vintage 235 chevy speed equipment

Yes, you are right, but for a newb that is just trying to figure out what this is the date codes tell a ton more real fast about what you have. I dont generally have a Hollander in my pocket when I look at a block. But I can pin it down real fast by looking at the casting date. The most difficult year is the 53 model year. so if you have anything other than a 53 model year, chances are real good you can figure out what it was just from the casting date. You can decide from that date whether or not it s a keeper (full pressure) so you dont even have to waste your time looking the rest of the numbers up (unless you are doing what Flop did to his splasher). In my opinion, the changes in 50-52 dont make any significant difference - they are splashers anyhow, so for the most part who cares?

 

My comments are for an overall view on the matter.

Full pressure motors aren't difficult to spot if you know what to look for. The cylinder head design is the key. The only time the full pressure era head was used on a non-pressure motor was in '53, and those engines have the oil distribution cover on them.
On the 50-52 engines that do not have the oil dist. cover, the head has a different casting design, most noticeably on the spark plug side of the head.

 

Ok I want to run dual carbs and split exhaust...other than making sure I have oil in it....is there anything special I can do to help out?

I have 2 small blocks in other cars and I am kinda bored with them. I also have money tied up in the tranny...Should I start looking for a full pressure 235 or 261 and run this one til it pops?

Thanks Darryl

 

With babbitt rods and cast iron pistons, don't go overboard on revving it up (no matter how tempting it is with split exhaust), or your next post will be a "looking for a full pressure 235" thread.

 

Bwahhhhh!!! no more simple way to put it than that!!

In their day and for their intended use, the babbit motors werent too bad. Old timers used to say they would run all day at 50 but only about 3 miles at 80

 

I'm assuming we're talking about a '53 car??


I would. You can buy any speed parts you want to for it, though, as they will still work on any other 53-62 engine. Only exception would be the camshaft. They increased the journal sizes starting in '54.

Motor mounting and water pump will be issues when using a 55-62 engine in a 54-earlier vehicle, but it's nothing that can't be resolved. A '59-63 261 would be the best choice, but any '58-62 235 would work good too. The '53PG or any '54 engine will be the easiest swap as they use the same water pump and motor mounts, but the later engines are better internally. The 55-57 engines can be used, but it would be easier to adapt the motor mounts on the 58-63 blocks to the original '52-54 car mounts. I believe Tom Langdon even sells mounts for this purpose, should you rather buy than build them.

If you decide to go with the later 194/230/250/292 engines, the swap will be like doing a V8 swap as far as the amount of work involved. I can get into this more if someone needs the info.

 

i love this topic.

 

Lolita,

What did you find out about your engine?
216 or 235?
Babbet pounder or full pressure oiler?




6narow

 

it's a pounder : (

 

Lolita, my '49 1/2T Chevy truck with '56 235, Fentons, 1-H-W (soon 2- 2bbl C-W on a vintage Edelbrock) '62 3sp+ od tranny, '57 3.90 rear end, etc. has been my daily driver for 11 yrs. Do get a full pressure 235 or 261, forget the automatic tranny... IMHO they're for people who lack coordination. People lose it when they see me split shift the overdrive in the six forward gears.

Take all the advice (all well intentioned) and do it your way.

PS, I recently scored a '58 261... 'The stuff that dreams are made of...'

Cheers,
Cosmo

 

yeah ew on the automatic i like to shift my car myself and be able to control when and how fast i shift it as well....

 

Lolita,

Sorry to hear of your discovery.
Hopefully you'll get the engine you want soon (and for not much $$$, too!).

-----------------------------------------

Ha, Right on! My ol' man used to do that in his truck, too!
Do you engage/disengage your OD via a round black knob that you pull out of the dash, like a choke knob?
It should have "overdrive" written in white across the middle, too.



6narow

 

No, mine didn't have one so I'm just using a FLAPS choke cable.

 

so what i should be looking for is a 54 or around there for a a full presure engine
that i can mount up to a manual trans?

right?

 

Yep, that's about what it sounds like.
'54-'62. 235 or 261 ('58-'62).

6narow

 

thanks guys me and the car thank you for helping us out with what hopes o be a long a fruitful relationship ha aha

 

i think someone is selling a 235 in the classifieds

 

Ya gotta dig all this free-lovin' inliner info swapping going in here. There were so many questions I just had answered in a matter of minutes. I may be "coming into" a '51 Chev and a 216/3 speed (out of a '47) in the near future.

 

I have a 235 in my 51 3100...I have been looking into these..
http://www.vs57.com/
there are a lot of oldtimers on this site who know massive amounts of info about vintage superchargers... inline six with dual fentons and a blower sounds about right to me

 

Mike,

Thanks for the link.
While I didn't read all the way through it, the middle picture of the 3 Kaiser Manhatten's shown on the Kaiser page looks remarkably like the Kaiser the principal of the jr. high I attended had....and, it was supercharged!
He also had a red Willys Jeepster. Everyday, one of those two cars was always parked in the lot.
He was a very cool dude.

If you ever want to run a McCullough blower on your engine and have trouble finding one, or the prices you're seeing are a bit prohibitive, please be aware that they were either bought out by, or changed their name to, PAXTON.
I believe this happened sometime around late 50's or early 60's.
Paxton is still in business and I believe they are still producing a version of the old McCullough blower, so there's another avenue you can check out.
Good luck with your project.



6narow

 

Thanks for the good info, I have learned that there are two types of blowers and I have learned that I want the one with its own oil pump...post to the board, these guys know their stuff..
I just think that a 6 with a blower off to the side would be dead sexy...

 

Yes Mike, the style with its own pump and resevoir is preferred.
Haven't thought about that one in a while, but I believe the idea is that the blower will last longer and not be as supseptable to running "dry", as the type that make themselves part of the engine's oiling system (fewer particulates, less to go wrong).
Personally, I still prefer the idea of sucking the fuel/air mixture into the blower, then into the engine, rather than blowing pressurized air into the carburetor.
Just seems to make more sense to me to do that, and you don't have to build a box to seal the carb.


Yeah, a six with a blower is definately an eye catcher. =)




6narow

 

that would work, is that a weiand?
I did not know they made a kit for the straight 6

 

Beats me. I just thought it was pretty wild that someone mounted a 6-71 blower onto a 235 (although why they mounted it sideways is beyond me).

I got the pic from this thread - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18390&showall=1


6narow

 

I thought that was standard procedure for the inline engines?
In (I hate to swear like this) "Old Skool Rodz" there was a buick with a straight 8, the guy had it as a bonneville car...and it had a side mounted blower very similar to that 235... but shoot now I want to build that 235..

 

The attached picture shows an 6-71 Detroit diesel engine.
The big lumpy thing on the side is the blower.
This is how it was designed to be mounted.
On a V-engine, I could see it being turned 90 degrees, but on an in-line engine, it seems like the manifolding would be easier and cheaper to make and the whole unit would be more compact, if the blower were mounted the way it was designed to be mounted.



6narow

 

good point, but I don't know if there is a manifold to do that with a chevy 6...you'd need a different head with the exhaust on the other side then... or am I insane?

 

I've seen one that mounted the blower sideways, but it had no I.D. as to who cast it, and it was from the early '50s anyway.

 

did you see how the exhaust ran out from under it?
I suppose that would be be a very rare part...

 

It extended out far enough from the head that conventional exhaust manifolds/headers could be used.