The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rebuild a 235

Now, I dont know to much about rebuilding. But I can fumble along quite easily if I have a manuel or some sorts.
I have a 235 out of a 59. It runs just fine, but I was thinking a rebuild may help. I want it to run a little faster and stronger.
What should I do/get to do this? Is there a online/cataloge I can buy parts threw?
Or should I take is to ShmoMo and have someone else do it and hope I dont get screwed????? :punch:
Can any one give me some ideas????

I couldn 't do it myself so I had it done for me. Now I'm doing it a second time... If you are not experianced or have the tool/equipment, then get somebody who is. An engine is too important to screw up.

Lost1953,

Rebuilding the engine properly isn't a good job for a green pea. If your current engine is worn out, I would have a credible shop rebuild it, or find a re-manufactured engine through your local parts house.

The thing to remember is that this particular engine isn't easily modified to 'run a little faster'. It's a workhorse, but it isn't Indy racer.

Upgrading to a 261 or 292 might be a solution for your quest for power, but again, this will take some skill to swap.

Not everyone is out to screw the customer, especially if the customer does some homework and can converse knowledgably with the machine shop.

Write down on a sheet of paper what you would expect for your hard earned money, and let the folks here give you some input regarding the reality of your expectations. If your rig runs fine now, you might not see much difference after lots of $$$ on a rebuild.

Stuart

Rebuilding an engine for the first time by yourself is a great teacher if you are not afraid of getting your hands dirty. I would not miss the chance. There are total rebuild kits out there which save you lots of $$$'s instead of buying parts seperately. Simarily, there are rebuild manuals out there for just about any engine. It won't take that many specialized tools, and you can always use the tools on other projects when you are done. Go to one of the local car shows and I'm sure you can get some great pointers to get started.

In general if there is not a big miss and it is not smoking, a simple rebuild will not change things alot. If you want more power, things like milling the head for higher compression, changing the type of cam grind and adding dual carbs will make a difference. The catch here is you don't really want to do these things without a rebuild.

would "any" mechanic know how to work and get parts for the 235? Or do I need to go to some pro chevy shop????

Lost1953,

I think any good automotive machinist would have no problem with your engine. Poured bearings might be a stumbling block, but if it has insert bearings, all the mechanical principles would be the same.

Stuart

You say it runs just fine , If thats the case a rebuild will do little . You cannot get huge power from the 235 but it easy to get more than it came from the factory with . The easy way is to put more carburation on it , I went to a dual single barrel carb setup and had a very noticeable improvement , There are also manifolds so you can install a single 2 or 4 barrel carb and I think that might be a little easyer one to tune but the dual singles werent that bad .A set of headers will also help
When I reuilt my 235 I did alot to add power , dual carbs ,performance cam ,milled head , headers just to top the list . I did see a power improvement but it will never be a screamer . Each horsepower gets more $$
For real power and to keep the 6 cylinder look just go straight to a 292 but it still has its limitations and will not be cheap to get horsepower from . For many years the cheapest way to some horserpower has been in the small block V8. I just dont think I need a v-8 in my ol truck , I do run a 425Hp motor in 63 nova though

THankS!
I am just looking to see what I can do to run a bit stronger, faster. Not looking to run tracks or nothing. Just get a little more out of it to keep up (over 55mph) with the granny flow of traffic.
******Also need to swap rears.
******Any ideas on that?
1953 1T all orig except the 235...

My truck is a great driver now. I've done a few relatively simple things one at a time over the last 3 years. Without a rebuild. In this order: New wheel bearings, brakes, brake lines, Dual Exhaust, Gear Vendors O.D., new 16" wheels w/ radial tires, Dynomat the cab, HEI, and new shocks. All of this together and I have 7 forward gears, I can cruise 70-75mph @ 22-2400rpm in 4th over AND actually hear the original AM radio. I can also split 3rd and 4th which is exactly what the sm420 has always needed. Well, besides 4th over. The O.D. and the radials together are true magic. Especially the radials. The rest is just icing, but each one being a noticable improvement. A dual carb intake would give me even more.
I have already started to build a 261 with all the above and more. If I would have know how much an improvement the radials and O.d were I might have decided I didn't need more motor for my purposes. But... I have already started and I guess I gotta finish it. Darn.
The down side is it is not cheap. For 1/2 the price I could have done a 350. But since that's what everybody does, It's a bit boring. I have shopped, bought and collected all the parts myself. A local machine shop has already decked, cleaned and bored the block, balanced the crank assembly including flywheel and harmonic balancer/pulley. The head/cam is being done by another local machine shop that specializes in cams and heads. The rods and pistons have been weight balanced. All I have left is assembly and the swap which I am having done by much more able hands than mine. I want to learn, but I also want it right. He's going to show me how he does it on the 261, and then I plan to rebuild my original 235 myself.

Kewl!

Lost53 you would be better off to change the rear end gear or the complete rear end to achieve what you want. I changed my 53 ring gear and penion to a 3.55 and gained the highway speed you are looking for. Later a friend gave me a 55 1st complete rear end and I went with that and a over drive transmission and now I cruse 65 to 70 with ease.
If I had to do it over I would go straight to the over drive and rear end first. That 235 is not a screamer but it just purrs down the highway now.
Tom

Almost forgot, get a shop manual. It is tremendous help. And maybe an assembly manual as well. A lot of the online vendors that are linked here have them.