The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 1954 235 in 1953 AD

After having no luck finding an engine locally I lucked out and found a 1954 235 out of a belair for a good price. The engine had a powerglide attached.

I've limited my search to the later 235's, but this is the only local engine I could find. Is there any major reason I should pass on this engine and find a later 235?

Its a full pressure engine, but I get the feeling there were other improvements on the later engines.

Actually, that would be the ideal engine to swap in, as it also has the correct water pump location to work in your '53, in addition to the full pressure oiling.

Hmmm, does the 54' 235 have the same HP/Torque ratings as the later (56-62) 235's?

Since you are on the subject, I'm sure that Ferndale 53 is going to have the same question. I also have a 53 with a powerglide out of a passenger car. I need to know what kind of motor mounts should be used. Mine came with the front mount and the transmission mount but no side mounts. This is one more reason not to buy someone else's project, there's usually a reason that they lost interest.

You use the same mounting system as the original truck had. Sometimes the front mount plate needs to be drilled with the mount holes.

The later 235s had a bit more power. Somewhere around 1956 I think, they were hitting 140 HP. I think your 1954 discovery is a good find. As Longbox mentioned, everything is in the correct position on that motor.

55' engines had 123 HP as I recall and the 'vette engines only had 150 so I kind of doubt that a 56' stock motor had 140. But that is just my opinion.
Someone here knows I'll bet.

Ferndale53; I have the same engine in my '53 and love it. The original '54 "glide" motors were rated at 125 hp. The later 55's and 56's bumped that to 140 hp. Take a look at the casting no. on your head, if it's 3836848 then it has the later head and would be producing up close to the 140 hp rating.

brassbolt; you're '53 would use the front mount and like truckernix says, you may have to drill it to fit. There's an article in the techtips section of this site that shows how to do it. I think you'll need to use a '53 or earlier truck bell housing and that will bolt right to your crossmember.

Here is a chart with HP ratings for various stovebolt engines.

Most of this information came from GM manuals.

The chart above confirms what Truckernix claims. My bad. Still it seems odd that only a 10 HP difference existed between the 53-55 'vette engines and a standard 56'. Live and learn.

The 1953-1955 Corvette 235 information in my hp table was not completely correct. The 1953 through mid-1954 Corvette 235s produced 150hp. In mid-1954, the Corvette 235 increased to 155hp as a result of using a "high lift" 261 camshaft.

I have corrected the information in the stovebolt horsepower table.

Here's one reference about Corvette 235s.

What were the differences in the 53 54 vette motor and the 53 54 car 235powerglide motor.Was it just the cam, carburation and exhaust? Thanks Mike

lifters

The 'Vette engine did have a different intake and exhaust setup, in addition to the mentioned cam differences. The 'Vette engine used a 3 carb intake, using the Carter YH side draft carbs. Those carbs are more or less a side draft variant of the YF. The exhaust is a split manifold, similar to Fentons, although I beleive the 'Vette manifold was cast in 1 peice. The outlet for the front section was also setup to run the front pipe under the front of the engine, rather than going back. So the fron 3 cylinders actually dumped into the right hand exhaust pipe, with the rear cylinders using the left. Fentons are usually setup the opposite way. There are a few very minor differences between the '53 and the '54/'55 'Vette 235s, but they are mostly cosmetic. The only real mechanical change, other than the cam, is the air filter setup. The '53 used small single filters on each carb, the '54/'55 used 2 round filters on a plenum.