VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Help needed '46 216

I need some help. For those that have read some of my past posts about the problems that I had this spring with my '48 216; I have moved forward and am rebuilding my orignal '46 216 for my '46 truck.

I'm stuck.....the copper lube line that was in the '48 block does not appear that it can be used in the '46 block (the holes are not tapped) so i have no idea how the oil gets to the head. Way back when I disassembled the '46 block I unfortunately did not photograph the insides of the engine or even the exterior so I can figure out how oil gets to the head (I know....I probably sound like a complete idiot - shade tree mechanic title is fitting here).

I hope someone can assist with some diagrams or a good description of how it goes together.

I am very tight on time as I still plan to show the truck at the Milwaukee masterpeice but this is one of those stumbling block that I need to figure out first.

Thanks
Tim

The block MUST be threaded on both sides (left and right).
The replacement line that was sold by Chevrolet and is available from the Filling Station today has the proper fittings and they come with the line kit.
First a fitting threads into each hole. The the line in a smaller tapered fitting threads into the large fitting.
The original was a little different. The fitting on the push rod side was solderd to the line. the line and fitting would then be tightened into the block on the right side and the previously mentioned two fittings were used on the left side.

The same line, fittings fit all 1936, plus all the 1937-53 216 engines.

If you need a better description call me. It difficult to put into print. I may have an oil line kit also.

http://www.46chevytruck.com/46Oil216.pdf

Than Gene. I may have to give you a call. I have the little loop that goes on the outside of the block. I guess the question is on the line that is on the interior of the block. where is that routed?



Here's a photo of the outside I took in 04 when I removed the engine.

The oil line goes through the center of the block (between 3and #4 cylinders) and comes out behind the push rods. From there it loops up , going through the hole in the head that looks like a head bolt hole and connects to the rocker arms. That means it travels through the coolant and must be water tight on both sides.
I do have a line like the one that came in the enigine from the factory with the right side fitting soldered on. The old left side fittings could be reused......if a line is needed.

Perfect. That makes a lot of sence. I'll let you know if I need the line.

Thanks!
Tim

Gene,

In talking with the guy at the machinie shop he indicates that on the '46 block "the bosses are there but there are no holes on either side and they would need to be drilled and tapped".

He has both my '48 and '46 blocks side by side. Was the routing of the '46 lines different than the later year '48 blocks?

link to shop manual and photos

I made a file with the shop manal pages and some photo for him to reference but it does not help to explain why the two blocks seem to be different.

Tim, give me a call

Be careful when making that bend up to rocker arm. If it gets too close to the side cover it will rub a hole in the line!
Got to be bent just right.

I picked up my two engine blocks ('46 and '48 216's) this morning. Spent the afteernoon getting the '46 ready for paint and painted it. This time I got it right and used the dark Grey from Chev of the 40's vs. the lighter grey that I used the first time around!!!

Then was the task of determining how the oil gets from the pump to the head. I started by inspecting the '48 and as expected; Gene was spot on: "The oil line goes through the center of the block (between 3and #4 cylinders) and comes out behind the push rods. From there it loops up , going through the hole in the head that looks like a head bolt hole and connects to the rocker arms. That means it travels through the coolant and must be water tight on both sides.". Then I looked at the '46 and sure enough they are without a doubt different. The holes that are in the '48 block that allow the line to pass between 3 and 4 cylinders are not drilled and tapped.

I then resorted to looking at old photos that I took when I disassembled the '46 over 6 years ago. I also found a small bracket that I seem to remember clipping into a hole in the block (under the side cover) and the oil line running through it. Using my air hose I established what seems to be the most logical flow of the oil through the block then established where the exterior copper/steel oil line loop goes. One end dumps directly into the crank case which was a big clue. Assuming that the oil line is a single peice it pretty much solves the mystery. The exterior copper line loops on the outside and then through the crank case to the other side popping up through a hole that contains the bracket I wrote about. The line goes up the side of the blcok (under the cover) and through the hole in the head feeding the nozzle that sends oil down to the rocker arms.

The only logical way this engine was set up is that the line does not run through the water jacket in the older '46 216's. It runs through the crank case! I am about 99% sure of this now that I have done my investigation work (aka playing around with the blocks and comparing them).


So here's the $20,000 question, does this sound right - or better yet; can someone postivily confirm this?

I am working on it again in the morning but then heading to irish fest for the afternoon to watch my daughter dance. Sunday I hope to finish putting it together and get it back in the truck!

Tim

Well, I have it all plumbed and have confirmed that the oil pump is working and pumping oil to the cylinder. I took an old distributor of mine and disassembled it so I just had the shaft and used my drill on the shift to turn the oil pump and sure enough it has oil.

As I was prepping my oil pan to install it, I was checking the nozzles and confirming that they are squirting correctly and I think that I may have solved the original problem - Could too much oil in the crank case have caused interference with the squirt nozzle essentially blocking the oil on that end of the pan from properly squirting? I don't know if I indeed did have too much oil in it but when I was sending water through the oil nozzles testing them as the pan filled with Water on one end quicker than the other. As the water began to go above the troughs the water in the tough interfered with the nozzle flow. I have no idea how high the oil goes in the pan when full but this seemed as if it may have been a possible cause to the foremost rod to have gone bad.

I will post photos of the oil linegoing through the crank case later. Back to the garage to install the head.

It would take several extra Qts of oil to get the level up to the troughs. Then with the engine running and oil moving around the level would actually drop a little.
If oil was over the troughs the rods would still get oiled. Prior to 1935 there was no pipe in the trough and the oil filled from the side and just kept the troughs full. This gives adquate luberication up to about 3400 RPM.
The engines like your with the oil pipe in the trough only get the oil stream up to the dipper at higher RPMs, like about 2000. At lower RPMs the dipper just gets oil from the trough. This system works better at higher RPMs as the dipper reveives oil for a longer part of the crankshaft rotation. It works OK for up to about 4000 RPM and after that the dipper more or lee cuts a path in the oil stream.
What would happen though is if the level was to high the rods would splash through the oil and cause it to foam.....but that again would require it to be a few Qts over,

Got the Engine back in and everything hooked back up and now it seems the starter wants to give me problems!!!

Working on the starter now. Anybody in SE WI have a '46 starter for a 216 they want to sell?

Got the starter working. Now I don't seem to have any compression. It's gonna be a long night!

Contacted Tim by phone - he didn't adjust the valves after changing engies and installing a different block. Valves are probably too tight, thus no compression. Hes working on it now.

Thanks again Gene. You were right. I am working on these things and now have compression (each cylinder is different and it is rather low in some. I am still struggling to get it right (basically how I know when/what one to adjust when). This is one of those things that, i am certain that once I figure it out it will seem rather simple but I have a bit of a mental block right now so it is going slow.

Tim,


Set the crankshaft to fire on #1 cylinder.
(The following valves should now be fully closed)

Now set the lash on the following valves.

#1 Exhaust
#1 Intake
#2 Intake
#3 Exhaust
#4 Intake
#5 Exhaust

Now rotate the crank one full revolution.
#6 should now be in firing position.
(The following valves should now be closed)

Now set the lash on following valves.

#6 Exhaust
#6 Intake
#5 Intake
#4 Exhaust
#3 Intake
#2 Exhaust

This procedure should get the valves close enough to fire the engine.

I have the all adjusted (cold that is). I hope to get some sleep tonight then put it all back together in the morning. This will give the battery time to charge back up.

Thanks for the help!

If you need parts for that thing, I am also about 25 minutes away.

72 hours ago I started on this project by picking up the short-short block. Well after severl of those hours being quite frustrating - the engine is assembled, installed and the truck is ready to show tomorrow at the Milwaukee Masterpiece. Thanks to everybody (especially Gene for taking and returning my calls).

The truch is sitting on the trailer ready to go in the morning.

Tim
www.46chevytruck.com

Make sure your finger nails are clean when you go to work on Monday :vcca:

I got a few e-mails this morning from people asking for updates - did I get it done, did I make it to the show, what were the results, etc.... Well??? The finger nails are clean (as clean as they will get for now), the garage is still a bit of a mess but the truck is running, driving and YES - I made it to the show.

Thanks to everybody for your support - especially Gene, who took several of my frantic calls where I had no idea what i could have been doing wrong.

I took some time tonight to start a new page on www.46chevytruck.com to capture results from shows that I bring the truck to. Results of the Milwaukee Masterpiece are included.


www.46chevytruck.com results page

Here's a couple sneak peak photos of what is on the "results page":




Thanks again!!!

I think I speak for everybody when I say "Damn, that looks good"