I may be picking up a '52 Chevy PU, 3 window, short box. The guy says it runs but smokes. Other than rebuilding the motor, what are my alternatives? Is there another straight six that's a direct swap? Anyone running the stock tranny/rearend? Again, is there a better/easy sawp? I'm just looking to build a good driver. He also said the brakes are shot (pedal to the floor). Where's a good source for parts?
You need a 292 (or a 250 in a pinch!) "late model" Chevy straight six...or the Pontiac OHC cousin if you can locate one somewhere! Use a bolt-on front disc kit and a 10 bolt rear axle with "modern" drums and a pedal/master from something newer...kinda like what I'm doing. Use a manual or auto tranny as per your desires...and PRESTO...low buck hauler that'll run forever and go together eaisly for ya!
GMC's from that era are pretty bolt in. Or go the cool guy way and find a 261, it's like a 235 on 'roids. Or, I got your old 216 in the garage still... It's a total bolt in! Is it 3/4 ton or bigger? It'll have an open driveline if it is, and engine swaps just got alot more options. Jay
1/2 ton, and he says it's a torque tube. I'm going to look at it this week but I talked to him twice this weekend and got most of the details. I've known the guy for many years so I'm sure he's telling me straight. He just wants to move it (needs cash) and is giving me a heck of a deal. He says it's a complete truck but the floors are bad, also the tailgate and the fenders have some mud in 'em. He said the frame is solid except where the battery leaked and ate thru the frame.
The 261 is the best choice there then bro, but IDK how hard it'll be to find one. Or, go the easy way and get a 235 like the one that was in your Chevy. Depends how you define easy... Jay
I hear Hatcharello has a complete 327 laying around...it'd be funkyretrocool to run that mill with the closed driveline and stock (rebuilt) drum brakes...make it a sleeperish moonshine hauler!
I've got an old 261 out of a pontiac stratochief it was burning a fair amount of oil when I removed it 25 years ago I didn't know them old 6 bangers were worth anything or I'd have taken better care of it
Donzie, if you do decide to yank that 235......DIRTYT might be interested in it, or at least some of the parts to get his old chevy up and going. Thought I pass along the info.....good luck with the swap.
Donzie, It sounds like you might want to look for a good running '53 or '54 235" that someone is yanking for a project. IIRC, in '52 both manual and auto were the dipper and splash oilers. In '53, the powerglide had full oil pressure, and in '54, both did. In '55, they changed the water pump/fan location. Not a big deal, but may cause some spacing issues. A '54 261" would be an great replacement, as would a GMC 270" or 302", though the GMC's would probably require moving the radiator forward a couple of inches. Running a newer engine, like a 250/292" six or a 327/350 V8 would probably require more changes to the rest of the enclosed driveline than you may want to get into just now. Go look in the tech archives of Inliners.org and Stovebolt.com for more info on these swaps. You might also want to contact Tom Langdon at Stovebolt Engine Co., in Utica, MI. 586-739-9601. He is a former president of Inliners, and an expert on these engines. Good luck! Kinky6
So are we gonna go check this truck out after breakfast next saturday Frank and I would like to see it.
Thanks K6, I'll look at those sites. Rich, Frank is going to go with me one day this week to look at it. I'd like his "professional" opinion.
My little brother picked up a very nice 54 belair this weekend and it has had a i-6 and automatic out of either a 74 or 76 Camaro swapped in. It looks like it came from the factory that way. Used all the stock mounts etcc... and even the stock trans linkage ( it was a factory automatic car) We haven't run the numbers yet so don't know exactly what motoer ( size, etc...) it is but it has HEI, oil filter, etcc... Anyone know anymore about these? If you don't mind the modern stuff you can still have a more vintage looking power plant. Just an idea for something very reliable but as easy to pit in as pulling the stock one for a rebuild. Hope this helps.
Replacing it with a 'later' 235 ('54-'62) would be the easiest. The '57 and later ones have the water pump seting lower, but you can get an adapter for it and run the earlier water pump which will keep it near the stock vertical location (slightly better cooling) or just use the earlier fan. The 250/292 six works great in one of these old trucks. You will have to build a front motor mount for it (real easy) and use an early V-8 bellhousing that has the mounts built in it like the original 235(and possibly make minor adjustments for the starter). Either way, I would recommend converting to an open driveline to take advantage of better rear gears and possibly a 5 speed tranny, if you want to drive it a lot. Installing a V-8 is easy enough but you will run into neccessary 'required adjustments' to clear the steering box and column. r
Hey, I just thought of something... Ask FatHack how to "bolt in" a 2.8. He says he's keeping his stock trans and rearend, and the bellhousing just needs minor mods... Hee hee hee... Jay
You can thank Kustm52 for doing all the legwork on that research, but Yes, a 2.8 CAN actually be used with a closed driveline tranny if you use the stock 2.8 bellhousing, an S10 hydraulic clutch and a truck trans for a closed drive! Kustm52 crawled through his part stash and measured the stuff and did some spot fit checking to report that it would indeed work, as an early truck tranny will bolt to the 2.8 bellhousing! (He did the swap the OTHER way, using an S10 5-speed behind his Stovebolt) Problem (for me) is getting all the parts I need (engine, bellhousing, trans, etc) to Michigan from Alabammy...so I settled for my next choice...a stock Vega four and auto tranny that I only have to haul up here from Ohio! Car still won't be done in time for Billetproof Michigan as originally hoped, so I'll have to sit that party out...hopefully I can make the Broken Dream Kruise??? BUT...I know Hatch and Fab32 wouldn't let Donzie drop a nice, neat reliable 2.8 into his truck even if he WANTED to...so it's really a moot point!
A '54 pickup 235 is the ideal swap because it fits the earlier mounts and space, pluss has all the upgrades. A later motor is going to be longer and cause some complications you'll need to deal with. GMC motors are all longer than the Chevy motors, and are more difficult to swap in. These motors have become expensive to fix, so if low budget driver is your goal you'll want to balance the cost of building a 235/262/270/302 against the issues related to a 250/292 or V-8. My daily driver is a '55 1st with a GMC 270. It works well as a daily driver, but isn't a screamer. And if that motor breaks I'll be dropping in some newer, more powerful and cheaper to fix....
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