The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1953 Chevy 3100 Project

Hi everyone. The motor in my '53 came apart this past December while I was driving home from an event. Turns out it threw the #1 cylinder rod, busted the side out of the block, and locked up the drive train causing me to fish-tail and spin 180* before coming to a stop in the center turn lane.

The engine was a 235 from a 1962 truck. I found 235 from a 1959 car and just had it rebuilt.

Today, I pulled the old engine out of the truck and disassembled it. What me and my friend found - scoring on all of the bearings indicating a lack of oil. What we think happened based on our findings is this: The machinist who rebuilt this motor in 2000 didn't get the oil pump set screw in proper position. Instead of going into the hole in the oil pump housing, he tightened it against the side of the housing. You can see where the oil pump gradually slid down until it disengaged from the distributor thus shutting down oil flow - tried to take a picture but there was too much glare and it didn't show up. I look at the oil pressure gauge periodically but I don't stare at it so I missed seeing it drop.

Here is a picture showing the #3 main bearing area damage.

Additional damage not pictured: The first 3/4 of the cam shaft was broken into 2" - 4" pieces, lifters and pieces of lifters were everywhere including the core support frame and transmission cross member, one pushrod was jammed all the way through one of the lifters.

The head was fine and, since it already had hardened valve seats and is an 848 head, I used it on the replacement block - a complete valve job was done including new springs and guides. With the motor and tranny out I will check the front end and replace king pins, tie rods, bearings, etc. as needed. I have everything to replace the entire brake system including stainless lines (I'll use DOT 5 fluid), and I have four new shocks to install. The bed is out too so getting to the shocks and brake lines is a snap.