The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Just scored another engine!- - - -

Got a complete 235- - - -fan to bell housing- - - - -carb, air cleaner, manifolds and all- - - -for $300.00! A guy at the machine shop I do business with will pick it up for me this weekend. It was in running condition until the current owner pulled the cylinder head to try to put it on a 292. His mistake is my good fortune- - - -he just wants to get his money back. Not sure about the year, but if it happens to have a good 848 head, the rest of the engine is a freebie!
Jerry

Awesome. parting anything out on it?

I won't know until I pick it up- - - -I haven't actually seen it yet, but it sounds like it might be a runner "as is" or at least a rebuildable core. I trust the guy who found it sufficiently to "buy a pig in a poke" this time.
Jerry

Have 2 235’s with 848 heads sitting out back, one’s a 1955 and the other a 1962! Good score, I know of a 261 that’s gonna go to scrap if nobody takes it.

Even freebie stovebolt engines couldn't lure me back to California! I left in 1980 and vowed never to return. Do they have Fastenal stores out there? They ship palletized freight from store to store with their own trucking company, Blue Lane Freight.
Jerry

Got a fellow (Lou 37) who may be interested in this. He'll be contacting you soon.

I found out when trying to ship an engine via BlueLane that they divide the country into two zones; separated at the Rockies. They will not ship from zone 2 (west) to zone 1.

Thanks for the heads-up! I've got more stovebolt engines stockpiled already than I'll ever be able to build up, anyway! I just hate to see even one go to scrap!
Jerry

Update- - - -I picked up the engine today. Unfortunately, it's not a 235. It's a complete 261 in running condition- - - -they drove the truck into the shop before pulling the engine and removing the cylinder head. The head is an original 261 item, not an 848. No problem there- - - -a cylinder head mill can turn it into one with an 848 compression ratio, and it will already have the "steam holes" in it. I didn't see the truck- - -it might have already gone to scrap, which was where the engine was headed before I rescued it. It's got the hydraulic clutch bell housing with the slave cylinder on the passenger's side, flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate, a solenoid-type starter, and for some reason, there's a heavy duty 6 volt generator with the large diameter pulley on it. I haven't checked out the starter yet, but the rest of the engine appears to be from the early 1960's. It's also got a full flow canister type oil filter, complete with all the fittings and flex hoses, and what appears to be a big bore Rochester B carburetor. Water pump, fuel pump, sheet metal, and all the gas and vacuum lines were included in the deal! There's a slight ring ridge in the cylinders, but it seems to be mostly carbon deposits.

Maybe I need to go buy myself a lottery ticket?
Jerry

You're slipping Jerry, no cast numbers & date codes?!!

Hidden under a protective layer of grease and dirt- - - -maybe tomorrow when it gets daylight!
Jerry

Go buy that lottery ticket! You scored big! Congrats!

I'm waiting to hear how you stroke this 261 out to 401... Great save.

Based on everyone thinking Jerry made a great find I feel real good about mine. I picked up a 1958 235 complete (carb, air filter, oil cannister, water pump, fan, generator, starter and horns) to the bell housing. It turns over by hand. I haven't set it up and tried to start it yet. The guy I got it from brought it back from out west. I am in Kentucky. It was in a 1 ton and he has a custom frame shop. He is going to put the body on one of his frames to showcase his work. He just wanted it gone. The whole thing, $75. I figured I couldn't go wrong even if the engine is garbage I can salvage parts for my 54 235 is I ever needed to. My first choice will be to get it set up on a stand and see how she runs. Possible future rebuild and complete swap if my engine ever fails.

In my simple brain, unless you can see/hear/smell a 235 run, or have really good documentation to prove a recent rebuild…$50-$150 ought to be about the value. It’s a rebuildable core that could just as easily be cracked or otherwise unusable. There’s no way for the seller or buyer to know.

They aren’t nearly as common as a SBC core. But even 60 years removed from their last production, 235’s are far from rare. A 261 core is a rarer bird and thus slightly more valauable.

The asking prices for on FB and such are too commonly in the $300-$600 range. Most of those also sit unsold for months at a time.

(These ideas are probably not entirely my own. The guy that just scored the cheap 261 might have trained me to think this way)

Jerry... is that an 850 head?

3836850 casting number

J 14 9 date code

Looks like a 1959 or 60 engine, but I haven't checked the block casting number or build date yet. I've got another late model 261 stashed away, also with the big oil gallery ports and an 850 head, plus two early 261's with the high mount water pump, and a 261 Canadian Pontiac engine.
Jerry

Did any 261's come from factory with high mount or did all 261's require an adapter plate? I'll be picking up a 1955 261 next week. It has the high mount water pump but I haven't been able to see if it has an adapter plate.

Skooter -- Yes! The early 261's, made for the '54 and '55 1st series trucks (AD trucks) were the high mount water pumps. As well, any of the crate motors produced after those years and specifically as replacement engines for those trucks will be set up for the high water pump. The casting numbers will be your guide. I have a crate motor 261 in my '49 1-ton. It was out of the '54 mold but built in '59. it required zero modifications to mount in my Advance Design truck. (I used my 216's flywheel and distributor, though, to stay 6 volts).

If you *do* find a later ("crate") engine out of the '54 mold, though ... check the casting numbers and serial number for the actual date of the engine -- at some point (I forget off hand) they changed main bearing styles. Refer to the Tech Tip on rebuilding the 261 for further discussion on this.

John

Jerry, are you saying that 261 engines didn't come with 848 heads? I see 261s all the time with them, including my own. They are all Canadian Pontiac engines.

Thanks for the info. Don't have the casting numbers yet but the serial number ends in F55N, with one source indicating this would be from a 6000 series truck.

Here is some more information on the 261 engine.

Taken from Jim Carter and slightly modified/corrected.

As I understand it, the American truck engines ran an 850 casting number head. Not sure about the Canadian production engine, as they had some differences from the USA truck version. The 850 head will have the extra coolant passages and slightly lower compression than the 848 which was a late mode passenger car head. There can be some intake valve to piston clearance issues with some camshaft/cylinder head combinations, particularly if the head is milled to raise the compression ratio. Most 848 heads should have those "steam holes" drilled to assure proper cooling with the siamesed cylinder wall pairs in the 261 engine.
Jerry

I can’t get over Jerry’s thought process that he needs another project to complete! He has enough to last 3-4 life times!

That's ok... one of these days ol' Jerry will go to Stovebolt Heaven and someone down here will go nuts trying to sort out all the engines he had saved from the junk man! Carry on, Jerry.

Wellll- - - -my father made it to one month short of his 90th. birthday, and shortly before he passed on he was drilling and tapping his Hoveround for a different set of foot rests- - - - -lying in the floor of the assisted living home with a cordless drill and some tools! The nursing staff was impressed, and so were all of us in the family. Impressed, but not surprised!
Jerry

Hoveround!

If Jerry had a hoveround, it’ll have a major upgrades so he can drag race in the hallways. I can see it now.

Chris