The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 1957 235

Hey guys, I found this 1957 235 removed from a car.
Fella that owned it owns a engine rebuild shop and sold it
to me as running. Fingers crossed. Removed from his wife's car.
Will I have any trouble matching this up in my 1958 3100 panel truck?
I have it on a stand and will start cleaning in.
I have a new carb purchased here on the Bolt. Jon. G.
Flywheel is being turned and I have new pressure plate and clutch.
I have three 3 speed transmission to chose from. 2 being original
and the other a Warner 3 speed OD. Anything I should be concerned with? thanks!!!!

Why was it removed from the car?

She went with an eight cylinder.
Nice guy. I gave him the 1959 283 I had here.
http://engineslimited.com/cms/

Is that your company?

No man ,that is his company. Sorry about the confusion.

I am guessing there is nothing to be concerned with.
This is the other 235 I have that is locked.
I can use it for parts if I need to.

Its a bolt in swap as long as both are manual transmissions. It will be great if that OD trans. is good.

George

Thanks George!! Yep the OD I just dropped out of my 58
and put in a M-22 RC.
The OD works great and a floor shift.

Here are some pics of the 235 before I paint.
Someone at some point added another exhaust flange to the header.
Is this a good idea? I have another cast iron header to use from the 58.

It’s similar to the way a corvette from the same era had dual exhaust. To many, it’s the preferred way as you still have the heat riser. If it was done correctly, there should be a divider plate inserted in the manifold separating the front two ports from the rear.

If the only thing that was done was to add another exhaust pipe flange, that manifold is junk. The correct way to split an exhaust is to add a divider that almost, but not quite separates the runners into two segments, and add the extra flange to the rear section of the manifold behind the heat riser area. Leave about a 1/4" slot above the divider to allow a little circulation between the two halves while the heat riser is in the "closed" position. The idea is to split the exhaust into sequential pulses that alternate from one pipe to the other. Done right, it creates a very distinctive exhaust note, and just might create a tiny power advantage. It's mostly eye candy to impress at a show and shine.
Jerry

OK thanks. In your opinion, what is a good header option and keep just 1 carb?

This? https://www.googleadservices.com/pa...VcFFkFHdyzCnkQ9aACKAB6BAgFEBE&adurl=

Now before I suggest anything, I know that several of our members have installed these headers with no notable issues. If you live where it’s hot, this may be the case. If you live where it’s cold and plan to drive in the cold, this will not be the case

Now with that being said, the issue with adding these type headers, is they don’t heat the intake manifold really well like the heat riser does. This can result in drivability issues when the engine is initially heating up due raw gas not being vaporized in the intake manifold by the exhaust heat. This happens pretty fast with the heat riser in the closed position. Once heated, the heat riser closes to prevent overheating.

In addition to the headers, you will need to buy a plate to close off the bottom of the intake manifold. This plate has two ports that you would hook up either heated water from the cooling system or piped directly to the ports on the headers.

Both of these heating systems work to a point but no where near the original heat riser. If you go the water heated route, it takes longer to heat up but is a more even heat. If you heat with the exhaust, the heat is quicker, but with no way of shutting it off.

The best way, is to buy an original corvette exhaust manifold if you can find and afford one. While your at it, get the mating corvette intake manifold with three carburetors. That is the ultimate setup. Be prepared to open your wallet really, really wide!

You can always fabricate one as HRL has suggested OR, Just put on the spare stock manifold you already have!

It would be hard to chase me fast enough to give me anybody's aftermarket header system, when it's so simple and inexpensive to split a stock exhaust manifold. That also retains the heat riser system that the engine was designed to have in the first place. The only difficulty is in finding someone who can weld cast iron, if you're not able to do it yourself. Recently, I bought a roll of nickel-alloy MIG welding wire, and I'm going to be experimenting on a few junk manifolds I have sitting around to see if I can do an acceptable job of splitting a manifold that way, rather than using nickel rod and a stick welder.
Jerry

I`ll separate the 2 manifolds and headers and take pics of them.
I`d be in favor of using the 2 best. The one modified looks like the heat riser was plugged.

Are the Fenton headers any good? Fenton | #91013611
Fenton® 1936-1959 Chevy 216/235/261 6-Cylinder Cast Iron Headers

Basically the same as you linked but made of cast iron. Still the same issues.

Here are my choices. The blue manifold looks good.
The 2 headers both have issues. The original ,(no extra flange) just needs to free up
the heat riser. Fingers crossed. And 2 mounting bolts for the pipe.
The modded one has no heat riser and pretty well pitted. Maybe more problems.
Any good options there?

Painted the engine. Turned out good. GM Blue. Funny how the flash makes the blue different.
Thats the best she`ll ever look. It will go in this 58.

I would go with the original, and free up the heat riser. That will take an extra tool from you tool kit called patience. Hit it with a penetrant, then “tap” the shaft back and forth with a small hammer. Try to turn the weight. DO NOT FORCE, or you will sheer the weight off of the shaft. Repeat for several days! If that doesn’t work, try heating the area around the shaft to about two hundred degrees then soak it with penetrant while its still hot. The heat will help draw the penetrant in. Use a good penetrant like Kroil or PB Blaster. If you keep the temperature down, to two hundred, there will be no danger of fire and of cracking the manifold.

The modded one is trash. The only thing it would be good for is the flange so you can make the dual exhaust manifold the right way as HRL has suggested.

Clamp the modified manifold into a horizontal band saw and cut the original flange off. Scrap the rest of it. The old school way to make a split manifold was to use a 1 1/4" cast iron pipe elbow, cut a hole in the side of the rear manifold runner with a hole saw a couple of inches behind the original flange, and weld the elbow onto the manifold at an angle to match the original exhaust pipe. Then weld the flange onto the elbow, and add the divider between the runners by slotting the runner between the outlets with a cutoff wheel and welding in a chunk of cast iron scavenged from a donor manifold to fill the slot. That way, all the metal is of a pretty similar alloy, and the welding is a lot simpler. Use nickel alloy welding rod, and preheat- - -weld- - -post heat- - -peen- - - -about 3/4" at a time. Repeat as necessary until the welding is complete, then bury the manifold in a pile of sand overnight to cool down slowly. You'll end up with an exhaust system that looks like it was made in the 1950's- - - -and the heat riser still works.
Jerry

I have the heat riser moving. Weight moving with damper. But still stiff.
Spring steel is in good shape. Ill let it sit a few days.

This may or may not matter to you, but the car engines were blue and the truck engines were gray.

Mike B

I am sure they were but both 235 `s were blue. One from a car one from a truck.
The one is a panel truck. , that might matter. I don`t know.
Just going with what I have .

If you guys could steer me in the right direction
with the fuel and water pump replacement , that would be nice.
There are a few options and these are the ones off the engine.

The fuel line lines up with the inlet of the sides of.
I think he original works fine and IDK but will keep,
but figured those two should be new.

The water pump and fan original to that engine will work just fine. The water pump adaptor plates we often talk about, are for ‘55 1st series and older 3100’s replacing the 216 with a 235.

From personal experience, I'd strongly suggest using the original working fuel pump rather than using a Chinese made failure-waiting-to-happen.

Send the original to Then & Now Automotive for a rebuild if necessary.

I believe you on that count.

I wire wheel the water pump housing. Thermostat
Painted GM Blue. I think the water pump will work.
The fuel pump I don`t think is original, but probably works.
The fuel pump on the other 235 I have , it looks original.

Even if the other one isn't original, it may still be an old enough replacement to have been a rebuilt original unit or a Made in USA replacement. Still worth keeping for future rebuilding.

My "original" glass bowl fuel pump is actually an Airtex unit, probably from the 1980s or so. It was rebuilt and functions as it should, not like these crummy Chinese ones you buy now.

I cleaned up that other fuel pump.
It has 2 vacuum ports underneath. It Says OK REBUILT on it.

That's probably an original, USA made unit that was turned in as a core back in the 80s or something. Better than new Chinese junk, though.

The vacuum port is for a vacuum assist line for the windshield wipers.

Gentlemen, can we keep cultural slur’s out of these discussions? Allot of the “Cheap Crap” we are complaining about comes from many other places so please refrain from singling out a country. Please use “Cheap Imported Crap” instead!

Thats for certain. Far as the engine. I hope soon to put it in the truck.
To have the body work done, it be nice to
be able to move it around. I should need much help with the finals.
Dist . Coil , Carb. oil bath. I am waiting on an engine gasket set to set Water pump ,thermo, valve covers.

Maybe this heat riser will not free up enough to float.
I can tap it around with the weight . Would be there be a preferred
way that baffle can be set at now? It will stay that way for awhile at least.
Open fully ,partial or closed?

Keep soaking it in PB Blaster or similar penetrant and tapping it and moving it. Eventually you'll clear out the rust. You can buy a new return spring from some of the usual suppliers.

KROIL or the home brew ATF/Acetone mix will free up that shaft better than any of the other penetrants you can use. Liberal use of a Propane torch also works well, and the chances of damaging a chunk of cast iron that's routinely exposed to exhaust heat is somewhere between slim and none. I've seen exhaust manifolds on motorhomes glowing cherry red on a long uphill pull, many times!
Jerry

This is a factor in favor of a cast iron Fenton setup. In case you're going to tow with that rig, the manifold can get hot enough to crack. This is not just a might possibly happen someday sort of thing. I had the stock manifold crack on my rig years ago. I replaced it with a Fenton. They will definitely warp if the heat riser is stuck shut (they rarely stick open). I have a couple of warped ones.

Big gas and diesel truck engine manifolds are cast in two or more pieces with a slip joint between them to accommodate growth from heat. The short Fenton manifolds don't warp or crack in my experience. I've been running one for 25 years now. They do have a provision for intake manifold heat which works well in very cold weather though there is no way to shut it off. That hasn't been a problem for me though in running the dual offy aluminum intake. I use the thick heat insulators under the carbs. However in certain damp weather the carbs will ice up at idle until things warm up. Not a problem running down the road.

Thanks! I`ve been heating it slightly(torch) and adding WD -40.
Moving the weight by tapping it forward and back.
Ill end up getting it blasted + cleaned. Then painted.
I`ll try some acetone soak.

Will the PB penetrate better than the 40?