The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 1950

Made a deal on a stock 1950 3100. Has the 216 Babbitt with a perty good knock. It was a conservation truck that is still 6 volt and pretty much all stock, down to the hub caps.

The guy I bought it from told me all I needed to do is pull the oil pan, and can fix Babbitt prob easily. I didn't know much about the Babbitt thing and took his word for it.

After I bought it, (pics to come), I started reading, and it ain't a easy fix.

Question(s)... being a stock 6 cyl w/ 6 volt sys, and granny 4 sp., I would like to keep it that way....can I drop in a 235 or 250 without much trouble, ie: motor mounts, bolting to the tranny?,

also, I read that I can keep the 6 volt sys, with HEI., true? I would like to go HEI, 6 or 12
or would I be better off switching over to 12 volt.

Oh yea... I need a 235 or 250 eng. thanks, sorry for the long post, just try'n to make myself clear..........Kenny

Welcome to the Bolt. Sounds like you're in for a lot of fun and frustration. Congrads and good luck. Someone will drop by shortly with answers to your questions. I'm just the butler and my shift ends at 9:00 central.

Look in the Swap Meet for a 235 (or a 250 - a more difficult "drop in"). Or, post a Want Ad in the Swap Meet. The 235 is the easiest engine upgrade (a 261 is just as easy but they are harder to find and are more expensive).

Pertronix sells an electronic ignition module for a 6v system. The best reason for switching over to 12v is if you want to use modern 12v accessories. 6v works fine if you will be sticking with original options/accessories.

Spend some time in the Tech Tips to familiarize yourself with what is possible and how to do things.

There are "shade tree" fixes for getting a little life out of a knocking 216, depending on the reason for the knock. Most likely, a knock is indicative of future problems, no matter what quick fix might work.

You may want to look on ebay. There has been lots of 235s lately.

I would guess that if there is a knock involving a rod bearing, there is damge to the crankshaft which would require removal to fix. As you will find when reading the posts, the 235 is a natural almost "dropin" replacement for the 216.

This issue reminds me of my 48 Chevy business coupe that had a loud knock. An old mechanic told me once there was a machine that could turn the crank without removing it. Was that an "old mechanics tale" or is that machine still around?

Big Chevy, The machines exist but you really have to search to find a machinist who has one and is willing to come to your garage and do the job. Quite popular back in the day.

Just shows both of us are old goats!

Your 216 rods may still have shims, and IF the crank is not scoured/bad you could remove shims until you get that "selective" fit that the manual talks about. Never done it, only read about it. (By the way, you should buy a Shop Manual from one of the usual vendors). A good 53 Powerglide or 54 235 with the high type water pump is a true drop in. Good luck.

thanks all....a friend thought it sounded like the piston hitting the head. Only time will tell when I pull the pan and see whats up
kenny

btw, the org. gauges work, so I'll stick w 6 volt for now anyway
(if it ain't broke don't fix it)

Also hered that 8 volt batts were used instead of 6 volt without problems......can someone confirm this? thanx again

K-Fly,
A 235 or 261 is a direct bolt-in.
A 250 is a wee bit more difficult.
Bluedawg

kfly: I used an 8 volt battery in my 50pickup back years ago and had no problems. Not sure where you can find 8 volt today...maybe a tractor shop?

Back in the late fifties we had an auto parts shop in north St. Louis that would send out a machinist with the "in-block" crankshaft grinding machine to our garage. Most of the jobs were for babbitt rod problems on 216s and early 235s. I would remove the bad rods from the pistons, leaving the pistons in the block with the head still on. The machinist would then attach the grinding machine to the engine and grind the crank journals as required. We would trade in the bad rods for reconditioned rods )about $2 per rod), shim and scrape the babbitt, put the engine back together, and the customer could be back on the road for about $60. We also did this on some Chrysler six flatheads and some early Chevy 265 and 283 engines. I tried to convince the owner of our garage that it would be better to pull the engine and overhaul it, but he pointed out that most of our customers could not afford that route.

Has anyone seen or heard of the in-car grinding in recent years? I have not seen one since about 1963. You need an installation where the lower end of the engine is all accessible while still in the car or truck to use the machine.

Hoyt

Geez, I've never heard of that process. Learned something new.

A search might turn up something. This was discussed probably a year ago and I recall some good comments and who/where type situations. HotRodLincoln may chime in....it may have been him that gave us the scoop.

Hoyt explained it quite well. My Dad has been gone for a quarter of a century now, but I can remember him talking about in car crank grinding. He was a journeyman mechanic that was trained back in the 20’s and worked in the business until the 50’s. He said it was fairly common back in those days.
I remember going down to the shop with mom one Friday afternoon to pick him up after work. This was the late 40’s and we only had one car back then. After he washed up he showed me Ma Bell truck that he was working on. It still had the pan, Downers Grove Auto Parts had just finished ground the crank in place that afternoon.
A decade later in the late 50’s I got into the business my self but behind the parts counter not in the shop. In the five years working in Chevy dealerships and a couple of auto parts stores in the Chicago suburbs in place crank grinding had pretty much disappeared. In fact most all of my time from 12 or 13 years old until I was in my early 30’s was pretty much spent under the hood of some old hunk of iron since my dad and older brother were car nuts also.
I’d guess that about the only place that you would see a portable crank grinder now days might be the very rare swap meet find. You still see hard seat grinders every once in a while and last year I saw a boring head that was missing most of the parts.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Sunnen and Van Norman made portable crankshaft grinders. They were very common here in the 50's. There was very little money around because of the terrible drought of the 50's and people still fixed things. As babbitt bearings bearings went away and oil got better, there wasn't any use for them any more. I haven't seen one in many years.

K-Fly, one thing never mentioned (except by me) is IF your truck was titled using the engine number and you swap engines you'll have a truck without the VIN anywhere on it. I'm not saying don't swap, just be aware then if you do change engines and don't get the title straightened up (if MO was an engine number state) you could be causing problems in the future. Something to consider.