely dealing with a splash oiled motor. Valve cover bolts on top. We'll swap in my existing bell housing, flywheel and clutch. Ideally I'd love to go with a nice small block crate motor, but my wallet doesn't currently share my ideals...

Might be able to swing a 350 at some point in the future. If not, no big deal. For now I just wanna get down the road. Thanks again!