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Well, it took some doing to get where I am with this engine but I've finally got it as far as I'm willing to go before it's hung in the frame.

It's a pretty stock 235, bored .080 over with Fenton duals, Clifford intake and Holley 390 CFM 4-barrel carb. Other tweaks include dynamic balance, full-pressure oil filtering, 216 water pump adaptor, Timing gear cover bolt reversal, and the crank drilled/tapped for a SBC harmonic balancer bolt. This will bolt up to a freshly rebuilt SM420 and rear axel sporting a 3.55 R&P. Putting all this together with front disks and rebuilt rear brakes I'll have a completely rebuilt drivetrain and a respectable daily driver... in about a year.

I would like to publicly thank all the helpful folks here on The Bolt for their help, especially Dave Razey (Fla54Chevy) for his patience and guidance in helping me not only with the engine but just about everything else I've touched on my truck.

ENGINE PICTURE

You can see more shots of the engine before and after HERE

Lookin’ good Woodsman, I getting jelous, I’ll be thinkin’ bout ya with every quart of earl that I pour in the old 216. Oh, the color, looks great, just a little light though, tisk, tisk!!

Back in the early 60's I had a '60, 235, 3spd stick that pop and I milled an intake manifold out and brazed a box in, to mount a 4bbl AFB on. it really ran nice. Not much of an improvement in the acceleration but the top end was just about unlimited. It really came on strong at the higher speeds and I remember burying the speedometer on occasion. There wasn't as much traffic back then you know!
That should work out real nice Woody, might just have to play with the jetting a little at first but at least you will be able to get jets for that carb.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks Denny, You set the bar pretty high around here and you're responsible for me pushing just a little harder than I would otherwise.

Wow, that is one sweet looking engine. It almost looks too pretty to run and get it dirty!

Looks beautiful. It looks like your going to use exhaust heat on the intake. Cleon

The engine looks great.What are your plans on hoisting the engine in place ? I'm curious where you plan to hook the chains to the engine. I see you have the spacer plate behind the water neck,are you planning water heat to the manifiold ?

The engine can be lifted from the stud next to the thermostat neck in THIS PHOTO and the next-to-last manifold bolt hole. That's how the mechanic lifted it when it was delivered. 650 pounds is a lot of weight but two 3/8 bolts can easily support it and those two lift points work pretty good especially if you use a load leveler. I'll probably have to remove the valve cover to keep it from getting scratched up.

Good eye on the water neck spacer... will be using water to heat the manifold as per Clifford's recommendation. I was considering exhaust heat but always default to the manufacturer's recommendations. No one knows their products better than the people who make them... IMO, of course.

If I had looked closer I would not have had to ask. Nice job.
Cleon

Logic suggests that since the exhaust is so corrosive, the water heat is probably the better alternative for an aluminum manifold. In spite of what some believe is unnecessary, I think the engine will perform much better with the intake heated; glad to see your using it.

Oh, and that paint again, I guess that gray will pass muster. Really though it looks darker than the Filling Station Gray that's on mine, I wonder what the boys over at the Chatter II would say about that Woody? Unless or course, some graphic artiest has been messin' around with the hue in Photoshop??
Denny Graham

SAndwich, IL

No Photoshop tricks here Denny. You have a PM.

Woody,
Engine looks great!! Good luck with it
Dan

how did that intake bolt-up? No modifications? I am wanting to go to a simular set-up and was wondering.

The prevailing wisdom seems to favor leveling out the clamping pads by grinding the Fentons down even with those on the Clifford. I gave that a try on one flange and quickly gave up that idea. It's hard to grind a large area down even and the taking off and putting on of the manifold to check the fit is a PITA.

I decided to use my TIG welder to build up the "short" end of the clamp and I'm very happy with the way they tuned out. Where there was just a small adjustment needed I just ground the clamp.

Sorry, I just couldn't see grinding on expensive parts when there was a workable alternative more in keeping with my skills.

PICTURE of extreme build up... 3/8 inch.

PICTURE of minor buildup

I also had to trim the length of some of the clamps to get them to fit between the manifolds like THIS

HERE'S the best look I've found at what's involved in grinding down the pads on the manifolds.

Nice job, Woody.
Nice, clear photos, too.

hey woody philip here. the engine looks good ive got mine together as well. im just finishing up on the body work and getting ready for paint. i bought the holly webber setup from tom langdon
i hope it works well. im sure like me you will feel good when its fired up with no problems, keep up the good work. also you gonna put an hei in that thing? philip

Depends on the budget, but eventually I'm going to upgrade the distributor... money is an issue for me.

yea i hear you on the money deal this body work is killing me
the materials are very expensive. i got a dist out of a junk yard for a 250 i 6 and modified it from information in the tech tips.
for about 30.00 if you locate one i will be glad to machine it for you. i put it in the old motor that had the head water leak
and it ran better than the most careful point setup. philip

Lookin good Woodman-Feels good to make progress don't it?

Onward and upward-

Keith

Woody:
The engine looks real good but that grill is the best!

Super nice engine and truck !!!! LOOKIN GOOD !!!!

Very nice!!

I really like the color. I am planning to use the same carb set up if I ever get that far.

John

You have a PM... thank you!

Yea Keith, I've been trying to complete things as they come off the truck and it's a huge incentive to look around at finished parts waiting to go on. It's sooooo easy to get overwhelmed if everywhere you look there are things that need doing so I'll take a few things off and repair them and then either put them in boxes or hang them on the walls and from the ceiling.

Then when it comes time to reassemble it will be like building a kit from all new parts instead of having to stop at every other part and fix something.

Me too, John... it's from HIRSCH and screams TRUCK! How anyone can do one of these old 6-bangers in orange or blue is beyond me.

Yea Jim, the grill is a huge improvement over what I had. It's so nice that I've decided to completely tear it down and restore the few little dents and pin holes. I've even found a pair of rust-free end brackets... not that it NEEDS them, it's just because it deserves 'em