The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 216 Engine Specs

First post, greetings. I read through 20 pages of search stuff, this site rocks. I have a '52 GMC and dismantled the 216 about 5 years ago and it's been in storage since. Hopefully it's not corroded too badly to piece back together.

I need a link for the 216 specs, and preferably the manual that explains the rebuild. The online manual project seems to have a broken link. I have the maintenance manual for the USA GMC, but mine is Canadian. So the manual explains the 228 instead of the 216.

I tried to get the free kit from chevy a few years ago but it seems to me they refused to send to Canada! Maybe it's time to try again.

Stove,

Welcome to the Stovebolt. The address for the old car project changed recently. I have put in a link to it. Good luck.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/

Stuart

Stove: Hello and Welcome to the site. If you have a GMC it will have a 228 or 248 Jimmy in it unless someone has changed it out for a Chevy. They are longer engines and are heavy duty as compared to a 216 Chevrolet. I recommend www.OldGMCtrucks.com for the info you require.

But don't go away and be sure to post some pictures of your ride.

Nope 53moneypit, Canadian-built GMCs had 216s until 1952, then 235s. Stove is right about that. I have a 1952 GMC 1 ton, built in Oshawa, with the original 216 in it.

Stove, follow the link above and look at the 1948-1951 Chevy truck shop manual.

You should purchase the shop manual for the Chev truck. The whole chassis is Chevrolet on the Canadian GMCs of those years. I got my restoration package from the GMC folks in Oshawa. In Canada there is a fee charged for it but it is really nice to have. This is one of the services that I hope we won't lose with the downsizing in Oshawa.

Yes, of course. I didn't look to see where our new guy is from, eh?

Thanks! OK, I cleaned the block up pretty well, it's time to order rings and a gasket kit. It looks like the pistons are stock, they measured about 3.49" at the bottom. The rings all seemed the same, about 0.11" and 0.18" for the compression / oil rings

The rings on piston six were siezed though, kinda tough to get out! The oil trough had a hole in it so I guess it wasn't getting oil.

I made a gallery submission, here are a few photos:

Truck
Engine removed
Block

What's a good way to clean the piston ring grooves? Wire brush?

Stove,

Bust a ring into pieces and use it...it fits the groove perfectly and is a very sharp little scraper.

Stuart

For the tops, secure the rod/piston in a vice and use the side of a ring as a scraper.

I will just add to the list of good sites
http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/367.cfm
alot of good info on your engine and all in one page

Hello again (2 years later!!). Would someone be kind enough to walk me through the engine assembly?

My engine is entirely disassembled, and I cleaned everything as much as reasonably possible. I would like to reassemble the engine but I don't know where to begin.

I am guessing the first step involves honing the cylinders (lightly) and then fitting the rings / pistons?

Many thanks in advance!

-Stovin

You got to get a shop manual,it will take You thru step by step on Your engine rebuild there are many things like setting the bearings that You need to understand before You start on it. It will also have all the torque settings ,it's a good thing to have on the bench during the build,and be CAREFUL of the oil line that runs thru the water jacket and up to the valves ,don't ask!!!


Pete

Here are some links to shop manuals for US trucks with 216s. Does any one know if these are applicable to Canadian engines?

links to Cassic Parts' Manuals
link to online manual

Hope that these help.

Hoyt

The shop manual is right here:

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/index.htm

Cylinder conditioning is the next section after cleaning and inspection. So I guess the next step is to "break the glaze" and fit the piston rings.

I probably won't have any trouble with the hone, but I've never fit rings before. Any tips for installing the rings?

After "break the glaze", you need to add "Go to the laundry"! It's vitally important to get every speck of hone grit out of those cylinders before doing anything else! I use a stiff-bristle scrub brush, Tide detergent, and almost-boiling water to thoroughly clean all the cylinders. Then do it again! Rinse with very hot water at least twice, using an air pressure powered siphon sprayer if possible. If the cylinders develop a slight film of rust as soon as the water dries, they're clean enough. Lightly oil the surface to prevent rust, then proceed with your ring-fitting. I once wore out a set of rings in only 2500 miles of driving because of not getting all the honing grit out of the cylinders, to the point that the oil ring expanders were rubbing the cylinder walls, and the compression rings were less than half their original thickness! That engine was using 3 quarts of oil to a tank of gas when I gave up and redid the ring job!
Jerry

There will be a minimum ring gap specification. If the gap is below specification with the ring squared up in the cylinder with a piston, carefully file the end of the ring to get the right clearance. Be sure to keep the ends of the rings squared off while filing. Professional race builders use a ring-filing machine to do this, but unless you're doing a lot of engine building, it's just as easy to do it carefully with a fine-cut hand file. Most of the time, the ring gap will be OK without any filing. The gap is usually quite a bit over minimum, and that's not a problem unless it's extremely wide.
Jerry

Check out this link. It has what looks like to be good step by step instructions (It's for a 235 but there is some good info here)
http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/engine1.htm

OK, thanks for the help! I will wash the cylinders and block thoroughly with soap and water. Please offer any comments on my plan moving forward.

I honed the cylinders, here's what they look like:

Cylinder 2 looks OK

Cylinder 6 not so good

Most of the cylinders look like Cylinder 2 with minimal pitting. Cylinder 6 is an exception, it looks terrible. But I plan to put it back together and not worry about it.

The book says "it may be desirable to install new piston pins." I'm not interested in replacing piston pins.

The book says to measure the camshaft for out-of-round and alignment. I hope the camshaft is serviceable, I'm not interested in replacing it.

The book says replacing camshaft bearings is seldom necessary. I hope so, I'm not interested in replacing the bearings, here's what they look like:

Front bearing looks OK

Middle bearing not so good

I would like to clean up the cam bearings and install the camshaft next. How should I clean up these bearings? Any tips on cleaning up the cam journals?

Does my plan sound OK so far, or am I going to run into trouble?

How do my cylinders and cam bearings look? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

It looks to me like the cam bearings have been removed.

How deep is the pitting in #6?

Aargh! The machine shop removed the cam bearings and didn't tell me. OK, so I need to order and install cam bearings.

Truckernix, the pitting on #6 looks to me like it would come out if I honed it for mayb e an hour. I only spent a couple minutes honing each of the cylinders.

I wouldn't hone it for an hour! It is just a question of how the rings will take to the walls.

If you haven't had a new timing gear pressed on the cam, I would suggest that would be a good idea.

OK, I had the machine shop install the bearings and a new cam gear.

Things are lookin' good! Other than a bit of pitting on the cam lobes.

Next, I will install the cam plug, the oil galley plugs, and the rear oil seal.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p195/BassBucket/th_Camshaft.jpg?t=1275005418

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p195/BassBucket/th_CamFuelDrive.jpg?t=1275005418

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p195/BassBucket/th_RearSeal.jpg?t=1275005418

any advice recived form the machine shop should be headed setting up your oil nozzels and dippers on your oil pan and rod bottoms requirer the proper gauges. cyls. look fine new rist pins and pistons are cheap insurance.if you have not assabled a motor before get help.no question is a dumb one.not asking is.from what I have seen on this site you should have plenty of good help.any good maunal will have the nuts and bolts advice you need, the older the better. good luck. Floyd ps just google or bing chevy 216 and there are plenty of sites and links. thats how I got here.

Would somebody please help with my rear main oil seal? My bearing has slots for 2 wicks, and one is wider than the other. But my gasket kit only came with a wick for the wide slot.

What am I missing here?

Here is a link to a photo:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p195/BassBucket/RearSeal.jpg?t=1277231097

Does the smaller wick get installed after engine assembly? Does it have different name than rear oil seal?

The groove next the the bearing is there to channel the oil away from the seal. The groove will have a drain hole in the cap. The other groove is where the wick seal goes. If you can get the main clearances down to the minimums, you will have more success with the seal.