I see a lot of guys here question the durability of splash oil 216/235 engines,so here's a story on my experience with them in real life.
When I got out of the Army in 1968,I took a temporary truck driving job while waiting to get into the electrical union apprenticeship.
I was hired to haul food scrap from a canning plant to the landfill,heavy sloppy stuff like fruit rinds and such.The truck was a 1950 or so Chevy 6 wheel dump,probably a 2 ton with either a 216 or 235 ,but for sure it was a splash oil engine.The truck had a 5 yard box,loaded up it grossed around 17,000 lbs.Quite a load for 100 hp with a 4 spd and 2 speed rear end.
It was a 40 mile round trip to the mega landfill at the New Jersey Meadowlands, some hiway, mostly hilly secondary roads.I drove the truck wide open against the governor(3100 rpm) in all gears,rowing the gearshift lever and splitting the gears with the 2 speed rear.And I mean 90 percent of the time the pedal was to the floor. Once at the dump,the truck strained in low gear through the mess of rotted garbage and bedsprings,dump the load,then wait for a landfill dozer to push you out onto hard ground.
I made two trips a day for about 4 months before the engine started knocking.The mechanic dropped the pan,I helped him adjust the bearing shims.The second time the knocking started at about 2 months,I drove it with the knock for a week until it really started pounding.This time the mechanic pulled the engine and put in the replacement engine he had ready,another splash oiler.
It was about this time the union called,so I said goodbye,the mechanic sure didn't miss me
