I suppose this is more of a project journal than anything but I'm sure I'll have questions com up along the way so I'm posting it to The Engine Shop.
Here's on question: So far as any of you parts experts know, did Chevrolet supply 848 heads with valve rotators on 261 truck engines. This appears to be a crate motor installed at a later date. Do all rear motor mounts fit all years of 235 powered trucks? Will a six bolt clutch fit inside the old 9-bolt clutch bell housing, if I find a Six-bolt flywheel? Are twelve-volt starters available outright or only exchange?
A 261 I bought sight unseen from an auto wrecker showed up on the freight truck yesterday. The block casting I'm told matches the Wrecker's description as a 62 - 261. It has an 848 head with exhaust valve rotaters, a PCV system, big vacuum connection for vacuum brakes and no air cleaner. Too bad, that. It also has no oil filter and does not appear to have ever had one.
I pulled the valve cover and things look reasonably clean inside but when I pulled the plugs, which were all only hand tight, they were quite black. There is no serial number stamped by the distributor and the sheet metal is painted yellow while the castings are bright orange. A tag wired on says among other things "Note 140PSI."
I conclude from all these clues that this was probably a crate, long-block sold sometime after 1962. I might have gotten lucky and not have to overhaul it before I use it but it has no flywheel and no bell housing so I can't run a compression test until I get them from some other motor. Besides, good compression doesn't necessarily mean it isn't using oil. I use the pickup that it's going in daily so I don't want that apart for weeks on end while I wait for parts or machine work.
