The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Cylinder repair sleeves

I have a 235 engine that apparently got the #3 cylinder full of water, and broke the cylinder wall when it froze. The rest of the cylinders look OK- - - -rusty and in need of a rebore job, but apparently intact. I'm considering trying to salvage the damaged cylinder with a sleeve- - - -one of the heavy duty ones with a 1/8" wall thickness. I'll be using Ford 223 inline six pistons on this buildup, which will be a .060" oversize from a standard 235 bore. With the Ford 3 5/8" bore and a 4 1/4" stroke, the "235" will end up with a 263 cubic inch displacement. It should be able to out-torque a 261, since it will have a 5/16" longer stroke, particularly if I use the 848 head I have stashed away that's been milled down a couple of times. I'm figuring on a 9:1 or maybe a little higher compression ratio. This engine will also use the big block Chevy V8 connecting rods that I mentioned in another post, and maybe some roller bearing rocker arms.
Jerry

If you can pull this off with off the shelf readily available parts, you will have accomplished what many many have tried to sort out over the years to varying degrees of success. Man, will that be cool!

I just ordered a set of Ford 223 pistons, which are 3 5/8" bore and approximately 1/4" lower compression height than a 235 piston. With a stock length stovebolt connecting rod and a 5/16" stroke increase, the pistons should get very close to the correct deck height to work well. The Ford wrist pin is only a few thousandths larger than the stovebolt pin- - - -it would be easy to ream or hone the stock rod to the proper diameter, or do a little more tinkering and use a long aftermarket I beam rod for a big block V8. A 260+ cubic inch displacement using the readily available 235 block would avoid having to search for those scarce and expensive 261s!
Jerry

OK- - - - -I did a closer inspection of the 235 block. This one's a boat anchor. There are two cylinders with big holes in them- - - -not just one. Fortunately, I have close to a dozen 235 blocks stashed away, so I'll just salvage all the usable parts from this one- - - -crankshaft, rods, maybe a regrindable cam, lifters that can be resurfaced, oil pump, main bearing caps, etc. The main caps can be swapped to a different block if necessary, as long as I do a line bore afterwards. Of course, if I go ahead with fabricating 4 bolt billet steel main caps for the #2 and #3 positions, and a different thrust washer setup on #3, I might have some extra caps to put on Ebay.
Jerry

Jerry, Does this block have a usable oil pump bracket that you posted an ad for HERE???. Maybe if so, you only still need one more bracket? Let me know as I'm looking to head to KCMongo's shop tomorrow and was going to ask about any he might have to fill your need.

That bracket was removed for another project in a horsetrade with a local machine shop that overtorqued the lock bolt and broke the pump mount on an engine they were assembling. I still need a couple of them to use on other engine builds. Thanks!
Jerry

I have at least one pump bracket for Jerry as soon as I can get a round tuit to get it removed from the block.

Got it Jerry. Plans to meet with KCMongo today are postponed until possibly Friday. I have your need and a couple others on my list to follow up with him on. More when I know it.

Thanks! On a somewhat related subject, the Melling M-29 oil pump that's used on the 54 and early 55 235 full pressure engines can be adapted to a 216 engine with a little creative plumbing of the inlet and outlet tubing. That pump produces more volume than the earlier pumps, and it can help with the "low or no oil pressure when hot" problems that 216's with a lot of miles on them can have.
Jerry

+5/16" stroke requires 5/32" lower compression distance.
Using 1/4" shorter pistons will put the dome 3/32" below the deck

There is nothing wrong with a salvage liner. I installed one in my 370 cu in GMC and ran it 400,000 miles. I did several hone and re-ring jobs during that time. The salvage liner actually had less ridge than the original cylinders. At about 400,000 miles I wrecked the truck and sold the motor.

I used to buy my circle track competitors' "worn out" 350 Chevy 4 bolt main bearing race engine blocks for scrap iron prices- - - -.060 oversize with some taper wear, and buy eight sleeves at jobbers' wholesale. Then I'd use the blocks as practice projects for my engine machining students. Eventually, some of those fellow racers figured out that they were getting beat by their own junk!
Jerry