The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 216 distributor in a 235

In the stupidity of making the 57 235 in my 37 look like a 216 I was wondering if I could use the 216 style distributor in a 235,I thought of this as I was trading it for a 216 valve cover without the oil cap. It would probably be wise to keep the distributor I have so points can be easily found but I was wondering if it will work in case the stupidity gets the best of me again. Jeff

Jeff,

I seem to recall that the cam gear on the distributor changed at some point. Maybe people who know about this can tell you if this matters in your situation.

Tim

The camshaft changed from cast iron to forged steel with the 235, so you need to change the gear on the bottom of the distributor. Other than that it will fit, but you may find the mechanical advance isn't exactly the same between the two. I'm not sure there's a lot of visual difference between the two distributors.

The cap is smaller on the 216 distributor but its no going to be worth it to change it over since most people wont be able know the diffence in the small parts,now if I could make the alternator look like a generator without spending a bunch. Jeff

Interesting subject! Here are a few shots of the 216 distributor inside and out if you want to match it up with a 235. I do not have a 235 distributor around here, maybe one of the other guys does and can take some pics of it from a few different angles. I think the only outside visual difference see is where the grease cup is located.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2646130180098611668kmCppj

Now inside, like Josiah mentioned there are different advance curves for the two engines. You can research this for your self but from what I can find in the parts books (only up to ‘54) the 1882595 .680" free length springs were used in all the 216 distributors from 1941 thru 1953 and on the 235 up to 1949. From 1950 to 1952 the 235 used a 1912127 .745” free length spring then in ’53 and ’54 went through a couple more changes.
The 1879063 weights appear to be the same from 1940 to 1953 for all but in ’53 the 235 switched to a different weight and again in ‘54.
Also from 1950 up the cams are different for the 235’s. The differences beyond 1954 just gets to convoluted to discuss here.
The parts books do show several different numbers for the gears also but I’m not clear as to what the differences would be.
So all in all there appear to be quite a bit of difference in the two distributors inside. However, they still may interchange but just not perform the same. If anyone has a Hollander for these years they might check the interchange.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I have assembled a number of 235s with 216 distributors to keep the stock look. I do change the drive gear though. The 216 advances the timing a little more but I have not found that be a problem. By the way, the 1937 and 57 use the same points.

Well, I don't know if this counts as spending a bunch, but such conversions exist. Check the link below:

http://www.gener-nator.com/details.htm

Most of the differences between the 216, early 235 and late 235 distributor caps and gears and camshafts are summarized in the master parts catalog. Note that in 1953 and 1954 there are various combinations of camshaft materials and bearing sizes. Here are two pages from the May 1955 HRM article about 261 that give some addotional information about the cams and gears.
Page 5, last paragraph;
Page 6

Hope that this helps your project.

Hoyt

So, back to Jeff's question. Can he safely use any 216 distributor (small distributor cap) in a 1957 235 engine? That HRM article gives strong warnings about using mis-matched cams and distributor drive gears.

I'd say to stick with the distributor that came in the 1957 engine.

Now I am starting to worry about using a 1954 235 distributor in my 1960 261 engine.

Another option. About 1/2 the cost, too.

If you are sure that you have a stock cam in the 1957 or 1960 engines you can use the earlier 216 (or 1954) distributor as long as it has the cast iron gear. The cast iron gears are available from most of the Chevy 235-261 parts suppliers. In his "seminar" at the Inliners convention in Davenport this summer Tom Langdon discussed the steel and iron cam/gear questions, and said that a good machinist can identify the gears by the machining marks. When struck, the steel cams ring and the iron cams "thunk".
Hoyt

I am not certain the distributor in the 57 235 came from a 55 to 62 since it came from a step van and can not remember where the waterpump was located and could be a 54. Jeff

Jeff,

Has the 1957 235 engine with its distributor been running ok, with no apparent excess wear on the distributor or cam gear? If so, just replace the gear on the 216 distributor with the gear from the 1957 distributor.

Hoyt

It works just fine but I am trying to make the 235 look like a 216 and seeing what I can use,I am getting a little carried away and need to stop. If I had to do it over I would convert a early 235 to inserts and then fool the purists. Jeff