The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 Main Bolts ??

Putting together a 54 235. The main caps have lock washers under the bolts. Is this typical?

The problem: Setting the bearing shims/clearance and taking them on and off all the time, the washer is always removing material from the spot face, contaminating my assembly process. I need washers on the bolts as they will bottom out. Can I just switch to hardened washers?

Thinking about switching to ARP. Found an old thread and don't want to go with studs. Unfortunately, the thread was from 20 years ago and part numbers are not different.

Thanks

Try switching to a SAE hardended steel flat washer instead of a split lock. They're available in various thicknesses- - - -about .080" should be about right for the main cap bolts. There's lots of them on Ebay. You could also grind one thread off the end of the main cap bolts to keep them from bottoming. I'd do both.
Jerry

That is pretty unusual for the main bolts to be bottoming out. Are you certain you are using real 235 main bolts?

chrispy Dont recall of ever seeing lock washers on main cap bolts,wonder if those are head bolts ??

chrispy 54 235 should be precision main bearings no shims.

My experience is shims were used until mid 1955 on mains, along with lock washers on the bolts.

My 55e has lock washers on the main caps. Good luck sorting it out.

This engine has shims...and needs them as well. I took it apart and am re-using and making more since having the crank turned .010. As the federal-mogul versions shims only come in .010. The OEM shim kits have a stack of .002" (3x per side) of each cap. But from what I can find, they type of kit isn't available.


I'm using .004 to .006" total pretty much across the board on each main, using a micrometer to master off the crank, & a bore gage to check the clearance on the mains torqued to specs. I'm switching to hardened ARP .120" thick washers. With bolts torqued to 100lbs, I can't see them backing off without lock washers. Worst case, a dab of lock-tight. Which I've never used on mains before.

I believe mid-55 to 56 is where the cutoff is for not needing shims anymore going from pin style bearings retainers, to standard style bearing retainers . I've researched this quite a bit and the machine shop who did the machine work was very familiar with them 235's as well.

As far as bolts being original, IDK. Currently, don't have anything to compare them too. The 216 is still in the truck. Thats the only reference I have access too. Devestechnet.com has been very helpful and I have his books along with factory service manuals.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

I think you will find that what you think is a.010” shim is really five .002” shims stuck tightly together. It takes a razor blade to get them apart.

Use tin snips or scissors to nip a small corner off the F-M shim pack. It makes it much simpler to peel a layer off. I use an X-acto knife or a box cutter blade to separate the layers. I've also been known to trim slices from a Budweiser can when the layered shims aren't handy.
Jerry

Dave, Thanks for the heads-up on that!!

Also, I went back and watched an old episode of power block TV where they built a 49 chevy truck with the "FauxTina" paint job and copper coated grille and bumpers. They built a 54 235 and the main cap bolts also used lock washers.