Labor Day Putting down your wrenches or time for
MORE wrenching? 
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| | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 22 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 22 | Took apart the front end of my 1950 Chevy 3100 today to get a little better under the hood. Removed the rotted valve cover to find a rusty old mess - complete with mouse nests & poop. I cleaned it out as best I could. Believe it or not, the spark plugs looked so nice under all that! I'm pretty sure there is a tool called a ___ bar to place into the end and see if the engine turns. Never put a battery in this and don't want to just see if it starts because I don't want to draw in all that crud from the fuel tank. Truck has been sitting for 30 years - until I brought the jalopy home a month ago. Can anyone tell me what kind of engine this is? I know its a straight 6 cyl., that's about all I know!! I'm new to this car game. Thanks! Under the Hood Pics | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 | 216 engine
Slide 8
1 23 0
Date casting code: January 23rd 1950
Slides 9 & 10
3835517
Head casting code - 216 from 1950-1953
Last edited by tclederman; 07/29/2011 5:23 PM. Reason: hanged "Block" to "Head"
| | | | | Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: May 2006 Posts: 8,351 | Looks like your basic 216 to me. If you can get the stamped numbers from the machined surface just behind the distributor, that can be decoded to tell exactly what it is, and were it originally came from, if the engine is not original to the truck.
Last edited by LONGBOX55; 07/29/2011 1:44 AM.
Bill Burmeister
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 506 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 506 | Tim,
Didn't you mean to say...
3835517 is your head casting#
-Tom
1950 Chevy 3100 w/ 1956 235
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 117 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 117 | I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that attempting to turn that thing over by hand will be a waste of time. I kind of want to see the head pulled just to see what sort of surprises are awaiting. | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,742 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,742 | Yep, those valves, springs, and probably rocker arms are history. It wouldn't surprise me to find the pistons rusted tight to the cylinders, particularly if they're cast iron.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 9,115 | Wow, I haven't ever seen the sheet metal on a motor rusted through like that. I hope that some of the truck did a little better than the motor. Did it have a hood on it all those years? | | | | | Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 Bubba - Curmudgeon | | Bubba - Curmudgeon Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 29,269 |
Tom,
Thanks,
I corrected the word above.
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