I am putting a new 235 together and its time to do the head. It wont be anyhting exotic - middle of the road cam, bored a bit, couple extra carbs, exhaust, HEI - all the normal stuff inliners do for a nice street job. Its a 1957 - 235

Does anyone know if there are any good 12 port news articles on what to ask for at the machine shop? Any advice? I don't want to break the bank, but even more so, I don't want to get a poor job because I don't know what to look for.

Maybe a guy is better off to buy one from Clifford for $1000 and just bolt it on.

Any ideas? Advice?

dont know about that clifford head, when I called them about specs and all they were was vague, I asked about the oversized valves, apparently according to them 1.875 intake and 1.5 exhaust are oversized, but the last time I checked that was stock! they also wouldnt get specific on port/polish details to the runners and bowls; only that they were ported and polished, it was an impenetrable fog of ambiguity, I was left with more questions than answers. they claim that their headders/intake/cam will.......

will produce 40-55% hp/torque over stock using a small 4 barrell, i.e. 390 cfm holley is a good candidate. but for about 3 months a while back they said that with their head/cam/intake/headder they reported that they got over 100% gains over stock. so stock 235-125hp/200lbs torque. THEIR 235-250hp/400lbs torque?-fat chance, needless to say, that claim was retracted quick!

because if that were true my 261 with the same head/intake and 4 barrel/cam/headder would make 300hp and 450lbs torque. stock 261being 150hp and 225lbs torque, wouldnt that be nice! I love my stovebolt but they dont make enough power, thats why I am getting a 292, because you can get more than 200hp out of them, which is a 261's limit, heck a good 235 probably will only make 180hp at best and thats probably about it! has anyone acheived better; N.A. and without spray? results, thoughts or coments anyone?

Using the springs recommended by the cam grinder is about it; "dollar & cents" wise. Just make sure It's flat etc.

The 235/261 heads are the same and unless your using a 'big' cam a 57 head is okay "as-is". An "848" head will give ya a little more compression but not worth spending a 'bundle' for.

Good luck.

PS: You can inlarge the intakes but NOT the exhaust valves, which Patrick's can/will do.

6inarow,

Have you read the "classic" literature from the early fifties on these heads, among other topics? I'm referring to the Roger Huntington and California Bill Fisher books, and the May 1955 HRM article by Racer Brown. California Bill describes porting and a three-angle valve job for a 235 head. These books are available in reprint from several sources, and links to the 1955 HRM can be found in this forum.

dbane261,

In 1954 Harry Warner climed 245 HP from a 235, bored to 248. May have been with methanol?

when I said a limit of 180hp and 200hp, I meant at the wheels, respectively, and no turbo/no supercharger and on pump gas, while 292's can get 300. has anyone got better than 180/200 rear wheel hp on a 235/261, heck or even a 261 stroker? even with all major performance mods conceivable, even a 261 stroker wont make more than 250 reliable rear wheel hp, right? naturally aspirated on pump gas and no nos

This is one of the stroker pair we are doing for webrodder. It is designed to show off the shelf parts, simple machining operations, some home do it yourself tips to see if we can bump the horsepower a bit and do it economically. I guess I believe there may be some horsepower gains in the head with a minimal amount of labor at home, then get a good valve job and be done with it.

yes, we are aiming at 250 hp on the 261 and 200 on the 235 on pump gas, no turbo, no nitrous no nothin', just as described.

Gentlemen;

Spending money for 'head work' on these is only helpfull on a "high end" engine running 5,000+ RPM with 10:1 compression or more etc.

Today's trend is 'crusing'; with a high rear end ratio/OD trans where "headwork" is of NO value, expecially on a basic engine @ 1,800.

Happy trails.

that sounds like a cool project, 250 rear wheel hp would be phenominal! these are hp at the wheels goals right, the 250 hp that is? what is your goal as far as torque numbers are concerned? sounds like a great project though, when do you guys suspect you will have data?

We are not sure what the numbers will be exactly. But we will dyno them and computer tune the ignition and the induction to get it as close as we can to ideal. keep watching www.webrodder.com the first instalment shoud be in a week or so.

it has been fun. I have learned a lot

6inarow:
Can you describe the 235 build a bit more?
Bore?
Compression [assuming the stock 235 head or other ideas....]
Cam - duration at .050 lobe, lobe centers, lift?
Intake
Carbs and cfm or venturi/throttle sizes?
Exhaust?
Then I can try to compute power just for fun.

I was not aware of a 12-port head for the stovebolt, it sounds like no details though..

just curious when that article is going to post, I cant wait to read it, I have checked webrodder and cant find it anywhere, hope to hear back soon, thanks in advance!

dbane261,

Have you found the first two parts to the stroker 235/261 project? The links are in the "10 Newest Tech Articles" box in the webrodder.com site. Excellent work and writing. I wish that I had access to it when I started my most recent 261 build a couple of years ago. My 1954 261 does have the tang main bearings, which is somewehat of an oddity. I'm glad that Doc Frohmader explained the situation, as there has been confusion in getting main bearings.

My next 261 will probably be the stroker version.

I got the 3rd installment of the webrodder series tonight for a final proof. It should be posted tonight or tomorrow. The third installment deals with the crank grinding. You can read about some of the problems we had grinding my 235 crank. It sure turned out nice, but really got to be a chore. follow along - it is a cool series