The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 261 chev Engine

Just started to work on my Car a 1949 chev fleetline I was going to rebuilt the 235 but decided to buy and rebuild a 261. Can anyone tell me what is out in the marketplace for a 261. Rebuild kits are they available? I am hoping to hop up the engine just alittle. What trans and rear should I use to get the hot rod going?

There are several folks who have put 261's in trucks (4on the Floor, Tony to name a couple). Seems to me that motor mounts might be a question for a car but not an insurmountable problem.

I had a 261 rebuilt with 0.030 oversize pistons, new cam, oil pump, etc. All this was easily accessible. The 261 has a water pump shaft which is too long for the radiator position in an Advance Design truck. This has been solved by short-shaft water pumps available from vendors including the one who sponsors this page. How much room do you have between the block and the radiator in your Fleetline?

Others will chime in with a lot of useful info!

Not a problem I was going to place a custom rad forward In the nose right behind the grill. That would give me 12 to 18 inch. between rad and water pump. I was also going to put in two elec. fans and not use the water pump fan. Thought it would look more custom and cleaner.
Just ran into a guy that used to help coach baseball with me, telling him I'm looking for a 261 ,, ya he got one already rebuilt and ready to go. Hoseshoes up my a** you bet.

Check out Jim Carter's technical article on the "Forgotten 261."

http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/

You are kind of lucky to be in Canada because more 261's were used up there than in the states. They were used in full sized Pontiac cars instead of a V8 for a few years pre-'62. You may want to add an oil filter to one if it doesn't have it.
Email me if you have any issues, I worked all of them out in my '50 truck pretty well. I shortened my own water pump (used a new one and pressed the pulley boss down until it lined up) and used a foamoco water pump pulley that looks like it was stock. I added a Delco 10si alternator and converted to 12 volts. This is OPTIONAL! You can use the 261 with 6 volts if you use a 6 volt coil and use the 216 flywheel or get the 261 flywheel machined to use a 216 ring gear. I kept my 6 volt foot stomp starter by having the flywheel machined for the ring gear, and it cost me $50. I did it so I could use the 11" clutch that came with the 261, a 9" is too small. You could also find a 10-3/4" flywheel/clutch for a 216 if you look hard enough.
I used the big truck oil filter with my engine, but I had to relocate it to the front of the intake manifold because it hit the steering box. I used jiffyhose to connect it to the oil ports. They are big, 1/2" NPT ports.
I couldn't use the original oil pressure gauge adaptor with my block because of room issues so I drilled a hole in the top of the oil filter housing on the outlet side and threaded it 1/8" npt for the oil pressure line. I swapped in a later 60 lb oil pressure gauge into the gauge cluster and it looks nice and stock.

The fan on the 261 sits down lower than the 216's so if you have problems cooling you can add an electric fan, which is what I did. The mounts fit fine using the 216 bellhousing. You may or may not need to drill the front mount holes, mine came to me with them drilled. It's a '62 block. I blew my radiator before I got to drive the truck to see how it feels but it runs good at idle. I'll post on it this week when I get the new one in.

Just to eliminate any possible confusion...Any Canadian 261s I've ever seen (admittedly few, all in the Parisienne sedans) didn't have the full flow oil filters. They came with the bypass setup, like the pre-'58 US 261s...so they have the smaller oil line fittings. Another difference is that they had hydraulic lifters.

If anyone knows different, please post. Maybe full-flow filtration came later.

Just looked at a old 1958 pontiac looks to me like a 261 who can tell under all that dirt. The only thing I could see were the " captain bars " just above the starter. I'm going to see if I can get the engine for $75.00 I think that's fair. What do you guys think?????

Check the numbers to be sure. Sometimes the captains bars lie.

I'v rebuilt a couple of 261's in the last few years and installed then into old Stovebolt trucks.Although the fan position is lower on 55 and up blocks, both my trucks use a stock belt driven fan on a shortened water pump.If you get lucky you may find a 54 block with higher water pump just like the 216 or you can buy an adapter to use the early pump on the later block.You can get engine rebuilt kits from many vendors, but I find it best to buy the parts from your machine shop if you are actually going to recondition the engine and not just throw in new rings on worn bores.Any bolt on speed parts for a 235 will work on a 261 of the same year, intake and exhaust systems, cams.The stock drivetrain in your sedan will work fine, if you want an upgrade for improved Hiway performance, search around this site, the combinations are endless.