Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Looking for more info on 235 I plan on building

I was thinking the motor and head was from the same vehicle. I don't think so now, if date codes on head work the same as on the block. The block casting tells me it is a 235 built between 58 and 62 and the block date code tell me it was made Feb. 05 1958 on conv 3. The motor has been in the back of my truck since I bought it, laying on it's right side so I couldn't read the castings. Well I finally unloaded it and the head date code is D242 so what April 24th 62? The casting # on the right side of the head is 3836848 with GM 28 under that. On the left side is three groups of three #'s 860-848-850. So this is the 848 highest compression head? Does the GM 28 or the 860 or 850 tell us anything? Oh yea it looks like all the push rods are the same length except two, they are all right at 11" with two at close to 11.25? Thanks in advance

Just saying it would be interesting to know what the block and head came out of when new. On the block on the flat by the distributor it is marked F207B, seems like I seen where the F might have been for Flint? 207 and B?

I found the donor T5 trans driveshaft and rear end from an 85 or 86 S10 today at a local junk yard. On the tag it says it is a B-W part # 13-53 145. He said he thought it was from an 89 or so model but the #'s I have says it's an 85 or 86. It has the cable speedo and is supposed to be the 3.76 first gear and .72 OD. Drive shaft and rear end from same short bed two wheel drive truck.

You might want to check the width of the S10 against your stock rear end. I made the same mistake when I built my ‘41. I believe the proffered S10 rear is from a
4wd model. The T5 is fine, but the rear may be too narrow.

The S10 was usually geared for working, therefor a very low gear to move loads. What is the rear gear ratio? When you multiply the rear gear ratio by the T5 first gear ratio, 3.78, ideally you should get an answer between 9.5 and 11. Ideally around 10. I once made the mistake of installing a T5 with a 3.50 first gear into a car with a 3.4 rear gear. Couldn't go 10' before I had to shift and then the jump in ratios between gears was too wide. The T5 is not an inexpensive trans to overhaul. I have bought many that 'were running when removed' and found they didn't always want to go into the gear you were after or the teeth were chipped or the most common problem, the synchros were pooched. If you want long term reliability, buy a unit from a reliable builder and get the ratios that suit your vehicle. You probably want to use the S10 style for the shifter location. A good T5 tech will know how to put an S10 tail stock on a Camaro T5. You will need a conversion kit to mount it, so check if you could also use a Ford T5, far more plentiful and less expensive. Good luck on this one. The T5 is a great tranny, but full of surprises.

Warren

Well I bought the trans, driveshaft and read-end. The rear-end is 3.73, when I bought it I was going by the tag matching a list saying it was a 3.76 first gear and a .72 OD. When I got it home and was cleaning some of the crud of I noticed how the tail housing and the gear case had different date code stamps. Tail was 88 and gear case was 91 and there was red gasket stuff where it was put together. It spins smooth and shifts good by hand but I was now wondering what gears were actually in it. I seen an article on checking what gears were so I did that by marking the input and output shafts at 12:00 and spinning the output CC and counting revolutions. Seems I have a 4.03 first and a .86 OD So 4.03 X 3.73 = 15.03. and what does this tell us? I found a neat calculator on the Spicer gear site https://spicerparts.com/calculators/engine-rpm-calculator

The 3.73 is one of the most desirable street rear gears around. As far as the tranny goes, loose it. Find a T5 with a 2.95 first gear. You will be very happy. Do it right the first time. The 235 has plenty of torque to deal in the 2.95 range but does not have the revs to handle any lower a gear. The 4.03 gear was made for an engine that never came near the 235 capabilities.

Warren