O.K. I think I am missing something, because I was having a heck of a time lining up the two rear engine mounts today. The engine is in but I am still not happy with the mounts, the right mount is not seated in the hole. Does anyone have any tricks, or am I over looking something. Thanks
Number one son and I installed the 235 in our 1/2 ton on the long MLK weekend in January of '07. I have done a lot of engines over the years for a hobbyist, but this one was the toughest I have ever done. Whole front clip was off the truck too, so it SHOULD have gone easy. The off balance heavyness of the engine made it extremely hard to line up the mounts front and rear, especially the rear mounts. Lots of finagling and prying with pry bars, etc. Finally at 1:00 am, it dropped into place. My then 13 year old boy was so happy it was finally in, but extremely tired. He looked at me and said, "Daddy, can you put me to bed now"? It was so freaking cute that I burst out laughing. I put him to bed, rolled the truck into the garage and left the cleanup until the next day. Patience is a virtue. I left the front mount attached but loose so I had a little "wiggle room" when trying to position the engine. The rear mounts didn't give me that option. Once the front mount set into place, a little persuasion with a really big screwdriver on the rear mount flange of the bell housing dropped the pins of the mounts into he holes on the bell housing flange. good luck, Andy
Engine is in! Thanks Andy, I finally got them to sit right, it only took me a day and half of sitting under the truck wiggling the engine back and forth before I was happy with it. Here are some pics of it so far...springs coming and I can't wait! Mike
Omg!!! That looks totally awesome!!! Looks like a stock 235 water pump on it. If it is, you may have clearance problems with the radiator as the pump is going to be too long or very darn close to being too long. You may need to put a short shaft pump on it which will keep the fan very low on the radiator. Or you can mount an adapter plate on it which will bring the pump up to proper height. With adapter plate, you use a water pump for a 216 engine and the 216 radiator fan. Not hard to find a 216 fan from a used parts guy. Next...what is the intake and carb setup? I like the way it looks. Also, what size and brand wheels and tires are you running and how do they fit with the tie rod ends? Any clearance issues? What is the back spacing on the wheels? Also, you have a one piece windshield so it is a '54 or '55.1. It looks like the gasket you have is set up for stainless trim. Where is the trim? I hope you are not planning on putting the trim in now after the windshield is in, because it doesn't go in that way. How tough was it for you to get the windshield in? Is the windshield new or is it the original clear one. Can't tell from the photo. Lastly, where did you get the visor for the one piece windshield? I haven't been able to locate one. Thanks, Andy
Andy It is a stock water pump, it is a later year 235 so I think its the long shaft pump. I went ahead and ordered the short shaft pump from CP. As far as the tires they are 225/75/16, I have about 1/2" clearance from the tie rod ends. I don't know that this truck has ever had chrome inserts in the windows. I found the visor on e bay, however it was not built for a one piece windshield. I went ahead and removed the center support from the visor and put truck end brackets on it and it works like a jewel. The intake is a fenton intake, that I sanded down to the polished look and paired it with carter/weber carbs.
