The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 1958 235 compatibility into 1947 Fleetline original 216

Greetings, I have a 1947 Chevy fleetline with a 216 whose babbited bearings went out on it. I found a 1958 235 in good running order, haven't purchased yet. My question is, is there any compatibility problem? The only thing I can think of is the engine mounts might be a little different. Is it difficult to change them, will welding be necessary? Anything else I should be aware of? Thanks beforehand for any help you can give.

I think the 1958 front motor mount would be OK.

The rear "motor mounts" are on the clutch housing. Use the clutch housing and clutch assembly and rear motor mounts from your 1947 car. Use your 1947 6v starter.

Your will have to use a water pump relocation plate and your 216 water pump for proper cooling of the radiator:
http://chev235guy.blogspot.com/search/label/Water%20Pump%20Relocation%20Adapter

Thanks Mr. Lederman. It sounds pretty straight forward. Looking forward to installing it. They're supposed to have 145 H.P. Compared to my 216's 90H.P. It should get up and go pretty good.

Yes, you will feel the difference.

Tim (or, Bubba - Mr. Lederman is much too formal)

Hy guys, one point I didn't see mentioned is that you must transfer the flywheel from the 216 as well, different ring gear tooth count for the starter, hope that helps.

The front engine mounts for a '58 235 are side mounts. On the cars, the mounts fit the triangular hole pattern about midway down the block. On the trucks, they fit in the very front, so far front that they are under the generator bracket on the driver's side. The blocks of the '58 235's were made to accept either type of mount.

I'm beyond my expertise on this next subject, but here goes...I'm pretty sure that your '47 Fleetline has a front motor mount that uses the base of the timing plate to connect it to the front cross member. It would have two square holes for 7/16" fine thread carriage bolts that bolt from the top down. The '58 timing plate does not have those holes...unless you got real lucky and GM had so many left over that they were using them up!

Someone else will know if the timing plate on the 216 is compatible with the 235. It may be. If so, you can switch out timing plates so that you have the correct holes. Not real easy, but not real hard. Might require going deeper into the engine than you care to. If you go this route, be sure to install the carriage bolts early in this process because one of them can't be installed later on.

An easier solution? The timing plate on your 235 can be adapted without removing it. You have to be very precise when you do it, but it can be done. I did it once for a friend who was installing a TF 235 into an AD truck and had the same issue. I made a template showing the locations of the holes, aligned everything very carefully with the center of the crank, then marked and punched the holes, then drilled them. I put a 7/16 fine thread bolt through the bottom of the hole (reverse of the carriage bolt direction), secured it with a nut, welded the nuts in place, then removed the bolts. Voila...weld-nuts in place to fit the stock motor mount. That allowed for the motor to be mounted with bolts from the bottom up instead of with a carriage bolt from the top down. I did this with the engine raised high enough on an engine crane for me to work under it WITH MEASURES TAKEN FOR SAFETY. I removed the harmonic balancer to get room, but nothing else had to be taken off.

I will gladly stand corrected if I'm wrong. I have only done this when prepping a TF 235 for an AD truck and have no experience on '47 cars.

Matt

PS--This Tech Tip explains the timing plate swap better than I did!

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engine_swap_216.htm

Wow, those are allot of things to take into consideration. I'm almost thinking of waiting for a 54 235. They're supposed to be pretty straight forward compatible. I didn't think it would take so much to adapt a later 235. Thanks for all the help guys.