Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 261 in 53 Cabover

Howdy,
I have been graced with my uncle's generosity.A rough 59 Chevy Spartan 60 dumptruck with a 261....for free!!!
Currently, I'm restoring a 1953 Chevy Cabover with the babbited 235.The frame has been sandblasted and painted and ready for a powerplant.Will the 261 bolt right in? Will the updraft carb from the 235 fit too? What other considerations should I know about.
I'am truly excited by the prospect of installing that 261 into my cabover.I plan to keep everything else original in this rig.

Ron

You will probably need to drill some holes in the front motor plate to use the '53 mount, and the water pump will need to be changed. Either a shortened version, which are available from Patrick's, or shorten your own, or get an adapter plate (on Ebay $40) which will allow you to run the older style pump. I would think the adapter plate method would work best for you since your trying to stay stock in appearance. It will also keep the fan more centered in the radiator.

Dear Ron;

If you use the front mounting plate fron the 235 on the 261 it will 'bolt in' with the 235 bell housing, flywheel & clutch etc.

You can have the 235 water pump pully installed on the 261 pump too. Be carfull that the impeller doesn't move away from rear of the pump housing is all.

The adapter might move the fan to close to change the wide belt, if yours has it.

Good luck.

Unless you are plannig on tearing apart both engines anyways, then swapping the plates isn't a good idea. Reason being is that it would require taking apart about half of the engine to get this plate off, plus you would need to buy a gasket set to put it all back together again.
Drilling two holes takes about 15 minutes and no money to do.
Also, the size of the cam journals changed in '54, so it might be necessary to enlarge the cam hole in '53 and earlier plates, but I'm not completely sure of this point.

As for the water pump, I would still opt for the adapter plate to allow you to use the '54 and earlier pump. I believe Tony P has done both types of mods on his trucks and found this to work the best temperature wise. The plate is pretty thin and doesn't affect the belt alignment, so I'm told. You would need to drill and tap a hole to use it, but it's not difficult.

gearhead is right lay out the holes and drill them. i have done it mant times it works fine. why tear apart a motor that is running ok??