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

What year was the 235 engine introduced?

For the trucks, I believe that the first year the 235 engine was introduced was in 1941. For the passenger cars the first year was 1950.

The engines for the years JYD gives were not full pressure oil system, at least in passenger cars.

Thanks!!!

Glyn! So am I to understand that the 1950 BelAir with the 235 was not a full pressure oil system?

One more question: Were the first 235`s babbitted? If so when was the first 235 with inserts? OK--that was 2 questions!!!

My 1950 Belair came with an oil pressure guage that goes up to 30 pounds. 1953 guages read 0 to 60.

Roger

Hoppy, yes the first 235s were babbit low pressure engines The first 235 was in 1941 in the larger trucks, then in Army trucks then in 1950 (Powerglide cars) were babbit with hydraulic lifters thru the 1952 model year, the standard shift cars had 216 engines up thru 1952, also the 53 standard shift had a 235 with babbit rods and mechanical lifters, the first inserted "hi-pressure" engine, were the 1953 Powerglide engines also hydraulic lifters, the passanger cars with a 235 had hydraulic lifters and truck engines had mechanical lifters up thru 1957 and may have had mechanical lifters later on, but I am not sure about them, they are too"New" for me!
The 1953 standard shift cars had a 0-30psi gauge and the 1953 Powerglide cars had a 0-60 psi gauge. The 54 cars had 0-60 psi gauges. The part number for the 0-30 psi gauge is 1508084 and the 0-60 psi gauge is 1507950

Recommend the '54 stick shift engine with mechanical lifters. Had a '54PG engine done in a top machine shop and have had trouble with the lifters since. At highway speeds, several lifters rap loudly. Slow down for a few miles and the noise goes away. Others with engines from different shops have the same experience. Apparently, the new lifters aren't as precision as the originals...Found a set of originals and so far, they're fine, but the summer driving season is ahead...

Some 235's with hyd. lifters had the leak-down problem when new.
The modern replacement lifters are "fits all" lifters.Note the the original lifters fit 1950-53 for one part number, 1954-58 with another and 1959-62 with still another.
Finding NOS originals of the proper part number is the best way to go.

Joe rather than a lifter problem you may have a machine shop problem you could have some valves trying to stick or a problem with the fit all lifter size. What engine oil are you useing?

It the engine in our car has a small triangular shaped plate with two bolts and is located just under the exhaust manifold then you have a low pressure, babbit bearing 235. Another place to check is on the oil pan flange back at the starter, may have to remove the starter,there is a code there that provides the date built. Post the numbers and you will get a reply.

my 54 pg car has the full pressure 235 41000 miles, never been apart. at 65-70 mph the valve train tends to get a little noise, i always figured cause it is just too fast for a 2 speed to go. as for lifter leak down, it isnt a issue on my car. i use 10-40 castrol gtx, change it once a season. engine is quiter than my new truck.

Re: MrMack's quote above; (The passenger cars with a 235 had hydraulic lifters and truck engines had mechanical lifters up thru 1957)

Actually the 1954-1955 Passenger cars with 235 engines and manual transmissions continued to have mechanical lifters. 1956 was the first year that all of the 235 passenger engines had hydraulic lifters.

WD did GM continue to build the 235 engine with the old waterpump after 1954 for replacement engines? I have one with what is a 1956 casting date. It has side mounts and mechanical lifters. The engine number pad is still blank.

BYTW, Will we get to see you at the LSR swap meet at Traders' village in Grand Prairie next week?

Replacement blocks with the old type water pumps were amde up until the mid-'60's. at least.

MrMack, Yes I will be at the swapmeet at traders village next week.

All of the 235/261 engines with the old type waterpumps were abvailable until about 1970. The first ones to disapear were the 1953 & 54 Powerglide 235s in November of 1970. The 1954-55 1st series 261 was still available in May of 1977 so most of them stayed around a while.

Just worked on another member's '53 PG. The engine that's in the car has a pair of raised hashmarks above the starter. Wonder if this is a replacement 261 block as described above. The casting date is D 6 3(it might be an 8), but the engine stamped # is LAQ...It has a ...5913 cyl head - not '53..He doesn't know the history of the car......Mack, we're using 10 - 30 Chevron in the '54 and with the new original lifters it hasn't been noisy. They are the later ones that Gene described...

Joe the LAQ would be a '53 PG engine (if not re-stamped).New short blocks came with no numbers, the number from the original engine was to be used.The way I read it the D 6 3 would be April 6 1953, which would be correct for a 1953.The head would be a 1954-55 which was the replacement for a 1953 if a new one was installed.The 4 screw holes for the valve cover would be under the valve cover gasket.I believe that I read some place that some 235 engines had the raised marks also.The casting number would be the best proof for the block....also the 261 would have had solid lifters, which sound like heck with the PG.

My '53 coupe was babbit/mech. lifters/low pressure (first car, used). My dad got a '54 SW that was a FAR better car. The high pressure mech. lifter engine would really wind up (65 mi/hr in second!!) and was stronger than dirt. Compared to the '53, it was day and night! The '54 would take much harder pulling and higher speeds. I ran rods out of the '53 twice pulling trailers. Never a problem with the '54.
If I were redoing anything of that era, I'd go high pressure, both to get the inserts and to get the durability.

My first new car was a 1953 235 stick.Before I ever drove it I had the PG aluminum pistons installed....The aluminum pistons are slightly taller than the cast iron (come up to flush with the top of the block) which raises the compression ration from 7.1 to 7.5.This was responsible for raising the HP from 108 in '53 to 115 in '54.That along with the much lighter aluminum pistons made the engine more flexible and higher reving than the stock '53...there was a difference.Would do 67 MPH in 2nd gear wound out tight which was 5000 RPM.Drove it out west in '53 and '54 at high speeds plus really beat it and never had any rod problems.The second ownner did the same when he bought it.

Yep, but put a ton of trailer on it and drive all day on the freeway...a different matter. It's incredible the babbit engine lasted as long as it did. I kept the '53 going from 1961 until about 1972, with two rod jobs...moved up to a little Buick special with the tiny aluminum V-8...nice engine!

:confused: :confused: :confused:

I am new to this website, and it is a good thing there are no dumb questions-because I have plenty of them. I have wondered about the durability (read mileage of how long the engine lasts) about the postwar chevy sixes. I had a conversation with a longtime mechanic, and he had an aunt who was a rural route mail delivery person in Wyoming. He said she got 80,000 miles out of her 1941 Chevrolet, but that was because she never drove it very fast--driving one mile to stop at the next postal box. He said the 216 cubic inch engines would last about 50,000k miles before major engine work was required, on average. Would the Powerglide engine last any longer than the standard shift engine?
Also, have wondered about the bearings on these engines. Were they poured bearings in both engines, or was it some kind of a shell bearing. The term babbit gets used to describe them, but that is inaccurate, as insert bearings have babbit material in them.
Thx for reading this.
Jim

The first 235 engines to have insert bearings were the 1953 Powerglide engines. As far as engine life like all engines it depended greatly on service maintenance but I believe the cars of the fifties (235 inset engines) would average around 75000 miles. I think that with todays oils and conditions that would be greatly increased.