The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop What engine do I have?

Here are pictures of my engine and numbers on it. I am new to 6 cyl Chevies. Can someone tell me what cubic inch block and year of motor I have?

The casting number that would be more helpful for engine ID is located on the passenger's side of the engine block near the fuel pump, down close to the oil pan. The stamped number near the distributor doesn't look like it's got the letter/number codes that are usually used to identify a vehicle application.
Jerry

Locations of identification information.

Find and post the:

Engine Serial Number
Head Casting Code
Head Date Casting Code
Block Casting Code
Block Date Casting Code

The Head casting number 3835913 was used on the 235 engines in 1954/55.

The stamped serial number is not a factory number and won't shed any light on what the engine is or what it came out of.

Mike B

Clean the oil off the machined pad near the distributor.
You may have to take a piece of sandpaper and clean the rust and paint off to see if there is more of the stamp.
Notice in the attached picture you can see a series of numbers but barely make out "T54".

I went to the car wash and knocked a little crud off everything. Magically a few more digits came out on my engine. The pad below the distributor had this: 0304213T54Z. Is this a replacement or original motor?

Engine Serial Number T54Z

1954 Chevrolet Passenger Car 235 Engine ("Regular car Engine") made in Tarrytown, NY

As to it being original or replacement engine, an original registration document might help answer that question.

What is the head date casting code and the block date casting code?

Where is the casting date on the head located? Also, does this engine have hydraulic lifters. I would like to set the valves hot. What are the settings?

Redbird, the casting date for the head is under the valve cover, farther toward the rear, and facing the driver's side. The V/C has to come off to see it.

If you have verified that the engine number suffix is T54Z, the Z designates a passenger car 235, originally mated to a standard transmission. That would have a solid lifter camshaft, and the block will not have been drilled at the factory for the oil gallery needed to run hydraulic lifters.

Valve lash for a '54 235 solid lifter passenger car engine was spec'ed at 0.006" intake and 0.016" exhaust.

Doug

Thank you Doug. What was the Horsepower rating on these if not rebuilt or bored?

Do these shoot oil all over when setting the valves? I'm used to doing sbc and have the little clips on the rockers

There is no reason to attempt to adjust valves on a running engine of any kind, 6 cylinder, V8, or any other style, solid or hydraulic lifters. If the engine has solid lifters, get it warmed up, shut it down, and use the companion cylinder method of establishing top dead center on each compression stroke. All 12 valves can be set with two turns of the engine and they'll be accurate- - - -no mess, and it's done right the first time. Adjustable hydraulic lifters are set cold, with the engine stopped, by anyone who understands basic tuning procedures.
Jerry

Redbird... answering both posts, questions:

First, no, the oiling is just a light drip when the engine is running. There is very little oil pressure to the rockers in a '54 235. Just enough oiling to keep things wet, so not at all like an SBC. Choice is to set the valve clearances with engine off, paying attention to the where in the rotation the engine is while working through each valve, so that it's clear when the lifter is on the low portion of its cam.

If you go to the forum's Tech Tips and scroll down to the section labelled Engine, you will find this tip on valve adjustment that explains the procedure: Valve Adjustment. This is my preferred method, FWIW.

BTW, I strongly recommend you browse through the forum's tech tips, as you will find many answers to your questions, electrical, mechanical, body... lots of good info.

Or, you can set the valves with the engine running, using feeler gauges. No clips needed (and nothing to clip them to!).
Sort of takes three hands, but with practice it's a fine way to set the valves, just not my preferred method. And, the procedure is not like a typical hydraulic lifter SBC. This engine has solid lifters.

To your earlier question, the T54Z is a passenger car "Blue Flame" 235, originally mated to a standard transmission, and rated at 115HP.

Doug

Thank you guys for all your help. I am trying to get used to the forum format. The Corvette Forum and TriFive Forum are a lot different. I will try to get the valves done this week. I have already ordered parts from Rock Auto & Classic Parts USA.

Stovebolts have a nasty habit of wearing a dimple in the tips of the rocker arms where they contact the valve stems. That usually results in a noisy valve train because the true clearance can't be set with a feeler gauge, or a chewed-up feeler gauge if it's inserted between the rocker and the valve with the engine running. Some valve grinding machines have an accessory designed to reface rocker arms, but there's a lot of controversy about how accurate a radius can be done that way. In my decidedly biased opinion, a smooth rocker tip is better than one with a big hole in it regardless of how technically accurate it might be.
Jerry

I have had good results by using a bench grinder with a very fine grit wheel with a steady hand, keeping the rocker surface aligned with the wheel, and rolled the rocker as best as I could to match the curved surface. I checked progress after every pass.
The nice thing was, the divot in the rocker arm followed the same radius as the original unworn surface, so all I had to do was roll the rocker arm and remove metal so that, as it went away, its contour matched that of the divot until there was only a minute amount of the divot remaining.
I then switched to cloth polishing wheel loaded with jeweler's rouge until the divot was gone.