Boy O’ boy aren’t we havin’ fun now. The old Stovebolt six was about at the end of it’s run when the V8 was introduced. Everyone was coming out with V8’s and the mid 50’s was Chevy’s turn. Even though the V8 was capable of higher out put, Chevy still wanted to offer it to the conservative driver. The de-rated two bbl lower horse power version was aimed at the family man who wanted a little better performance than the old 235. But Chevy used the same platform to satisfy the guy who was looking for higher performance because this was the beginning of the horsepower wars between Chevy, Chrysler, Ford and Studebaker. When you look at the different power options on the Chevy V8, carburetion wasn’t the only thing that they changed. Different cam profiles and valve springs added to the overall performance increase at higher rpm.
The triple carb 235 vet used the same cam as the 261 and dual valve springs that allowed higher rpm and more time for higher volume to pass thru the engine. Still it’s performance was not all that impressive and a little known fact is that a dealer installed option in ‘54 was a Paxton Centrifugal Supercharger which gave it a little more umph.
So in ‘53 we begin to see factory hot rodding taking shape. Again, not just stock inliners with “bigger is better” carburetion.
I’m bout burned out on this one, think I’ll let our experts carry the ball from here.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Last edited by Denny Graham; 09/20/2010 3:31 AM.
