The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 216 with 235 Crank

Raph, I used a Melling M29 oil pump on my 216/235 crank conversion. It takes some work on the connecting tubing to make it work with the 216's oil pickup. HERE is my thread on that conversion. I bought the oil pump from RockAuto. Just search for Melling M29 in their web page.

I see that you have the crank, connecting rods and cam installed. Did you have interference with the cam and rods? I did and wound up grinding clearance flats on the cam to match the position of the same flats on a 235 cam. This post shows what I did to take care of the rods hitting the cam. The whole thread covers my conversion to a 235 crankshaft.

re: Drilling a 216 crank for pressure oiling to the rods. That would take some pretty exact drilling, as the 216 cranks have a BIG hole extending into the crank pins from the side. If the oil holes hit that, then it's over for that project.

The oil pump for a 1954 or early 1955 235 engine will fit the 216, and it has bigger gears and higher volume. Later model 235 pumps are larger, and do not clear the 216 oil pan rails. The late model (late 55 and newer) have an offset in the oil pan rail on the passenger's side and a different oil pan to clear the bigger pump. The early pump is a Melling M-29 or the equivalent original equipment pump. A little repositioning of the tubing to and from the pump is required to make everything fit properly. Drill and tap the oil passage in the block that supplies the oil to the 216 oil pan squirt nozzles and the dipper troughs for a 1/4" NPT plug.
Jerry