Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Triple carbs on a 49 Chev sedan

Gidday from W.A. need a bit of advice, I want to put a set of triple single barrel holly carbs on my 49 Chev sedan,which is fitted with a 54 235ci, can anyone tell me if there is a problem with firewall clearance on the back carb, also how far can I bore the 235 .Cheers ,hope to see replies flooding in.

Welcome. You should not have any clearance problems except perhaps with whatever air cleaner
(filter) system you use as some are larger then the typical round single carb filter.Connecting your throttle linkage may give you problems getting it to operate as you would like.I've heard of boring as much as .125 over, but only after the block has been carefully eaxamined for water jacket thickness.The usual is .060 over.

I had three Stromberg 97s on a 261 in a 1951 Chevy back in the late fifties-early sixties. I recall that I needed to tap on the sheetmetal firewall brace slightly to gain adequate clearance. The mod was barely noticeable.

Drew is correct about boring the 235. Most people felt that 3/32" over was the max safe amount. That would give 248 cubic inches with the stock stroke.

Hoyt, II #922

Yes; a three carb setup will fit/work on a 49-54 auto. It's way to much carburation for a stock 235" engine though.

Yes; you can bore +.125" on those which gives you 252 CID.

Your 'best bet' for the money is to find a 261" engine & go (+.125) with it. You would then have 278 CID to work with etc.

Good luck.

Thanks for your replies guys, If I could safely bore .125 over where could I get pistons from , I only see up to .60 on most parts lists and would it be suitable as a daily driver or would it run hot? It definitly will not be a stock 235 John nd I would love a 261 or a 270/302 GMC but they are very hard to get here ,I've been trying for 3 years so if anyone has a good ready to run streetable performance engine for sale let me know now before I order the parts for mine- Cheers

Well; that's the big ($) problem with these engines today. You must buy custom made ones (pistons) @ $100+/- each. When you do however, you get the CID and the compression you want.

I could build you an engine here (California USA) but the cost is really high, just for the parts/machine work required. Then there's the shiping cost & my profit.

The 261 Chevy is best, as it "bolts in" the early Chevy cars. They go to 278" as mentioned or 292 CID with the 'stroker' crank. There in the $4000+/- USD price range depending on what you want etc.

I was doing well at this till the gas increase to $3.25....... The whole econmy has stopped (old car business) since.

I don't know where it is all going, as there is no need for fuel to cost this much, but that's another movie.

Tom Langdon is offering a fresh 285cid "Cadillac 261" shortblock for $1600.00 US. An appropriate head, manifolds, distributor, flywheel, and other pieces will likely bring it close to John's numbers, even before the cost of transporting it to Australia. If you want it and can afford it, then it should perform wonderfully well . . . and you may never see another like it.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450

There are also some engines for sale in Inliners Classifieds.I can't imagine what it might cost to ship that much weight to Western Australia.

Yes, I saw that 261 " Caddy" and have tried to buy it but the seller doesn't answer e-mails or his telephone so I gave up. I am costing rebuiling my engine at the moment and if figures are close I'll pay the freight and get it from your side of the pond, nobody here works on or builds these engines so their knowledge is weak and I can't afford to waste money. I wish I could get some of that CHEAP fuel here John, we're paying $1.50 a LITRE ($1.80 in NZ) so an average 6 cylinder car costs $100.00 to fill up which is 20-25% of the average Joe's take home wages.
cheers guys and thanks for the photo Jim

His 'Cadillac six' is a good buy @ $1600 USD. Mr. Langdon has a unique way of doing it and probably has the market on the east coast.

Just the parts here are more, "out west" in California.

I'm sure he will help you on the shiping etc.

Good luck.