Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Rebuild my 235

I'm tearing down a 61 235. Since this is my first attempt at something like this I need all the advice I can get. It will be going into a 49 Styleline along with a 5 speed and new rear end (I'm still looking for these two key components.) I don't have extra cash to spend but at the same time I don't want to save a few bucks just to have something break down on the road.

The water jacket is pretty gunky, but it turns over and there are no pieces in the oil pan. At the minimum I'm thinking I need new gaskets, bearings, seals, rings, oil pump, and water pump. I've seen the sets of new bolts (Stovebolt, Patricks, etc). Should I put all new bolts in when putting it back together? The cam and crank look pretty good but will know more when it is completely apart.

Any hints on what to look for, what to do, what not to do, good places for parts, and any other advice will be welcomed.

Make sure you have the block and head checked for cracks. usually the blocks go bad on the lower left side of the water jacket. The heads are usually cracked on the radiused area between the valves...

As for the bolts, as long as everything checks out, you should be able to reuse them. I have had the main bolts strech in the past, so what those...

I would reccomend having the rods resized and get the rotating assembly balanced. It makes a big difference with these older sizes...

Boring the block and turning the crank are likely needed also. Check the crank for straightness...

for the timing cover, tap the lower 2 holes in the front main cap and drill out the timing cover so you don't have to remove the oil pan in order to remove the timing cover...

Drill holes in the front motor plate to corespond to the '49 motor mounts...

Have the end of the cranshaft drilled and tapped so that you can draw on balancer instead of trying to hammer it on...

At the time I did my last one, Patrick's had the best deal on a full rebuild kit...

If you are not going to replace anything on the valvetrain, make sure you keep track of the order of the lifters, etc...

The rear main seals are natorious for leaking. I have used the 2 piece rubber seal on 2 engines and they both leaked quite a bit. I may try a rope seal or a 1 piece seal adaptation the next time around...

Have the block and head surfaced...

Check the tube that runs from the oil pump to the block for cracks...

If you are going to try and hotrod the engine, then there are some other things that could be done also...

There are also some driveline issues when doing this conversion which have been discussed before...