The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 to 261 engine swap

I just bought a 6400 2 ton with a 261. I would like to put the 261 into my 1 ton stake truck. My question is; will the 6400 radiator and engine bolt up to my 4 speed trans? Or do I just move the engine over? I'd like to use the bigger radiator if I could but am unsure if the bigger truck stuff would fit in the smaller sheet metal of the 1 ton.

The 1 ton radiator should be able to handle the 261 without problems. The 261 flywheel and bellhousing interface is the same as the 235.

What year truck is the 261?
Is your 235 in the 1955-1st the original 6v engine/flywheel?

Both the 1 ton and the 2 ton are 1954 models. I assume everything is original. I know the 2 ton is original and unmolested with a bunch of factory accessories. The 1 ton actually has a 1950 216 in it. I'm unsure if the transmission has also been changed. I need to get a putty knife and dig for some numbers to find out.

Just bolt it in and go.

I tranplanted a 261 in my 51 half ton. The 261 I got was from a later 12 Volt heavy truck (2 ton?). I wanted to keep the stomp starter so I used the flywheel, clutch disc, and pressure plate from a 235 I got from another 1.5 ton truck (6 volt). The 12 Volt starter ring gear has more teeth and will not work correctly with a 6 volt stomp starter. I run the 6 volt starter on 12 volts and have had NO problems with it, but my pickup starts in about 1 one revolution.

I used the bell housing from the 235 I originally pulled out of the 51 after having it bored to fit the 89MM tranny input bearing housing. I also installed a radiator from a 50 Chevy 1.5 ton truck since it has one more row in the radiator (3 rows instead of 2 in the half ton radiator). Chevy trucks were not noted for having heating problems and I can run down the road 70+ mph all day in the summer (100 degrees+) and the temp gauge never gets above 180. Even around town with little air flow across the radiator it never seems to get hotter than 180.

Everything I did with the exception of boring the bell housing for a modern transmission was a bolt-in swap.

Thanks Racecarl, it's good to know its not that big of a deal. I'm fortunate I will be transplanting a 1954 261 into a 1954. This should make life fairly easy.