VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 How to identify 235 Engine year with no SN visible

That is correct WD, I bought a brand new 54 261 short block in 1959 from a Chevrolet dealer in Electra, Texas. The dealer's son was in our car club "The Creepers" and got me a good deal. I had a 235 babbit rod PG engine in my 52, my brother that was in highschool in 1956 changed the car over from a powerglide to a standard 3 speed. I had just enough money to buy the 261 short block and a gasket set. I installed the head, hydraulic lifters, Mallory dual point distributor and the Sun Tach, pushrods water pump and split exhaust and McGurt 2 carb intake and two model B Rochesters from the old worn out 235. I collapsed the hydraulic lifters and they worked fine as solids, for a year until I could afford new 54 261 lifters and pushrods. I never drilled the two small steam holes in the 235 head, because I didn't know better. The car had a 52 powerglide rear end and that old car would cruise with any 55 or 56 Chevrolet V/8. It had a casting date of 1956, and I hand stamped the engine number that was on the 235 onto the 261 block and went on like nothing ever happened.
This is the car. The picture was taken in 1959, at my parent's house, just a couple of months before I went to Marine Corps boot camp in MCRD. I had worked long enough to get the paint job and had it looking like I wanted. The gold 56 in the background is my brother's ,Melchevyman, 56 Belair.

Mack, what kind of adaptor did you use to install the 1952 235 head on the 54 261 block? The 53 and later 235 engines and the 261s have 3 more head bolts than the earlier 235s.

Are you real sure about that?

For that reason it is impossible to install a 1950-52 235 head on a 1953 and newer block.

Ok, so the engine must have been a 53 head and engine because I did the change to a 261 short block myself and didn't replace the head, and I didn't come up short on head bolts. It had the valve cover fastened with the two nuts on top. It was a well used car when I got it. My brother may have replaced the engine when he converted it to standard shift. I was away at college in 1956 when he did the change over.

My engine which is a 54 powerglide engine (54y) has a 7 didgit number on the right side of the block way to the front of the fuel pump which is 3835911 which according to your chart is a 53-55 235 engine.

Lists like this can be misleading.
For example the 3835911 and 3733949 blocks were never installed (in production) in a 1953 Power Glide. The 1953 PG used the 3701481 block only. A replacement engine purchased after 1954 for a 1953 PG would be a 1954 block with the 3835911 or 3733949 numbers. The replacement 1954 engines would have the block with the larger camshaft journals.

For 1954 you could have the 3835911 or 3733949 for a stick or PG (or 1954-55 first design truck) but the stick/truck engines were not drilled for oiling to the hydraulic lifters.

It was common thru the years for a newer engine block to be sold for replacement on older models. When this was done the parts book would show all possible blocks that may be found in a particular installation.

Another example if you were to purchase a complete engine for a 1947 truck or a 1950 235 truck in 1957 you would get a 1954 full pressure engine + a list of parts required for proper installation.

The casting # list provided is for production vehicles that came off the assemblyline ONLY.

GM did a lot of crazy & convoluted things when it came to "replacement" motors.... as they sold off the old motors that were left over after the years production of cars & trucks were gone.
You are comparing apples to oranges when you try to figure out "Replacement" motors when it it comes correct markings on the blocks & heads.

Although Chevy NUT'S info. is believable in theory....
He has posted no documentation to back up his claims on the replacement motors...... so take it with a grain of salt.

Man, over the past few postings, you certainly have been rough on ChevyNut ....... give it a rest. We would all be thrilled to have the knowledge Gene provides to us.

Bob

All the info provided to me via ChevNut has proved to be accurate. No need for salt here!

-Scotti

Second that.

Before I joined VCCA I never saw a shop manual and was not much for numbers. I would go to a auto salvage yard, look for a car model like the one I was working on, look at the odometer and oil change stickers on the door post and if the part I needed looked like it would fit I took it off and then negociated a price.
During those years if it bolted on I figured it would work, sometimes the part was not off my model car but if it looked like it would fit I took it home. Sometimes after I had drove it a few thousand someone would tell me "That part isn't supposed to fit your car" but if it bolted on and looked like it was working I used it. The only time I messed up was putting a Chromed truck turn signal switch on my 52 Chevy. The brake lights didn't work and I would drive to work 60 miles one way and at noon and after work I would work on the stop lights. Never got them to work, in desperation I put the old turn signal switch back on with new wires and it worked. Another time I rewired the turn signals on my 55 Chevy pickup and asked my 6 year old son if the front was blinking,He said "yes,Dad" The next day at 5 AM on my way to work a cop stopped me, it seems that I had the low beam headlight on the left side connected to the turn signal switch and visa versa. Now I read the shop manual but if a part will bolt on I use it. There were a lot of aftermarket parts that worked but didn't have numbers, like the master cylinder I bought for my old 51. It had a larger than normal filler plug, but the top was solid, I still have it as an odd part. One thing that is good is that hardly any of the VCCA folks ask me to work on their cars. My main tools are a big hammer, a hacksaw and a huge set of channel locks!

Thats OK, I can handle it.
I have one advantage.....I was "there" in 1953 when the engines and cars were new and we stocked and sold many short blocks.