The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1951 Chevy 3100/3600 Project

After the recent discovery of a couple of cracks in the 250 block in my truck, I decided to start looking for a replacement engine. That evening I started cruising Offer Up to see what was in my area. An ad for an "old 265" for $100 that was less than an hour away from my house caught my eye. The poster had the displacement wrong, but from the one photo I couldn't tell if it was a 216 or 235. I got in contact with him and set up a meeting. The next afternoon, my son and I drove out to see the motor, which was in the ground-level basement of an old house that was going to be torn down. The room was literally full of stuff and debris, and in fact had been the location for some dynamite that was recently discovered and detonated by the local bomb squad! Fortunately for us the motor was sitting on a home made cart and right by the door. A quick check of the block number confirmed it was a 1950-52 model 235. A cursory inspection also showed that the motor had been rebuilt in the fairly recent past (it actually has a tag attached to the side of the block showing it was remanufactured by PERKINS MOTORS in Seattle, WA). I paid the seller and after a couple of his buddies showed up, we loaded the motor and cart into my truck.

Yesterday, my son and I unloaded the motor into the shop with a forklift and began a more thorough inspection. After photographing all of the block and head info, the valve cover came off first. There is light rust on the two studs that hold down the cover, but everything inside was clean. The cork gasket looked like new, but had turned brittle from age. We removed the valve train and checked to see if the valves were free (which they all were). Next, the head came off revealing a beautiful set of new pistons (all stamped for .040" over). The underside of the head showed the valves to be new as well. The block was hooked up to an engine jack and lifted into the air off the home built cart so we could see about removing the bell housing. The goal was to get the block onto an engine stand after using the bell housing as a pattern to make an adapter plate. Since the motor is stuck we couldn't get at all of the clutch pack bolts (yes, the motor came with a new clutch pack on it) so the bell housing couldn't be removed. The plan then changed to freeing up the motor.

After removing the pan (spotless except for a small pool of assembly lube in the bottom) we sprayed everything with Marvel Mystery Oil, filled the cylinders with the same and left it to soak for a day or two. Before leaving, though, we decided to pull the side cover and check the valve lifters. Almost all of them were stuck, so one at a time they were carefully removed, cleaned, lubed and reinstalled. It was then time to head home for dinner and learn that the Seahawks had beat the Rams to win the NFC West spot! GO HAWKS!