The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 216 Chevy taken out to 235 difference

Hey

It's the man from Oz again, I read somewhere I can change the lifters and make the old girl go from a 216 to a 235, without changing anything else, does that give me more torque, what could i do if I wanted to get that engine up to 120km/h or 75mph.

A lifter change, you must be kidding! Your not serious are you?

If that would do it ALL of us would have HUGE CID's. The ONLY way to increase displacement is to increase the bore or stroke or both. And 75MPH in what? Something with brakes for 45PH?

No offense intended but may I ask your age?

Thanks Dave, perhaps there could be a terminology difference from this far around the globe, but sorry for asking but I don't know, I'm sure I read somewhere the stroke was increased and I thought they referred to lifters, I'd be wrong, I was just asking to see if that info was correct and was trying to establish (as I don't know)if that would only increase the low end power, wasn't aware that the brakes were designed or couldn't be improved to only stop at 72 km/h or 45 mph.

Michael

Thanks for clarifying your question Michael. Hope you didn't find my response demeaning, wasn't intended to be. The lifters in our lingo refer to those parts that are the camshaft followers and "lift" the pushrods so they have nothing to do with stroke, torque or displacement. Perhaps the term lifters means something else Down Under. You will often see references to brakes in a lot of the responses on this site because we deal in some pretty old trucks that simply were never intended to operate at todays highway speeds and you don't say what your vehicle is so we'd (r: I) would like to know. Send us a pictures as I am more visual than mental obviously

Yeah Dave it's my first project, 1.5 ton 1937 chevy with dual rear wheels, standand legth 135" I think. I've had it a year and got the engine a 216 to run, I then had business interupt my agenda, then my mate who is a mechanic/auto electrician died, so I am hoping to utilize the deep knowledge from this site to get me through the resoration, I don't have a photo bucket page thing but will do so as visual works for me too. I will be using this as a working truck, which will be carrying 1 ton max really. thanks.

Michael

Hey I just got a photo bucket. the pre purchase pics then my stuff, my account name is AussieTruck at photo bucket, the video on there is when she first kicked over.

Michael

Please try to post a LINK to your Photobucket page. Many of us use it as part of our signature so it's alway there.
Thanks.

Done Dave thanks, let me know what you think, the 2nd page has a pic of the carbie, the needle and seat look brand new.

Michael, Why would you want to go 75 mph in that truck. At that speed no one will have an opportunity to admire it, plus you'll reach the other side of the island before you get it stopped.

You're certainly going to need a bigger carbie to be able to reach that velocity.
Up here we don't call them carbies but I knew what you meant.
Good luck with your project and the above comments were for laughs with just a little truth along with.
Dan

Hi Dan, down here our highway speed is 110 km/h or roughly 75 mph sorry bad calculator I just checked it its 68 ish mph, I have two separate uses for the truck, one is a promotional vehicle for my bicycle shop and the other is as a farm truck (gettting to and from, collecting hay, grain, transporting stock - thats when it will be loaded the most)so my trip to the farm varies from 100 to 110km/h roads and I just wanted to be near that speed.

But yeah my daily drive to work will be cruisey, if you have looked at my photobucket you can see I got a long way to go but at least it runs.

I plan on get a 1937 Chevrolet Shop Manual to go through and reco everything, and the original question I posted, I think I meant to say crank shaft, something that increase the stroke to the 235 but I'm not sure and can't find my previous article, would that get me a bit faster ? or just mean I can carry/pull/haul a bigger load easier I plan on improving brake power somehow haven't got a final solution yet on that.

What do you call a carbie over there (we shorten everythings name in this country)

Right off the bat your first problem is that the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the truck.

But seriously Michael, there is no simple way to make a 216 into a 235. Off the top of my head, I do not know the bore (diameter of cylinder where the piston travels) and stroke (the distance of up and down travel of the piston) of either engine, but the only way to effect cubic inch displacement "CID" (i.e. 216CID to 235 CID) is to increase the bore by machining the block or increase the stroke by changing the crankshaft. If the stroke length is the only difference then maybe a crankshaft swap may work but I do not believe they are interchanagable in these engines. Maybe an old babbit bearing 235, but not a more modern, (after '53) 235. And in my opinion it would not be worth it to attempt to upgrade to a babbit engine 235 even if you could find a crankshaft. You need to be instead looking for a 54 or newer 235 or 261 to swap into this truck if you are looking for more horsepower with an engine similar to the original.

The biggest problem you will have regarding going faster is the gearing in this truck. The easiest fix for this is changing the rear differential or swapping in a overdrive transmission or overdrive unit between the transmission and rearend. But as others have pointed out, you will want to upgrade the braking system if you are driving at modern highway speeds, especially if you have a load in the truck.

Finally, but should be first thought, do you want to restore this truck or upgrade it? If you want to restore it recognize you are dealing with 70 year old technology that will not perform to modern standards. If you upgrade it you will lose orignality. Its your truck and you should do what you want but I will say that that truck looks very original and in great shape for its age. It may even have its original engine in it which is extremely rare. If you want to do significant upgrades, you may consider finding a different truck to do so with and save this truck for a correct restoration.
Just my $.02, good luck,
Steve

The 216 engine has a bore (piston) size of 3 1/2 inches, and a crankshaft stroke of 3 3/4 inches. The 235 has a bigger bore (3 9/16") and a stroke of 3 15/16". It might be possible to install the 235 crankshaft in a 216 block, and bore the cylinders out .0625" to fit the 235 pistons, but it would be simpler to locate a 1940-53 235 engine from a medium-duty truck and swap it out. Better still, find a 1954-62 235 engine with the full-pressure oiling system, and upgrade to a more reliable engine with more available repair parts. While there's nothing terribly wrong with running the splash-oil engine, reconditioned connecting rods with the proper undersize babbit bearings integral with the rod are getting a little hard to find.
Jerry

Thankyou guys, awesome advice, with a limit to my budget, I think I will pull down the current engine and go through and put new engine seals, crankshaft bearings and piston rings.

I want to make it reliable as it can be, any advice on anything else I should do when I have the engine out ?

I will cope with the lower highway speed it's only 2-3 trips a week, cars will have to just pass me - in awe I hope.

It is the original engine, most things on it are original, so if I keep it that way it also save money on the brake upgrade and I will reco the drums. I have a post about transmission, and power steering, air con (very hot here) but will search before posting.

I'd like to thank everyone as you helped me make the correct decision, now just to make it LHD ha ha.

That is a really cool looking truck and the video is awesome! I think you have a great project on your hands.

Hello Michael,

That old truck is awesome, and will be great for advertising your business.

Welcome to the "Bolt"

John