The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 crate motor by Jasper Engines

When I bought 'Mater Jr., I was told that its engine was a 261. It had a foil sticker from Jasper Engines on the block, above the generator, but unfortunately, the build number was illegible.

As I started learning about my truck, and using the information available here on Stovebolt.com, I discovered that it was not a 261. Judging by the casting numbers, the engine block is a 1959 235, with 848 heads. My research indicates that this block/head combination is very desirable.

Armed with that info, I called Jasper Engines to see if I could find out what the particulars of the lifters, cam, etc were. I was also interested to discover if my oddball Carter YF carburetor was part of the Jasper package, as it had no identifying marks on it (discussed in a previous thread). The folks at Jasper wouldn't talk to me unless I had the build number off the foil tag. Since it's an aftermarket crate motor, I was at least hoping that they could give me an idea of what engine packages were offered at that time. Nope.

The good:
• Overall, the engine seems to be in good mechanical shape.
• No cross-contamination of coolant and oil.
• Good compression on all six cylinders.
• No crud build-up inside the valve cover or rocker arm area.
• The engine starts and idles fine.
• Valves are adjusted.

The not as good:
• Carb runs rich. The metering rod does not bottom out like it's supposed to. This YF variant doesn't have an adjusting screw, so you bend the tab to adjust. It would require more tab bending than I want to do. I measured the metering rod, just to be certain it was the right one.
• The distributor has some play in it. I can watch the timing wander with the timing light. The distributor has a zirc fitting rather than a grease cup, so I don't know if it's an aftermarket distributor that was part of the Jasper package.
• Intermittent miss on #6 at idle. I can adjust the points enough to get #6 to fire reliably, but then other cylinders misfire...I attribute this to the worn distributor.
• Slight oil seep at front main seal. I consider this to be a part of my underside corrosion inhibitor system.

The truck runs fine around town, but I'm hoping to improve highway power and fuel economy. I want to start by replacing the present distributor with an HEI from Langdon's. I would also like to do something different with fuel control. Split headers and dual exhaust would be a lower priority.

I'm interested to hear what the brain trust might suggest.

-Kevin