VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 1935 master engine swap

Hello I have a 35 master deluxe and want to put a 235 in it. There is one from a 58 truck with the floor shift tranny for sale so my question is will it match up to my rear end or if I found one from the 40's would it work then as I want to get a power glide rear end anyway with the 3:55 gears to go on the hwy. as I have for my 46 just take the drive shaft with the gears off of the power glide and put it on my 40's rear end. i'm pretty sure my 35 rear end won't be able to take the power glide gears and drive shaft or am I wrong?

"i'm pretty sure my 35 rear end won't be able to take the power glide gears and drive shaft or am I wrong?"

Mario,

I made the 3.55 conversion on my '36 Pickup. In addition to the 3.55 gear set it requires a '37 Chevy car rear end to get a narrow hypoid rear end.

The project reqires machining and welding skills but I found it to be well worth the effort.

Unfortunately this forum only allows VCCA members to post information like that. I asked the moderator of this forum if he would reconsider that prohibition but although about 250 forum members have read my question to him he has not responded to my question.

Mario,
The problem here is that the 1958 gearbox will have an open tailshaft whereas the 35 has a torque tube. If your motor is out of a truck it may be a 261 which can be identified by an II cast just above the starter and also under the manifolds. Your best bet would be to use a T-5 gearbox and then use a Japanese pickup rear end. (Toyota, Nissan etc) which uses a 6 bolt wheel pattern. This will give you hydraulic brakes on the rear and the fronts can be easily converted by using 1936 to 1938 knee action brakes. With very little effort all of this can be done with hardly any modifications to the original frame. Inliners International club may be able to advise you further.

Thanks fellas so if I used a 235 still and a 40's truck tranny floor shift and a 40's closed drive rear end would it line up under my 35 or will it sit back or forward some? I want to keep it as close to original as possible and still run my 6 lug artilleries.

Mario,

I don't know about the exact parts you are proposing to use but I would offer the folowing observations: With the passage of time cars got longer and so did their driveshafts/torque tubes. To make a '37 Chevy car rear end fit my '36 PU I had to shorten the torque tube and driveshaft 6 1/2 inches. The challenge in that was maintaining accurate alignment in the sectioned and welded parts. I have a home machine/welding shop so it was a do-it-yourself project. Having that same work done professionally might be expensive. The end result looks like it came that way from the factory unless a person were to crawl underneath the pickup, know the difference in appearance between a spiral bevel rear axle and a hypoid rear axle, and notice that there is now a hypoid rear axle where the factory put a spiral bevel rear axle.

If the truck trans you are contemplating using is a 4-speed it probably has ratios that you would not like. Decades ago when G & D had hard core technmical articles there was one about retrofitting a '37 and up car top loader trans with later model gears for better all around performance. That might be a nice option for you.

Also keep in mind that when fitting a 235 engine into a pre 1937 Chev. That the 235 is half an inch shorter than the 206 and will require that the front engine plate will have to be lengthened to catch up with the mounts. The holes are already there for the rear mounts.You will also find the water pump pulley too long but kits to convert it to the 53 to 54 style pump are avalable on ebay. Also the original 1935 radiator will not keep the 235 cool and will need to be replaced. one of the radiator shops that supply hot rod radiators may be able to help in that department. The other problem I see is that if you use a later rear end is that it will have hydraulc brakes and will be difficult to modify to mechanicls if that is the way you want to go. Probably easier to go full hydraulic. None of it is very easy or cheap.

345,

Back in the 1960s I ran my now-restored '36 Chevy pickup for about 50,000 trouble free miles as a daily driver "Rat Rod". It had a small block Chevy engine and the stock '36 radiator was completely adequate to cool it under any and all conditions.

On my present street rod, a '32 Ford roadster I just added a fan shroud. Looking on hot rod web sites I saw a suggestion to use a cookie sheet for a fan shroud. I found one the exact size of the radiator core, 16" x 22", on ebay and for total cost of $14 it was delivered to my front door UPS.

Street rod building is all about creativity and that idea of using a cookie sheet for a fan shroud really worked out. It looks as good and fits as well as one from Summit Racing or Speedway Motors costing 10 times as much. In fact I couldn't have bought a sheet of aluminum to make it for that price.

On a restored vehicle a cookie sheet or fabricated shroud could be painted flat black and look right at home. In fact, I may put one on my restored '36 Chevy pickup even though it runs cool just for the "cool" factor. My wife's original, unrestored '60 Mercedes 190SL overheats in gridlock traffic and it will definitely be getting a cookie sheet.

Hi Brino,
Many years ago I ran a 261 in my 1935 Standard using a 1934 Master radiator which bolted in. It was good for about 40 mile before it started to get too hot. I never ran a shroud so that may have been a good idea. Thinking back maybe the radiator could have had issues as well but it certainly appeared to be okay. Another fellow I knew ran a 235 in a 35 Std coupe with stock radiator and was always boiling.

Ok nothing was done because it seems to be hard to get an answer that makes me comfortable. So now my question is how would you go about doing a swap from the 207 to a 235? I've heard a 1947-1953 truck bell housing will match my tranny to a 235 if that is true then what rear end could I use to keep my 6 lug that wouldn't need to be cut or modified? Thanks