The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop engine swap / 216 to 250 questions

hello there. I have made up my mind. I am going with a 250 truck eng with offy 3x1 setup. this is going in a 50 fleetline. There is nothing wrong woth the orginal motor. I just get scared sometimes. 52 years. no maintenance. wow. But now I have this 250. complete job. actually I built a 350 for it but it just did'nt feel right.
I really like the inline engine and I know it is capable of some power. tell me what I need to do. Will the tranny bolt up. It looks like the same bellhousing. has anyone done this swap before out there. if so tell me what went wrong.
I know I will have to use different motor mount. It just feels better than a 350. everyone has one of those. its a 250 out of a 70 nova. help anyone???? justin

"There is nothing wrong with the original motor."

I'd think long and hard about that before going through with the swap. Are you ready for everything going wrong? In any case, my build sounds similar:

http://www.homestead.com/chuckthetruck/page1.html

I have a 1968 250 in my '37. I had to make different mounts. Does your transmission mount like a normal new car with one rubber tail shaft mount? If not, you may have trouble mating the engine to it. I used a late model automatic so it was pretty easy to change over. Also, the 250 is a longer engine and I had to set the firewall back a few inches for everything to clear and have some air space around it. The fan on the 250 will set lower, I had to lower the radiator to get full air flow from the fan. The radiator must be in good condition or you may have heat problems. I took the top tank off my and really cleaned it out, Still ended up with a new core. I think the 250 runs a little hot and doesn't hold much water in it. It takes a good radiator to control it. Is your temp gauge a manual type, with the copper tube and bulb on the end. The sending unit mount on the 250 is clear at the front of the head, will your tube reach it? My didn't, $75 later I now have a new gauge that works. How is your exhaust, it will take larger pipe if you want it to run good. Have I scared you yet? Joe

I agree, nothing wrong with that 216. You will have to do alot more modifications to get that 250 to fit as compared to a later 235. 216 to 235 is a natural conversion 216 to 250 is not.

But will an automatic of recent vintage fit up to a 235? Or will you have to use an older automatic? I understand that the older ones are expensive to rebuild and unreliable?... Are adapters available that work?

Hi 52,

I'm afraid its a "no". The 216/235/261 bellhousing is different from the later 250 bellhousing. No modern standard or auto tranny will fit a 216/235/261. There are adapter plates available, but I've heard of several of them cracking. Does your truck have a torque tube? If so, you'd have to swap the rear axle to use a later tranny, and have a custom driveshaft made. You'd also have to buy/build a custom tranny mount.

Swap in a 235 with an old Hydramatic or a 3 or 4 speed (235 era) standard tranny. Otherwise, go ahead with the V8, cuz the work to put a V8 or any later I-6 would be about the same.

chip