The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Can a 216 be dependable

Since the 235 in my 37 has a issue and could possibly get a nice 216 free,cheap or paid to haul away I might consider one to keep my 37 on the road this summer. The 235 will most likely have to be romoved to repair and I dont have the room in the garage to keep it apart for a long time due to another truck in the garage thats getting painted and it cant sit outside. If I can come up with a good running motor I can have it togather over a weekend.

I've been driving mine for 25 years, I changed the head and put in a reground cam about four years ago, I drove it from sandiego to montana, then from montana to seattle. It is smoking a bit now, but it hasn't been rebuilt since 1979. I have never had it leave me stranded.

216's were virtually the only engines available from 1936 to 53. If they weren't reliable, Chevy wouldn't have produced them for that long. The trick is to keep the rod bearing clearance correct, and make sure the squirters actually get the oil to the rods at speeds above idle. Those engines, and the splash-oiler 235's got us through WW II, under much tougher operating conditions than the average restored stovebolt pickup encounters.
Jerry

My 37 has a T-5 and 3.55 gears so it wont be screaming like the original did with the 3 speed 4.10 gears

Those old 216's keep chuggin' and chuggin' and never stop!!

My 216 is 58 years old and original to the truck. Sounds like an overrun sewing machine ticking its way down the highway, but Ive never had a problem with the engine. It does fine at 60 mph with the 3.55 gears.

Jeff

Right now I dont know what I am going to do but if I run across a good 216 it just might get one,I am going to see if the 235 will make it through the summer since its been making the noise for a couple years and over the winter pull the head and drop the pan and see what the issue is with #2 cylinder. Its either a rod bearing,cracked piston,bad wrist pin or the cylinder that was sleeved but since it still has good oil pressure I am leaning towards a piston issue. Right now I need to keep it togather since I am painting another truck and need to get it outside when painting so I cant do nothing untill that truck is finished.

Jeff
I still can't believe that after sitting for 38 years untouched, we oiled down the cylinders on my '48, put a new carb, new oil, new points and a 12 volt battery in it, and I now have over 500 miles running the original 216. I'm a gonna run it till it quits!

I thought this 235 would last longer and still tempted to put a V8 in it,not too good of luck with Chevy motors and a early Olds V8 is looking good right now as I had a few of them with no problems.

Here's a fun story.

My dad was driving through one of those lonely desert stretchs in Texas or Arizona years back before I was born. In the middle of knowhere he snapped a rod. He managed to shutoff the engine quickly enough that nothing was really damaged. He drained the oil on the side of the road (sorry EPA ) and pulled the pan. He unbolted and removed the bottom half of the piston rod from the crank and pushed the broken piston to the top of the cylinder. Reinstalled the pan, put new oil in it and drove on with only 5 pistons working. It was a few hundred miles until he reached humanity again.

I always thought it was a neat story to show how great these inline 6's are even though it was a later 292 or such.

Jeff

Here is another 216 story.

Well its actually from my 48 Chevy passenger car but it is basically the same engine.I got the car a little over 2 years ago.It was last registered in 1965 so the engine did not work for more as 40 years.A trader before me got the car from the original first owner.Without any other preparation he used a 12 volt battery in an attempt to start it. The result was 3 push rods bended and one rocker broke as a result of 4 solid valves.I manage to get the valves to move freely without dismantling the cylinder head, replaced the damaged parts, drained the oil (witch was as good as a black ice cream), filled with fresh oil fired the engine and it started in 10 seconds.I have driven some 550 miles up to date without any problem so far!
I think if someone takes good care of a 216 it will last for ever.

Jianis

I have an original 1944 216 that is still the stock engine and it runs fine after 92,000 miles. I do change my oil every month regardless of the mileage and do the filter every other month. The only changes I have done is covert the car to 12 volt and use a Mallory Distributer and coil. The three speed transmission id also original. So far now problems and all the chatter about converting to a full pressure oiling system is great if you have the money. And I have a '47 I am doing that with now. But it isn't cheap and now I have to ask, "Is it really worth it?" I'm still thinking about that.
Normbc9

My 50 1 ton has the original 216, that has a reman plate on the side that is dated July of 1966. That is 6 months before I was born!
I have put over 2K miles on it in the last 6 months including a few,short less than 10 mile, freeway trips at 50 to 60mph (with the 5.14 rearend). The only things I've done to it is replace the head gasket and try to seal the crack in the block. I pulled the pan to replace the gasket and discovered that one of the pipes in the pan was completely clogged and 3 of the others were semi clogged. after cleaning them thoroughly and checking the rods for any play I put it together and have run it hard since. I have a 261 I am putting together to replace it when it dies, Although I don't see it dying soon.

Jeremy

I am still having voices in my head telling me its time to learn about the 216 and to find one so I might try to find one that I can hear run,I did pick up another 235 and have spent the last couple years trying to make the 235 look like a 216 but cant get rid of that voice. My only concern is if a 216 will have enough torque to handle 3.55 gears and a T-5 in 5th.

How much of a load will you be carrying?

Will you be driving on mostly flat roads, or on mildly rolling hills, or up and down mountains?

No loads and not much hills in the Dayton Ohio area,probably wont take it more then 100 miles due to the small cab.

I have a '32 Chevrolet Confederate re-engine and later drive line. '47 216 Babbitt and it has 120,000 miles on it now and all I do is change my oil every month. No filter either. Oh, T-5 with 3:55 and a Gear vendors OD too. Decent mileage and power as well. I drive it yearly from the Sacramento area to Minden, NV for a Inliners show.
Normbc9

yes

Reinstalled the pan, put new oil in it and drove on with only 5 pistons working.

What did he do about the "no oil pressure" problem?

it was obviously not a 292, I'm also wondering if those voices tell you other things?

Not yet.

mine like to sing

Not a problem with an engine that did not have internal oil feed to the rod bearings?

I would run the later 235 and be Happy with it.

Tim

tclederman, the fella said it was a 292, which is obviously not the case. by the way how do you get the quotes to show up in the boxes like that

You can get the "quotes" in the box by clicking the "Quote" button for that message or the "Quick Quote" button that are to the right of the "Reply" button.

Quote gives a full menu message editing box.

Quick Quote does not provide a menu above the editing box.

Regarding the non-292 story, I should have posted that it was most likely a low pressure 216/235, if it was before rustednuts was probably born?

I am on the hunt for a 41 to 49 235 to do a full oil pressure conversion so I wont have to fake the 216 look,since my present 235 has been making noises for a few years I hope it can last a couple more until I find all the parts to build the early 235 to the way I like it. If it does not last I might stick in a 216 for a temporary motor if I can find a nice one and see how I like it and you never know it might stay.

I think I have went too far with my driveline changes too go back to a 216,over on the VCCA forum I was told the 216 should be running at least 2500 on the highway for the oil to be flowing the best. I have a T-5 and 3.55 gears so I am going to stick with a full pressure motor since I would be lugging a 216 too much for it to run its best and I am not changing the trans and rear end.

?? ["I was told the 216 should be running at least 2500 on the highway for the oil to be flowing the best"]

So for the last 90,000 miles I have been running my truck with original 216 at never more than 2200 , I've ruined it ??

Bugger ,,, I forgot to tell the engine that .

So did the qualified GM engineer over at the VCCA forum that told you that, have some recorded data available to back up that claim ?

Just askin'

Not too sure about that "engineer".

The Shop Manual gives a 14 lbs pressure spec at 2000 rpm.

The lower pressure at idle is not a danger. 0-5 lbs at idle would cause concern.

I guess these should have never been used in big trucks where they were lugged down at full power. Boy did Chev screw up.

I have heard more bad things about a 216 then good so I am leary about trying one,the oiling system to the rods seems goofy to me and gets me wondering what they were smoking back then. I just cant see that type of system working in a heavy duty truck but I guess it did,I am beginning to think I can find a 261 easier then a early 235 to convert but I would like a original looking motor. I am starting to get confused with all I am hearing so time to drink a couple cold ones and worry about it later.

Dave,

When will you learn not to make obtuse comments/jokes?

That goofy lubrication system was not the best, but it was very relable during WWII and for about 10 years after. Progress does not mean the earlier system was not reliable, it just means that anything can be improved.

Happy New Year

The reason I was thinking about going back with a 216 is I think I could find a good motor being removed for a latemodel cheaper then fixing my 235 and can have it back on the road over a weekend,I am just worried if I do go with a 216 I will fry it going to fast or making the motor spin too slow since I have o/d and 3.55 gears. I know nothing about the bottom end on those motors and have only driven them in farm fields and heard nothing good about them for years. Anybody close to the Dayton Ohio area that can let me drive a 216 powered car or truck on the road to see how they do before passing judgement on them.

If you want to do this on the cheap your going down the wrong path looking to convert a early 235 or a 216 to full pressure oiling. All the parts cost a good chunk of money and the machine shop bill will be enough to open your eyes to.
There are a good number of used engines around to be had, usually your going to get what you pay for.
From the sound of things your expectations are higher than can be expected from these old engines. It may be time for you to get a crate motor and move on.
I have a number of these old ones running and enjoy driving them, I do remind myself to sit back and enjoy, if I'm in a hurry then I'll get in my Silverado and run 80.
Don

I know converting a early 235 is not going to be cheap but I could probably find a running 216 cheaper then repairing my 235 which will need to come completely apart to find the noises,I would like to have a good motor this time so that is why if I find a early 235 I will take time to make sure its done right. I had plenty of old motors over the years so I know how they are but this 235 is been the worst so far and it was rebuilt and has less then 10,000 miles on it,dont know if it was the crank only being polished and not turned or issues with the cylinder that was sleeved that is the problem but I am wanting to build another motor or possibly finding a low mile motor from a vehicle that is being turned into a hotrod so I can have a decent motor. If I can find a good running 216 with no issues would it be worth dropping it in and calling it done or is a 216 not good enough for todays traffic speeds since I can now drive my 37 at 65 and 70.

The school I worked at had an older Chevy with the 216 in it. Ran well, and never let us down for many years after I left it was still on the road.

When the school auctioned it off it was still running.

The supt of the school had two old 40 Chevy sedans with the 216 and they also purred right on down the road.

I had a 50 Chevy pickup with a 216 that was running fine but did use some oil. I was going to rebuild it when I came onto a GMC 270 for 1/3 of what it would cost to rebuild the 216. But I wouldn't have boggled about using the 216.

most of the bad things that have been said are pretty much unsubstantiated, and disbelief that a set up like this will actually work, but it does, and pretty well too. I converted mine to full pressure mostly as an exercise. I drove mine since 1984, the engine was rebuilt in 1979, and I just took it out last year, to put in the full flow version. It has a long way to go to out last the old one yet. Yes people lose them, but a lot of that has to do with maintenance (or more accurately lack of maintenance) running them out of water, etc. people have complained about the piece of junk, then it comes out that they have been running with no temp gauge or an oil pressure gauge or some nonsense like that. There is a lot of false perception about these engines. At least that is my take on it.

I have a 216 in my 39. It runs great with the 3.33 rear end gears I had made for it. Not as much oomph in 1st gear, but it'll cruise all day at 60-65 mph. Just be sure the nozzles are aimed properly on the oil pan, and the dippers on the rods are in working order. The oil pressure is 15 lbs. when the engine is cold, and drops to 5-10 at idle when warm. About the only modification on the engine was using 1940 push rods and lifters.