Shop (and truck) are located back in Iowa. Tho I'm sure they'll be getting a nasty winter this year as well. Very few leaks in the building, so all the vehicles are safe! Pulled the bed off the 52. Not too bad a job even for a first-timer like myself. Shows how handy an engine hoist can be! I'm amazed at how little there is to these old pickups. Makes even our 76 Chevy look complicated. Got the 250 in the 52 running pretty well. Doesn't smoke, doesn't make weird noises, and seems to not run hot. Tho with all the emissions stuff I don't think it's tuned real well. Some things have been blocked off over the years. Oh well, it will do for the time being. Truck won't be driving anywhere too far anytime soon. Has a split manifold on it along with small exhaust pipes and glasspacks (yuk!). Makes a good crackle when you romp on it. Original 4 speed works like a charm, no grinding or popping out of gear. Even the brakes work pretty well, tho they need a little adjusting. Already laid the paint stripper on and POR-15'd the floorboards. Began parting out the other 51 like a madman the other day. Comes in real handy to have a parts truck...where else are you going to find all the parking brake hardware?! Wiring (of course) is shot, but nothing a little kit won't fix! It's not like there's a huge wiring harness on these things... On the old 235 tho, in my previous post (that didn't post...grrr) I had noted that when I pulled the 235's valve cover off that it dumped a lot of rust down into the engine. I mean alot! It would probably turn over and run with a little help. If I can figure how to wire it up just enough I may give it a try. I may get it going, but with no oil filter it would be a matter of time before it spun a bearing or something...at least that's my thought on it. May be a good engine if someone in the midwest is looking for one. Have the original 3 speed as well... Andy
Sounds good Andy ; Most of the SMOG stuff is thermal timing advance retard stuff , it you find the ported vacuum nipple on the carby , connect that directly to the distributor vacuum advance can , making aure the line has a rise in it to prevent moiture from dribbling down the line and collecting in the vacuum advance can and freezing ir restricting it of free movement . set the ignition timing to 32° all in at 3,000 + RPM's , engine hot . it'll now haul a$$ and happily burn regular fuel too . The other thing is prolly an EGR valve , apply vacuum to it whilst the engine is idling , it it runs rough or stalls , surprise ! it still works . remove and discard it is my recommandation . Take off the glasspacks and add a crossover as close to the engine as you can and enjoy the increased power and mellow exhaust tone without any muflers ! GM did a bang up job designing this engine , make full use of it . You can always add a muffler later on , I doubt you'll want to though . I've used a shop vac to suck dirt & rust chips out of an engine that got crap dumped into it , set the shop vac for " wet " pickup and be prepared to do some cleaning of it after wards . I wish I was a younger man as I think there's a market for good used , well tuned and ready to go 235's , it's simple and fun work to clean 'em up and re-seal , re-paint etc. . I see -so- many of them simply dumped in the scrap bin The local vintgage car wrecking yard closed up shop and moved far away to smaller quarters recently , they had a most wonderous 35' tall pile of old takeout 209 / 216 / 235 / 229 / 302 and so on engines , I tired to buy some but they wanted $700.00 _EACH_ (HUH ? WTF ?) so of course they never sold a one and ALL of then were scrapped when they moved.... Sigh . How can junkmen be so flippin' STUPID ?! . Rant over (for now) , enjoy your holiday (It's Columbus Day in the U.S. , like anyone cares these days)
