The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine Advice please ?

I am doing some pre-planning for my engine build and would like some advice from the experts please. Here is some background:

The truck is a '52 1/2 ton and the engine is a '61 235. I have decided that I want to build a nostalgic performance engine that will be a daily driver, so I want it to be reliable.
A local pulled his souped up 235 and replaced it with a souped up 283 and sold me his add-ons.

I now have fenton headers and will either buy the exhaust pipes or have them made. I also have a Offy 2x1 intake, (2) Rochester B models, and the linkage. Lastly, I got his 3 year old Howard's M4F cam, push rods, lifters, springs, and his rebuilt 848 head with hardened seats.
And I almost forgot about the dual point Mallory
and the Wayne cover set. He had a lot of stuff so we made a package deal.

Questions:
1. Should I have the Fentons ceramic coated and if so, are darker colors better for exhaust? I want the 235 to be fire engine red.

2. What is the best solution for providing a warming system for the Offy 2x1? Jim Carter sells a Fenton plate system that I am guessing uses short tubes and heat from the exhaust vs some sort of water heating system.

3. The old Rochester B's don't leak now, but I've read that the preferred carb long term is some flavor of Carter. Should I use the old ones until they start leaking, then upgrade?

4. Can I use the 3 year old Howard's cam and the old lifters, etc. or do I need to get new lifters, etc.

5. He also had a set of Wayne covers that he painted and I would like to remove the paint and get back to original. Can anyone recommend a good method for removing the old paint?

I have lots of time to complete all this, so I want to do it right. Thanks for all the wisdom.

Unless you marked each lifter with what lobe it's been running against , you'll need a set of new (not reground!) lifters , I personally like the Rochester 'B' series carbys .

The heat coatings I have seen seem to look best in the iron color - I think he said it was actually called aluminum color .

Don't forget to have the crank dynamically balanced along with the flywheel and clutch .

Just my nickel's worth, but I'd RUN, not walk away from that dual-carb setup! Twice the headaches, and not much, if any better performance.
Jerry

Well personally I think you have an EXCELLENT nostalgia performance engine there. I would not bother with coating the exhaust headers however unless your into looks. The heat on the carbs is essential and brand new Carter / Webers can be had for around $85 ea. This will give you approx. 39O CFM and is just about right for the head and exhaust setup. Linkage is available for the Webers too and man, they look fantastic on there.
These carbs were used on the old Escorts/Pinto's I think so plenty of used ones around too.

I totally agree about the lifters being replaced unless you have lobe specific info as to where they go. The Wayne cover is cast aluminum and you need only polish it to remove the paint or use a paint remover product and then polish and buff. They really add the flavor to these old inlines.
Go For It.

(p.s. - I have the same setup, can you tell )

I just had my Fenton headers coated by MCCI Jet Hot and had them done in Sterling. They look like chrome - beautiful! Very nice if you want that bright, flashy look!
When you heat your intake from the exhaust with the heat plate set up, you will by virtue of using that set up "mix" the exhaust from the front three cylinders with the back three cylinders, or, in other words "tune" your exhaust. That's OK if you want to make it more quiet. It will quieten (is that a word) the exhaust. To avoid that, I suggest heating by water or even better using the head pipe of ONE side of the exhaust to send heat to the plate and than return it to the same head pipe instead of using the fronts of each header. Than, just leave the plugs in the front of the headers and have them in there when you send the headers off to have them coated. You can set up the pipes out of and into the headpipe with the use of the same kind of fittings you use to install the heat plate as suggested by the manufacturer. You will have to have the exhaust installer weld two nipples to that head pipe so you can attach to them. They end up looking like oxygen sensor fittings look on the new cars. You will also have to bend up some tubes to run from those nipples to the heat plate. I did this on my truck and it worked very well.
Good luck!

6cylinders, what did that cost you? Are you drivin' your truck to Decatur Saturday?

The internal cooling channel in the Offenhauser intake can be used for movement of coolant (cooling system water) into one side of the bottom of the intake and out of the the other side (using a plate on the base of the intake).

Or, metal tubes/pipes can be run from the plugged holes in the Fenton exhaust headers to a plate on the bottom of the Offenhauser intake.

The relative merits of these two methods have been discussed in earlier threads on this forum. Search on "Offenhauser". Here is one thread:

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=005478#000011

Good luck,
Tim

:rolleyes: baldeagle:
I believe I paid $150.00 for that finish. I think it was worth it. I takes a cast iron exhaust manifold that will always look rusted and bad and makes it look like the other shinny stuff on your engine!
I am probably going up to Decatur on Friday. I may have to work on Saturday. My truck is not running at this time, so I'll be going in the Durango. Trying to finish up a few items that have been begging to be fixed. Hope to be on the road for the for the cruise season.

tclederman:
When I published my idea for "heat" in a club magazine, I had some calls from some inline six engine owners telling me that Offenhauser intakes will not take water to heat the intake. I've been told by a couple of them that they leak! Be careful!

6cylindersovertexas,

Thanks for the warning but my experience has been excellent. Three years with no leaks. Tom Langdon provided good advice and the plate/fittings for water. I sealed the plate with a homemade gasket and copper-colored silicone hi-temp seal.

Seems these plates were/are used with cooling-system water on both GMC and Chevrolet stovebolts with the Offenhauser intake. GMC thermostat housings have a convenient outlet (below the thermostat) on the intake side of the engine. Many 261 thermostat outlets and/or water pumps have convenient extra fittings for inlet and outlet (mine came out of a school bus and it had extra fittings that made the hook-up quite easy). If the extra fittings are not available, Tom Langdon sells a plate (with an outlet on the intake side) that goes between the thermostat housing and the head.

http://home.nycap.rr.com/lederman/images/261left.jpg

http://home.nycap.rr.com/lederman/images/261right.jpg

Tim

Thanks, tclderman! Good information! One thing I know for sure, if Tom Langdon says it, it's correct!

The cam lobes are ground on a one degree angle and the bottom of a new lifter is slightly rounded which is what causes the lifter to spin as the engine is running. If the lifters don't spin the cam lobe, which is not hard, will wear away as well as the lifter. When you first fire the engine up and run it for awhile the two wear in together and generally wear a long time depending on valve spring pressure.In my book it isn't worth the risk of a new engine to use an old cam and lifters because if it goes away the metal particles will contaminate the whole engine and you get to start over. Good luck.