The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 w/hydraulic lifters in mech block?

My goal was to get the engine running by the end of the year. So this weekend I moved things around and started the process of getting the short block ready for the head. The short block and head were finished about 19 years ago and put in suspended animation. Don’t ask! It’s a long story worthy of another post.

The engine is a 55-57 235 (3836233), the truck is 1951 ½ ton. I pulled the side cover off to relube the lifters and check for any rust (practically none). When putting the third one back in I noticed that there is no oil galley hole in the lifter bore. The cam is a Clifford Hydraulic to go along with the Clifford Headers and four barrel manifold. What have I done? I guess that I screwed up 20 years ago and don’t remember the sequence of events. What are my options? Replace the cam with a mechanical? I thought that all 235 blocks were suitable for hydraulic lifters? Can anyone shed some light on this little set back.

Best Regards,

Nope, some of the blocks don't have gallery holes. You can put a mechanical cam with solid lifters in or find someone who wants to trade blocks.

Not all 54-57 engines were drilled for hydraulic lifters. I think it was a powerglide-only option until '58 when Chevy did another engineering revision to the 235. You have to change the cam and lifters to a mechanical setup. You can't run solid lifters on a hydraulic cam.

Everything else should be the same. Does your motor have the removable oil line in the pushrod galley or not?

Good luck

Chip

Yes, it has the oil feed line that runs from the back of the lifter galley to the center headbolt.

I've looked at replacing the hydro cam with the same mech cam from Clifford....$$$$$$ $199 just for the bare cam. Don't have much choice unless someone knows of a cheaper hipo cam supplier that does 235's?

Patrick's and other vendors sell 235 cams & lifters.

What cam were you going to run? I've got a Clifford 260M (mechanical) cam & lifters that I was running in my large-journal '54 235. It has about 12K miles on it. I'm building a new engine due to crank bearing failure. This old cam will need cleaning, inspecting, and a new cam gear. If you want the cam & lifters you can have them for the cost of shipping. If it works for you, you're welcome to send a little more.

The only thing I didn't like is that the 260 grind bleeds off some cylinder pressure. This will cost you some power below 2,000 RPM unless you boost the compression.

Chip

Thanks for the offer. I haven't decided what to do just yet. I've spent so much money on this that I'm a little reluctant to put a 12K cam in it. Will have to think about it.

Tell me more about the performance of the 260M. I was looking at the 268M based on Cliffords recommendation. This engine is 0.020 over 235 with a milled head (how much?). I will be running Clifford 4 barrel manifold with 390 Holley and headers to start with. I'm installing a wideband O2 sensor and plan to fuel inject it after I get it running.

When you say you lose torque below 2000 - how noticable? This truck will be a Sunday driver and never expect to be hauling or pulling any kind of big load (maybe camping equipment and ice chest with adult beverages :-) ). The upgraded intake/exhaust is just to make it easier to live with 3.55 rear end in this age of fast movement.

I've got a '54 Chevy Bel-Air 4 door. It weighs 3,400 lbs. I was running the 260M, 221 degrees @ .050", .429" lift. Valves set at .018"
The setup:
The original 235 was bored .030", '54 head shaved .030", Clifford water heat intake, Holley 390, fenton headers, 2" exhaust w/glasspacks, 'mini' HEI, hardened exhaust seats, dual-wound valvesprings, Manley SS valves, flattop pistons w/ .025" deck height.
8:1 compression.
3-speed standard with 3:55 rear cogs.

I ran the clifford cam with the stock 1bbl rot-pot and single exhaust. Then I installed the 4bbl/duals setup. I had a fairly noticable loss in power below 2,000 RPM with the 4bbl and duals. This is due to the air velocity thru the 4bbl at low-rpm, intake charge reversion, reduced low-RPM exhaust scavaging velocity with duals, and the loss in cylinder pressure due to the increased valve duration/overlap with the Clifford cam.

At mild street driving it wasn't a problem. 2nd gear at low RPMs did kind of suck. If I wanted to really take off from 1st, the car didn't really start to pull until 2 grand, or about 15 MPH. It had a really mean lope, it would idle about 700-800 rpm with a RUMP-BLAT-RUMP-BLAT-RUMP-BLAT that I loved.

This motor ran from '97 to '01. The crank journals weren't machined correctly. After 4 years of running it hard, the #3 main failed. As Richard Pryor said: "The motor said f**k it and fell out."

Compare the cam you're gonna use with the one I listed above. I really think that if you use a cam with more than 220 degrees duration, you're going to be unhappy with the lower RPMs. I'm going with a milder cam this time from another vendor, and raising my compression.

There are also some issues with aftermarket valvesprings, retainers and such, but its worthy of another thread.

good luck

chip

CHIPHEAD - thanks for the info. I've decided to go with the Patricks M4F due to cost for this particular motor. You must have meant 210 not 221 degrees @ 0.050" for the Clifford 260M (at least that's what it is now). The M4F is only slightly milder and should help with low end torque.

Additionally I will be putting a single exhaust on it rather than duals like you were running which should help. I would think dual 2" would be too much for that small engine with a carb.

Best Regards,