I rarely see the original motors in the 50's 3100's. Are the 235 inline 6's worth keeping? Drawbacks/benefits of keeping or replacing?
Upside is, there are a metric TON of them out there. Finding replacement parts generally is no big deal. Economical with the right carb/car setup. Downside, very little power? Don't really have an answer for this
They're good motors. '54s and later are the best with full pressure oiling, but the early ones are fine too. They fit nicely in their originally intended vehicles, (they're perfect in an old Chevy truck) and some even put them in roadsters and such. A lot of guys like the sound (Rrrrraaaaap!) when they're equipped with dual exhaust. With a cam and dual carbs and especially hooked to a later 4 or 5 speed, they have enough oomph to do the job and get ya down the highway. They're not high rpm, but pretty torquey. A little on the heavy side, and not as powerful as a V8, but they sure do lend a car that vintage flavor. Even if you don't have a use for one, somebody will.
My previous rod back in the 90's was a '37 GMC flatbed. The truck weighed 2 tons with an old non-synchronized 4-speed, the kind where you never use first unless you're pulling a house off the foundation. 3.90 rear The bone stock 1958 235 it came with didn't rev fast or high but I never had to do anything to it except change the oil. It was always up to the job and mileage was better than my current 350/350 that's a thousand lbs. lighter with another 3.90 rear.
I also have one from my 56 truck. Been advertising is cheap on here and on craigslist with no bites. Heading to the scrapper soon to be reincarnated as Chinese Harbor Freight wrenches..
"Oh well", wish I could say it as easy as you worded it. Was just talking yesterday with a bunch car buddies about how I regred getting rid of the 210 53 Chevy that I had with 292 truck engine. Six's are cool in my book.
Yeah, as much as I like them, I can't say that stock 235 cores bring much (if any) money. The '54 engine would be of special interest to those who want to upgrade their '37-'53 cars, since it's got all of the good stuff (aluminum pistons, insert rod bearings, full pressure oiling), but is the last year that used the early style water pump and has the correct mount bosses for the '52-'53 cars.
Granted, they're not gonna sell as fast or for as much as a SBC or some of the classic V8s that hot rodders like. Lots of factors going on here. They're not as desired by most people as the V8s, 292 Chevy sixes or 302 GMCs and maybe the 261s. People still don't have a lot of expendable income. Scrap is $. Selling "cheap" is a relative term. $300 for a core engine and unknown trans is well over scrap price...$200-$250 over. To rebuild one costs nearly as much or even more than some V8s. And engines are expensive to ship. It usually requires a low price, a local buyer with $ in his pocket and a dedication to the pre-V8 engines and the ability to do the rebuild. So it's definitely a narrow market. Sometimes it's not worth the time or effort to wait for and deal with prospective buyers.
I had to buy a whole damn car to find one for my dads 54 after it grenaded. And it took me two years to find a decent 292 for my truck. Seems in my neck of the woods they just drop in a V8 and send thd L6's to scrap. Sent via Illinois Bell Telephone Company's Car Radiotelephone
Yup, I recently scrapped a shit load of 235 stuff including a standard bore 57 block with zero wear...No one wanted it even for slightly above scrap prices. But finding a good crank can be a problem.
This seems to hold true for just about any make/model originally equipped with anything other than a V8. Forget about making the 6 cylinder "cool" just yank it and stab in a V8. I would rather see a cool 6 banger than another run of the mill V8 swap. In fact...one of my dream cars is a 1970 or 71 plymouth cuda...with its original 225 slant 6. Everyone and their grandma pulled the slants out of those and dropped in V8s to make them "cool." I guess I am not "cool"....
I've played with the thought of putting one in an open hood car. A single exhaust right along the body side.
Would love to have an inline six in my coupe. Just ain't ready to tear everything up to make it happen. Guess I'm too old.
I have a later 235 full pressure in my 53 and it moves the truck okay. People seem to like that I still have the 6 in it. I think they sound cool and you can usually find a running one with trans for about 400 or so bucks. bad for sellers, good for buyers, costly to rebuild. if it runs it is worth keeping if it needs to be completely rebuilt I would say bye bye.
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