"Common sense and ingenuity that went into designing these old Stovebolt" engines. i.e. "tractor" engines.
My old 216 impressed me this past weekend. We hit freezing and of course I had left the 49 sitting out overnight in it.
1 pump of the throttle, full choke and my handy hand-throttle fast idle device set and that old 216 fired right up without hesitation. It turned over pretty slow but fired within a couple turns of the starter. It then did it's 50 mile run, loaded down part of the way, without incident. Did I mention it's still 6v?
These old powerplants have done their thing from deserts to icecaps and all points inbetween.
I thought long and hard about repowering the 49 and I decided to stay close to period correct and am building a slightly modified 54 235 to eventually replace that 216. I could have easily went SBC, got more power and done it cheaper. But I enjoy driving it so much that 300hp seemed like too much overkill (did I really say that) for a country road & occasional interstate runner. If it does ever get shown, it'll be driven there
So a slightly hopped up 235 is in the works.
Keep exploring and releasing the info boys. These old tractor engines can always breath alittle better and provide alittle more grunt.....
Dave
