The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop All 235 Motors ?

Do all 235 motors for 1953 have a 4 bolt valve cover, babbit rods and bearing rods.

My memory may be a little blurred but here goes. The 53 "powerglide" had bearings and the straight drive had babbit rods. I do think they both had 4 screws in the valve cover. The old 216's had to that came through the top of the valve cover....unless someone is trying to "disquise" an engine????

Far as I know there are two differnt 235 engines. One is the big brother to the 216 babbit pounder, and uses the same valve cover. The other came out in either later 53 or 54 is insert bearing, high pressure oiling, and used four little 1/4 bolts around its cover.

Iowa Trucks is right.

The "53 and earlier" 235 is, for all intents and purposes identical to a 216, except for some minor differences like the oil pan and displacement (obviously). Both engines are splash oiling, babbit pounding Cast Iron Wonders.

The "54 and later" 235 was the replacement for the 216 and the 261, iirc, was the replacement for the babbit pounding 235. Both of these are high pressure oilers with insert bearings.

The '53 powerglide engine was the first of the full-pressure, insert-bearing 235, but it still used the old style valve cover. All other '53 235's were still the low-pressure babbitt pounders. All 235's switched to the new version in '54, with the 4-bolt valve cover.

My manual from GM of Oshawa Canada shows the 235 full pressure Powerglide starting in 1951. This same motor continued to 1953 and then there were changes in the head etc. for 1954. Now I would doubt that Canada had that motor two years ahead of the US although there may have been some scheduling differences.

Another point of interest, some of the Canadian 216s used the same head in 1951 with the short side cover and a feed to the rockers from the rear gallery. This same 216 still had the low pressure arrangement with the oil distributor valve on the side but no external plumbing for the rocker supply.

Although the 235 was redesigned in '50, and it appeared in U.S. passenger cars for the first time in the 1950 powerglide cars, it was still low-pressure until the '53 PG model. The 49-53 car shop manual engine section describes the engines.

I don't know what the Canadians may have done.

Xram53,
thanks for that correction. I see that the early Powerglides were low pressure but with hydraulic lifters. That must have been some marvel of technology! I would have thought that the higher pressures would have been needed for hydraulics but apparently not.

I had a 235 in my 53 which had the two studs thru the rocker cover. It had the short side cover. There were bearings in the mains as I changed a rear main seal and saw it. However the water pump was different than the one on my later 235. The 53 water pump had the two small holes in the casting with the impeller inside. On my later 235 the impeller was external and fits into the block thru a large diameter hole. I also found the oil pan gasket from the 235 set did not fit the pan on the 53. I had to get a 216 pan gasket. Both of my motors were Canadian built. I had the impression that this was a motor built during a change-over year.