VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 54 Chevy 235 engine

I am putting a 54 Chevy 235 passenger car engine into my 41 Chevy Coupe.
I have # off of the engine. It starts GM and the #s, which are raised. There is another
set of numbers that are "imprinted" on the side of the engine. How can I prove that this is a
54 engine and NOT a 55 or 53? Also, are the mounts the same on the 54? Didn't they change
from a front mount to two side mounts in 55? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Dan.

I have a 53 chevy with a 235 out of a 62 and it has side mounts, and a 54 with its original 235 and it also has side mounts. about the casting numbers you might want to try this web site:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/index2.html

hope this helps.

Greg 54hdt

Dan, The imprinted numbers are stamped? near the distributor? Those are the engine serial numbers, In some states when the engine was replaced with a new engine or short block the old engine serialnumbers were stamped on the new block (in Texas the titles used the engine number to identify the car) A casting number is realy the best documentation and not always 100% either, The 54 had the casting number in the block just above the pan behind the starter. The engine mounts were changed around 1952, maybe sooner for the PG engines, I think all 53 cars and 54 cars had the side mounts, the trucks still had front mounts.

My 53 has side mounts and it is a stick shift. I haven't nailed down the engine year on it, the block shows to have been cast in 1956 there is a blank where the serial number should have been stamped,(probably a truck replacement block?)mechanical lifters, and the head is the one for a 1953 stick shift, figure that.

In 52 the lower under pulley mounts were changed for side mounts, which held the motor in place much better. Can´t you find in a junkyard the mounts for a 52/54 and weld them into your chassis? It´s not so difficult to somebody who knows how to weld properly.just align them carefully as I did on my 261 in the Fleetline.
Your motor has now 125 hp: did you think of a longer differential ratio, even the 3,70:1 which your 53 motor used originally? It may be a giant improvement from your original 4,56:1 and 85 hp.

wouldn't recommend installing the '52-'54 mount brackets on '41 frame due to difference in frame widths.All 53-54 engines have motor mount bosses cast into sides of block-mount holes in bosses.(includes trucks).!955 up ungine will have holes in front- mounts in the front of block.Block casting number -55 is 3836233 and 56-57 is 3837004..behind distributor.

Thanks for the replies. It really helps. Dan.

In my floundering around with swapping 235s, I found that '52-4(?) engine side mounts are different from '55(?)-on-up side mounts, and do not interchange. I didn't realise this situation 'till after I had "built" a late-model 261 for my '53 sedan.I didn't want to change the world with my project, so I simply built new motor mounts to fit the '53 frame mounts.