Last Sunday, I drug poor SWEET on a long 500-mile loop across the eastern Virginia shore to fetch up a 1954 235 motor that New_Ton could not take with him on his move south. The motor was in the bed of New_Ton's 54 3800 when he bought it and it was rotating free when he checked it then.

We have no idea what condition this thing is in, but I did not want to see this thing go to scrap, so I fetched it up. It helped that I really had no idea how long a drive it would be. Twelve hours later, we rolled it into SWEET's garage, to sit next to his spare 261 until Homecoming.

We started the journey early from SWEET's house. Did some sightseeing on the route 13 bridges and tunnels, stopped for some local flavor (commit that one to memory guys...not recommended), and ended up at New_Ton's house around 1245. After dutifully gawking at his 3800, where I should have taken pictures, we loaded the engine up in my truck and headed home.

A couple of shots of the engine:

SWEET and engine
Missing road draft and rust on crank
Manifold Side
Engine number stamp...something like 0316117...


There are a couple of bolts that are snapped off in the block, but no big deal. We hope to drag this thing to Homecoming and see if SWEET's magic is intact. I am betting "Yes!"

Meantime, we're short a starter (SWEET is checking the flywheel tooth count for me), both manifolds, some flywheel bolts, a road draft tube, and a few other odds and ends. Hoping to scrounge these either at or just before Homecoming. It came with the flywheel, bellhousing (with most of the stomp starter linkage intact, minus the foot pedal part), and an engine stand. New_Ton really took good care of us there and his engine will find a good home.

See you all at Homecoming!

Jim

P.S. Many ODSS kudos to SWEET for helping a Brother out with the heavy lifting and grunt know-how.



1957 Chevrolet 3100 Stepside
235, 3-speed w/OD
In the Stovebolt Gallery