I have just picked up a 6-22-55 235 truck engine that I plan to rebuild and install in a 1946 Chevrolet 1.5 ton dump truck. My question is this; is this engine, with the casting date shown before, a series 1 or series 2 engine for 1955. I am also assuming that this engine is a full pressure engine. Will I need to replace the original 1946 Chevrolet splash low pressure gauge for one out of a GMC? Any other changes that I will need to make? I am guessing that this engine is very close to a drop in conversion. Al
Hy Big Al's, I would say that that engine would be a series 2, look at the water pump and see how high the pulley is versus the 216/235 original engine. If the engine is the newer design I would suggest you check out the water pump relocation plate, that will mount the older design water pump up higher than the newer design water pump and clear the lower radiator hose and center the fan on the radiator. If this engine is the newer design, yes you will have to swap in a higher pressure oil pressure gauge, hope that helps.
Please take a look at the pictures of the new project engine 235. I sure think that the engine is a 2nd series 1955, full pressure oiled and etc. Reference has been made to an adapter plate that will relocate the water pump up higher to facilitate installation of this engine into a 1946 Chev 1.5 ton dump truck. Please share a contact for the mentioned adapter plate. Can I still use the water pump from this engine or do I need to use a different pump style? Al
You can look up the casing numbers on the side of the engine the number punched in shown in you picture by the distributer is like a serial number but has signifigant imfo for you truck. The cast numbers are cast in tbe block when made and are below the distributer number shown. There is also a number on the head on the drivers side of the engine. The cast numbers are all listed on the web as to the years made and if they were in cars or trucks.
I used this relocation kit and it works really good too, highly recommend it and a pretty easy retrofit.
1953 Chevrolet 3100 261 cu inch, sm420, 3.55 rear, torque tube still,omaha orange, still 6 volt, RPO green glass, side carrier spare, all done In the DITY Gallery Video of the 261 running
1964 GMC 1000 305 Big Block V6, sm420, the next cab off restoration
Hello and thanks for the comments. I will post another picture tomorrow that will show the rest of the stamped in number, on the block. That information may help someone, more familiar than I, to decode the engine numbers. Al
Hello Fred, Will the oil pressure gauge, you suggest, be an exact drop in for the original Chevrolet truck dash cluster? I have started a short hunt on EBAY but have not run across anything yet. If you can recommend a vendor or source that would be good. I had thought, also, of buying a GMC oil pressure gauge and the decal set and renew the original dash and end up with a working and proper gauge set for the full pressure 235 in the 1946, (and a tuned up dash cluster). Al.
A stock oil pressure gauge from a 1941-46 GMC will bolt right in a Chevy cluster. The GMC needle and face colors wont match the Chevy though. NOS gauges can be found for reasonable money from time to time. The GMC oil line fitting is different, but universal fittings can be sourced to mate the gauge. In the meantime, just drive the truck with the stock guage...it will peg out when driving down the road, but it still reads 0-30 psi accurately.
Hello Paul, Just driving as is is certainly a possibility. The gauge issue is not real high on the list of things to do as the engine build is first. Al
I carefully scrutinized the stamped number on this 2nd series 1955 235. The full stamped numbers are: 0327699 T255X. To reconfirm what was shown in the above pictures, the casting dated number is: E2155. Maybe more information will come to light now. Al
Mike, Do you know if the new 1955 trucks (second series) started with a new engine serial number range or did the second series just pick up with the last of the first series 1955 engines so that both the first series and then the second series used the same engine serial number sequence? Al
I believe the engine serial numbers ran straight through from the beginning of the 1955 til the end. Big Al's serial number is to high at 326.699 for Chevrolet to have reset the counter in late March when the Second Series trucks were introduced to the public.
The other thing to remember is ALL 6-cylinder engines car and truck came out of the plants together.
Doing a lot of head scratching and research my best guess is there were about 1.133 million 6-cylinders made for the cars and trucks in 1955. If you divide that by 12 months and then divide it again by 2 for the number of plants you end up with about 47,000 6-cylinders per month, per plant. If we assume Big Al's engine was built in late May that's eight months into the model year...8 x 47,000 = 376,000 putting it real close to his 326,699. All of this is assuming both plants did a 50-50 split of the load...if Flint out produced Tonawanda then that numbers could be even closer to Big Al's number!
Mike, You make some very interesting points. I have often wondered but do not have the experience to even come close to to reliable conjecture like you have made above. Does anyone else have additional thoughts or experience with dating of engines and the serial numbers, particularly on the split series like 1947 and 1955? Al
This engine being second series 235, from a truck. This truck would have run solid lifters. Is that considered to be bad? Other than a bit more knuckle noise while running and once a year re-setting the valves, I do not see solids as a problem. I am guessing that I should just rebuild this engine as is and not try to improve by adding other parts from other years? Unless I was planning to build a hopped up engine, which I am not, just additional monkey business to get back to a solid and rebuilt engine. Is that point in line with the thinking of other engine builders? Al
Solid lifters are not a problem, in fact, less of a problem then hydraulic lifters. So I would not even worry about that and run the solids. The rear main seal is the other issue. In 55 Chevy was still using a rope rear main seal on the 235. The better neoprene seal did not enter production until 56 which is the same year the solid vs hydraulic block difference ended in the passenger car line, they all got hydraulics. Unfortunately, the rear main cap is machined differently on the 55 and earlier blocks then the 56 and later blocks so you can’t retro fit a neoprene seal to an earlier block.
I have seen one block, in person, that had been converted to a different seal arrangement. Eliminates the rope seal entirely. The machine work is apparantly not complicated for a machinist who knows what he is doing (which totally eliminates me). There is a YouTube video of a machine shop out in California doing the job.
At any rate, the better rope seal on the market is from Best Gaskets but in my opinion, it is just the best of the bad. The original seals were a asbestos graphite affair while the new seals are a fiberglass graphite affair. A lot of failures and redos on the new seals. If you rebuild the motor, see if you can dig up a real asbestos seal that is in good shape. You might be better off. The other alternative is to use a 56 and later block with the neoprene seal or do the conversion.
Machining a stovebolt engine for the full circle rear main lip seal isn't difficult to do- - - -all it takes is a couple of thousand dollars' worth of machinery and 50-something years of experience as an engine machinist. I'll be offering that service soon, once I get a couple more pieces of specialized tooling perfected and a shipping arrangement finalized with my local Fastenal store. Here's the seal:
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
That is great but sending you our cranks would cost a wheelbarrow full of dollar bills. Can you still have a full circle rear main even if the rear cap is shimmed?
Last edited by sstock; 12/23/20183:08 AM.
1953 Chevrolet 3100 261 cu inch, sm420, 3.55 rear, torque tube still,omaha orange, still 6 volt, RPO green glass, side carrier spare, all done In the DITY Gallery Video of the 261 running
1964 GMC 1000 305 Big Block V6, sm420, the next cab off restoration
Probably- - - -the lip seal can expand enough to accommodate a "speedy sleeve" which increases the diameter of the crank hub about .010", so the slight out of round caused by shims shouldn't be a problem. An accurate line bore job on a 216 or a shimmed 235 usually eliminates the need for shims anyway. Actually, it would be necessary to send the block and the crankshaft, and a set of main bearings. I'd ship it back with the crank assembled into the block with the lip seal in place. Fastenal ships palletized freight store-to-store at pretty reasonable rates. From the stories I've heard about people spending outrageous sums of money getting stovebolts rebuilt, the lip seal job would be a drop in the bucket. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Alan