Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 235 Rebuild After 60 Years of Service

You might luck out here. If it is as clean as you say, and the cylinders measure out good with no taper, might just need a light hone, new rings, new cam gear and crank gear, and put it all back together. If you end up with the motor that far apart, consider having the crank snout drilled for a balancer bolt (mr. Gasket Small Block Chevy). Makes installing the balance way way easier.

Also, as you discovered, GM had an unusual set up with the timing gear cover with most of the screws on the outside but two on the inside. You can tap the front main cap for threads, and drill out the reinforced tab on the cover so that all of the bolts are from the outside. I have always done this modification (40 years). Never needed to remove the cover until two years ago when the cover started to leak. I thanked my luck stars I did it with the new motor. Made changing out the gasket much less of a headache then it could have been, i.e., did not have to remove the pan.

Also, make sure you have some sort of centering tool when you are installing the timing cover to center the seal. If its not centered, it may leak (been there done that). I made one out of an old balancer I took apart and honed the inside with a brake hone to slip over the crank snout and allow the cover seal to center on the balancer snout.