The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 62 Impala 235 swap

Hey guys, did I get lucky today or what, found a 235 from a 65 impala to put into my 49 1/2. Two questions I have, there are no holes on the front side of engine to do the front mount thing, do I just drill some in there or what, second I was noticing on the coil it has what looks like a condenser on the mounting strap, looked in the dist cap and there is one there as well. Will this effect the wiring? I want to use my original foot starter if possible. Thanks for any feed back on this new project I am about to undertake.

I can answer about the condensors. The one on the coil is for radio suppression. It is not important but it wom
n't hurt & has patina. The one inside the dist is for the ignition & is a must. If you are going to do much driving it would pay to go to an electronic ign. kit or dist.

I may be wrong, but wasn't 1962 the last year for the 235? Are you sure its a 235?

Oh, and if its a 62 and it IS a 235, the front mounts are on the bottom of the engine just under the harmonic balancer. Nothing on the side of the engine needed to mount.

62 was the last year for the 235. The 65 was probably a typo on his part.

It would be best to drill and tap holes using a machine. A guy that knows his stuff could hand do it. The only way an assembled engine could be machined like that is either on a good size old horizontal milling machine or horizontal boring mill. A nice $300,000 to $500,000 horizontal cnc can do it too, but no shop will have one with enough free time to mount it too the table though.

you r right it was a typo 62 is the year

right there is a mount there but there r no holes to run the bolts through

thanks for the reply and you r right there is some patina there

I bought a running 1960 motor for a spare that was in a 1951 3100 6 volt system that had the 2 condensers. The other thing I noticed that the front motor plate where that is located behind the timing gear set had the holes in the bottom and it was mounted where the original 1951 motor was mounted on the cross member. I am not sure how the 60-62 mounted I do know they do not have the bosses on the front of the motor to attach the bird leg mounts like on my 1956 3100. So if it was me I'd drill or if I was going to do any motor work I would change out the front motor plate. I installed the 1960 front motor on my 1956 block so if I ever pulled the motor and decided to put it in another ride I could use what ever means to mount it. just my .02

Car engines I thought usually use side engine mounts to the frame.
John

So if he's putting it in a 49 or 50 truck, the holes just under the harmonic balancer are all that matters. I have never seen a 235/261 engine (54-62) that doesn't have the holes drilled and ready exactly where they are supposed to be. Am I missing something? I use the side mount holes to attach a spin-on oil filter adapter after machining them for full flow.

The 59 hydraulic motor I bought doesn't have the holes drilled under the front timing bracket. I called Patrick's and they told me just to measure of my truck and drill it out.

I think that in some, if not all years, in which 235/261 engines had front side mounts there were no holes drilled in the lip of the plate under the harmonic balancer which could have been used for the earlier front motor mounts.

I think I recall Pre '68 Dave recently posting a comment that on later 235/261 engines the plate under the harmonic balancer did not even have a lip where front mount holes could be drilled (an older plate had to be used as a replacement for the newer plate?).

It is only GMC engines that I have seen that do not have the lip/flange for the front mount.
It is true that most later plates are not drilled though.

I have almost every year of 235 engine in my shop and they all have the holes drilled under the HB. Not sure why, but nonetheless. Even so, you can have your local machine shop tap them for you of you cant do it yourself. My 59 261 even had the holes drilled. I use the side mounts to attach things like full flow adapters, etc.

Are we all talking about the same holes? SEE PICTURE

So why the two references to tapping?

I have read about drilling the two holes if they are not there but what about the square shape?

The reference to tapping is why I question if we are all talking about the same thing.

The square shape is because carriage bolts were used originally.
There are a number of ways to do this job. You can drill a round hole and file square for carriage bolts, just use a standard bolt in a round hole, or what I like t do and that is tack weld nuts on the top side so you run the bolts up from the bottom.

Yeah, my bad, I meant stamped, not tapped. But all the ones I have seen so far have been stamped with the square holes. Dave's weld nut suggestion is probably the best.