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Mod | | | Forums66 Topics128,021 Posts1,055,355 Members48,420 | | Most Online14,466 Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down with Ads! Again, thanks! | | | | Joined: Mar 2020 Posts: 114 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2020 Posts: 114 | Well I got my 216 put back together, that pass thru oil tube is quite that pain the first time you do it, fixed some oil leaks and checked out the cyl bores while I had the head off, not to bad.......but I'm still thinking of up grading to a 235 full pressure engine. a friend offered me a 235 but not sure what year it is, Am I looking for a certain year for normal rod bearings and fully pressurized engine oil system ?
woof359 Family 1952 3100 5 Window
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | The 235 engine with full pressure oiling that swaps into the place of a 216 with the least amount of monkey motion is a 1954 or early 55 item. Late 55 to 62 engines have a lower water pump location and they require an adapter plate to use the 216 water pump and position the fan correctly. That's a simple conversion, so don't reject a freebie because it has the low water pump.
1941-53 truck 235's are just overgrown 216's with a taller engine block- - - -spray-oiler rods and all. There's a 1950-53 235 car engine with hydraulic lifters that's an oddball variant used in cars with Powerglide transmissions, also a spray-oiler. 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!
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 1,966 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 1,966 | And just to muddy the waters, 53 235s were a new design with 18 head bolts instead of 15 in the older engines - and they came in two flavors: full pressure oiling (Powerglide) and Babbitted spray-oiler rods (truck and manual trans cars).
Professional Novice
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2018 Posts: 351 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Aug 2018 Posts: 351 | Woof', In addition to the good info from Jerry, there is one more desirable full pressure 235 with the high, older-style water pump location, which was used in '53 Powerglide cars - the first vehicles to get the full pressure 235s. They look like the low pressure 235s, including two-stud valve cover mounting, but can be ID'ed by the stamped engine serial number on the machined pad just aft of the distributor, or by the block casting number. Prefix letters on the stamped engine serial number will be LAQ or LAS, and the casting number is 3701481 (located low and forward of the distributor, near the motor mount and fuel pump, so may be difficult to see), for the '53 full pressure engine.
If you post the numbers from your friend's 235, this group can ID and date it for you.
Doug
Last edited by drdoug; 08/19/2020 9:57 PM.
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | What does "full" pressure mean?
High Pressure compared to the older Low Pressure engines? | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | "Full pressure" usually refers to the engine having a drilled crankshaft, which pressurizes the rod bearings, instead of having Babbit bearings molded into the rods, spray nozzles, and a solid crankshaft with no oil passages. The rods are still technically "pressure-lubricated" by the dippers hitting the oil streams, but it's done externally. A bent spray nozzle will cause a rod bearing to burn at speeds above idle. 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!
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | Yes, Jerry, thank you for your excellent and concise description of what what most people call "Full Pressure"; but, in earlier non-high pressure GM documentation, the oil lubrication system was also called Full Pressure.
That can confuse people who look through GM documentation. I will continue to use the differentiating terms of low-pressure and high-pressure.
My pedantry also shows regarding which GM engines were "splash oil" engines. Some components of high-pressure 235s/261s were still "splash/slosh oil'.
QUIZ QUESTION: which parts in 1954 Chevrolet Trucks were still splash-oil lubricated? Hint: check the 1954 Truck Shop Manual's section on Engine Lubrication. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | I'd suggest the purchase of a big, high-quality magnifying glass. It makes the nits a lot easier to see. If you're out in the sunlight, you can also burn 'em to death! 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!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,270 Renaissance Man | | Renaissance Man Joined: Mar 2010 Posts: 10,270 | There is a tiny hole in the connecting rod which supplies a splash of oil to lubricate the cylinder walls.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
| | | | | Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,299 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,299 | I'd suggest the purchase of a big, high-quality magnifying glass. It makes the nits a lot easier to see. If you're out in the sunlight, you can also burn 'em to death! Jerry Tim will know what I am talking about but when I read about the "nits", A flash came into my mind where Warren Foster (wdoftexas) was telling someone he thought they were "trying to separate the fly [censored] from the pepper". | | | | | Joined: Mar 2020 Posts: 114 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2020 Posts: 114 | Thanks for the info Guys, I am so far behind when It comes to this old stuff, Babbit bearing's were a nice surprise as was the oil tube behind the lifter cover
woof359 Family 1952 3100 5 Window
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