The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Pre-Startup 1957 235 Checklist?

Welp, it's that time! I hope I'm not jinxing it by announcing it before I do it, but I plan on starting my 235 engine for the first time in 30+ years, tomorrow evening. I just wanted to run it by you guys and see if there was anything I need to know or am forgetting. I'm pretty new at this, so it's always good to check.

I built a poor man's engine test stand out of wood, and I plan on running it only for a very short while. I'll fill it with water/anti-freeze just to be safe since it won't be hooked to the radiator. The fuel pump will be run into just a can or something, just enough to fire it. I don't have any of the linkage hooked up so I'll be changing the carb settings by hand. I have an HEI distributor so I'll just run that things built in advance right to the carb. I doubt I'll attempt to time it while it's on the stand though.

One of the things I'm concerned about is Valve adjustment. I was worried that I might have it misadjusted so it might end up warping a valve or bending a rocker arm. To prevent that, do I just follow the instructions laid out in this tech tip: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/valveadjustment.htm ? Is there anything more to it? I changed the engine over to Hydraulic lifters and Cam, so I don't know if that changes anything.

Besides pre-valve adjustment and priming the fuel pump with a few dry turns, is there anything else? Anything at all you guys can think of would help tremendously, because I often forget the most simple of things. Thanks! Wish me luck!

Well... Got off to a rocky start. The fuel pump wasn't pumping fuel through the in-line filter, so I finally traced the blockage to the carb. Seems the float was bent just enough to block the needle valve.

Then I found out that new batteries sometimes have to be charged beforehand, since I'm not using an alternator. And after all that? Not much. It sputters like it want's to fire, but something is off. I'm using an HEI distributor from SummitRacing that supposedly fits my engine, and I pulled a spark, which fired correctly. So I'm getting spark, fuel, compression and timing but it's not starting. I'm gonna tear the carb down tomorrow, and if that doesn't work I'll see if I can borrow a more accurate compression tester.

My father said the vacuum advance is fine being plugged, but he hasn't used HEI. Do I maybe need to hook that up? It sounds so close to starting that it makes my heart ache!

There are a few other things I would suggest before re-trying to start. First, did you prime the oiling system? To do this you need to remove the dizzy, then cut the handle off a long flat headed screwdriver. Install the screwdriver into a drill and place the head into the oil pump and run the drill until oil flows at the rockers.

Once you carb issue is settled, it sounds like your engine is not timed for it to fire. Set the engine at TDC then make sure the rotor is point to the wire that leads to the #1 cylinder. Then follow the proper firing order of 153624 around the dizzy.

Once you have it running, it will take some time to get the valves fine tuned. With hydralic lifters they will sound loud using the link you posted. It take a while for the lifters to pressurize before you can perform your final adjustment of no lash.

Good luck!

I've primed the oil pump a few times with a corded high RPM drill so hopefully it has enough oil in there for me dry running it now.

I wasn't completely sure on how to time it, so what I did was run the starter until I JUST felkt compression out of the first cylinder. At that point, I turned the engine just a few degrees until my timing ball on the flywheel matched up with the bellhousing timing needle. At that point the rotor was pointed at what I assumed was the number 1 piston slot. From there, I went clockwise in the 153624 order. Is that the correct way to time it?

If so, then something else has to be off. I'm guessing the gas isn't being supplied right through the carb, so I'm gonna check that now.

Fixed whatever it was. I don't think I've ever heard anything so beautiful! Video coming soon hopefully.

i'm glad someone else had problems like i'm having......i'll follow your steps and see what happens with mine, i've played with it for the better part of two years, and it still won't start.......i bet mine has timing and valve adjustment issues.

Here's what actually made the difference ( and I need to relook at a carb diagram to figure out why): On my Single Barrel Rochester carb, there are three levers. I didn't have the linkage hooked up while I was trying to start it. The top lever most lever is the choke, the center level i thought just connected the two, and the bottom most is the throttle / gas. The carb wasn't spitting gas and we couldn't figure out why.

Again, I don't know why yet, it might even be something else, but the CENTER lever made all the difference. I don't know if it internally blocks the gas in the original position, or if I'm just making a wrong assumption, but after I moved that middle lever, put the choke to nearly closed, and pinged the throttle continually, it fires up instantly every time now.

This tech tip was what I followed to the letter to get my valves right: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/valveadjustment.htm

As far as timing, I put my finger over the #1 spark hole and cranked the engine until I felt pressure pushing out. Then, I cranked it by hand just a few degrees to get the ball on the flywheel to match the timing mark on the bellhousing. I've heard that you should put the needle to the right of the timing mark. Even with all of that, I had to turn the distributor pretty far forward in it's hole to get the timing right. For reference: If the front of the engine is 0 Degrees, the back is 180 degrees, then my vacuum advance is pointed at about 30-45 degrees going clockwise from 0. Not sure if that'll help AT ALL, that's just where mine is.

Another thing to note is I bought a 900 cranking amp battery. It dies pretty quickly from turning the engine over, so I've had to charge it 3-4 times just with about 10 attempts of trying to start this thing. So make sure your guys charged.

Sorry you're having such a rough time. Just two days of attempts was upsetting enough after working on this truck for two years. Good luck!

the middle lever works off a cam on the choke, to open the throttle a bit when the choke is being used.

"If the front of the engine is 0 Degrees, the back is 180 degrees, then my vacuum advance is pointed at about 30-45 degrees going clockwise from 0. Not sure if that'll help AT ALL, that's just where mine is."



What are you talking about? The timing has nothing to do with front or back, it has to do with crankshaft rotation.

You advance or retard the timing by turning the distributor, and since the VA is connected to the distributor and has a 'point' i was using it as a reference.