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#1374053 08/19/2020 7:33 PM
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'Bolter
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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
woof359 #1374056 08/19/2020 8:03 PM
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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!
woof359 #1374066 08/19/2020 8:55 PM
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'Bolter
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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
woof359 #1374075 08/19/2020 9:56 PM
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'Bolter
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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.

1947 2nd-Series GMC FC152 3/4-ton
Follow the story in the DITY

1953 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe Powerglide
woof359 #1374079 08/19/2020 10:01 PM
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Bubba - Curmudgeon
Bubba - Curmudgeon
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What does "full" pressure mean?

High Pressure compared to the older Low Pressure engines?

woof359 #1374081 08/19/2020 10:16 PM
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"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!
woof359 #1374094 08/19/2020 11:12 PM
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Posts: 29,269
Bubba - Curmudgeon
Bubba - Curmudgeon
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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.

woof359 #1374117 08/20/2020 1:44 AM
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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!
woof359 #1374226 08/21/2020 2:09 AM
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Posts: 10,270
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Renaissance Man
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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
Hotrod Lincoln #1374231 08/21/2020 3:04 AM
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'Bolter
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Originally Posted by Hotrod Lincoln
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".

woof359 #1374236 08/21/2020 3:34 AM
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Bubba - Curmudgeon
Bubba - Curmudgeon
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ThankYou, Carl

Does that make it a splash oil engine?

Or, is that too small a nit?

Where does the “splashing“ take place in a 1953 235?

Here a good example of a splash oil lubrication system.

Is this spray oiler/oiling a splash oil system?

woof359 #1374620 08/24/2020 2:20 AM
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'Bolter
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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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