Cosmo,
Sounds like a great project. That is exactly what I want to do; I have a 1959 261 ready for a mild rebuild to go into an AD pickup (that I do not have yet), as soon as I get my current project (a 261 in a '32 Ford roadster) street legal.
I assume that your 261 section has the
Frank McGurk 261 article from May 1955. I followed that article back in the late fifties when I built my first 261 (a 1954 block) for a 1951 Chevy coupe. I was also a one-vehicle guy then. I put the engine together, started on the switch at about 9 pm on a Saturday night and had it running by daylight (with the help of a couple of good buddies and lots of White Castles), including a 6 to 12 volt conversion. This car and engine was my daily driver for six years and about 80,000 miles. I used an 848 head milled 0.060", the stock 261 cam, a Corvette six exhaust manifold, and for the intake, either a McGurk dual with BXOV-2s or a Harper with three Stromberg 97s. The McGurk setup was as drivable as a stock one-barrel, but noticeably more powerful above 2000 rpm. Even my mother enjoyed driving the car. The Harper was not much fun when it was cold in the winter. Tom Langon has convinced me that the C/W or H/W carburetors are the way to go now, but I am looking for another McGurk manifold and BXOV-2s, as I sold the cGurk back in 1966. I did hold on to the Harper and Corvette exhaust.
What will you be using for a water pump? As we know, the 1958 has the high, long-shaft water pump. I assume that you will be able to use whatever is on the 1956 235. Is your front plate set up for the front crossmember engine mount?
Hoyt
