Hello, I am new to hot rodding as well as this forum. I have a 48 fleetline and a want to swap a boosted 261 in for the stock 216. With that comes questions. Can I keep the original trans? torque tube? (axels and keys?) Can these components handle the additional hp?
short answer is No. Will it all bolt together, yes, but if you have much any type of power over stock, you can kiss the trans good buy. Best bet is to look at upgrading the entire drivetrain as a unit to handle the power up grades. with a 48 chevy, it's not tough, lots of parts with later model chevy's can bolt right in with careful selection of parts.
A young guy, and looking to move from the modern off shore to hot rodding. That’s good. I could see a slightly more modern drivetrain (1955 or so) and a VS 57 McCulloch blowing into a 261 with some minor hop up mods on the 6. That would fit here just fine. Unless you’re a true hoodlum, and you really did boost the engine. Did you get the battery and hubcaps too? Pictures?
Gentlemen, I see there has been some confusion around the term “boosted”. Contrary to popular belief, I was referring to an engine that has a boosted intake system (ie supercharger). I appreciate the responses, and I am still looking for an affordable 261 that is not across the country from me. The only pictures I have are of a current work in progress, but I will post anyway. I am currently trying to unseize my # matching 216 and get it running. I will have to grind the valve seats and bore to seal, because right now they are very rusty. Also finding a wasp nest in my water jacket was a “fun” surprise.
261? I thought that was a Ford truck engine. Are you talking about a 216, if you are-they are babbit beaters, aren't they, no oil pump? And wouldn't take kindly to boosting.
261 was a Chevy engine, the 235's big brother. 216's have "poured" (babbit) bearings & an oil pump, but it is only good for about 5 psi on a good day, and the bottom end is a splash (dipper) oiler.
The stock transmission in my 53 Chev couldn’t handle my 261 which is a good strong period correct street rebuild, nothing crazy just an Isky C-4 cam. I am now running a late 50s 3 speed floor shift and 57- 64 Chevy rear.
When I built my 47 Chevy aero sedan I converted to open drive with a Camaro disk brake rear end. It was the right width and an easy conversion. I put 40,000 miles on it and it was still running good when I sold it. Ran a small block engine and never had any problems.
Sorry for my confusion above 262 Ford and 261 Chevy. I don't know my early 6's very good. I had a 215 in my first car-a 1952 Ford Mainline, it was a neat old car, wish I still had it.
I put a later 848 235 head on my otherwise stock 1956 261. Ports are pretty much the same but the 848 has the smallest combustion chamber and raises the compressionratio from 7:1 to about 8.5 :1 or a bit more . The 261 already has the 53/54 corvette cam in it and is rated at 150 hp from the factory. A little boost won‘t hurt, but dont expect it to spin to the moon. That‘s a heavy *** crank with only 4 mains … it runs like a banshee, but I call it quits at around 5k. @Robert J. Palmer may have more insight on how high you can rev these, but 261 being even more scarce here in Germany I don‘t wanna risk throwing a rod… Have fun an good luck hunting! PS: you can use a 60s 250 dampener on your 261, the are cheap , readily available and fit like a glove. Rebuilding a stock one was around 300$ last time I checked. And dont forget to drill the steam holes of you use a 848 head. The 261 has siamesed bores just like a sb 400 and needs them. Just use the headgasket as a template. now go and have fun!!!
I had a 5600 rev limiter on this 261. Hit it once by accident manually shifting the auto trans behind it and I hit neutral! Too much for my nerves. It sure pulled hard and there's no sound like a "buzzin half dozen" at full song. You can supercharge these old 4 main sixes and get them to perform incredibly, but it takes a lot of modifications and custom stuff to keep them alive. Not recommended for the faint of heart.
Steve Danish (far left was a die hard Chev 6 racer! Photo at Fand Speedway. He was racing and still winning with 261s deep into the small block era Note the 261 under the hood and the Chris Drellos owned Falcon racecar in the background
You can use a 235 bellhousing from a 55-57 car with side mounts (58-62 doesn’t have any) or a pickup from 48-up that also has a mounts but a single hole. This will allow you use a later stronger 3 or 4 speed transmission. I’m currently using one with a 10-1/2” B&B clutch and new Richmond 4 speed so I know they will fit. Also Buffalo Enterprises in Oregon sells a plate to convert the back of your block to a standard 55-up V8 Chevrolet.I’ve used on for years on a racing engine with a Lakewood bell housing and it lets go to a modern starter. You can use any rear end you want. A 55-57 Chev or 57-59 Ford will have the right width but you need to drill a new hole in the perch after mount them to your spring width to move the rear tire into the center of the wheel well. Not a hard job but a lot easier back when wrecking yards had a lot of the right era parts. If needed, circle track suppliers and places like Summit sell extended front yokes up to 9” to help a use a drive shaft you might have. Good luck.
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