HI, AFTERMESSIN WITH THE 216 IN MY 51 DELUXE, I'VE DECIDED TO SWITCH THE ENGINE AND UPGRADE TO A 250. SO I AM SURE THERE ARE PLENTY OF GUYS/GALS THAT CAN GIVE ME A OPINION ON THIS AND I'D WELCOME ALL. WHAT I'D ALSO LIKE TO KNOW IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A GOOD ONE IN THE TUCSON/PHOENIX AREA. THANKS
I put one (250 chevy l6) in my 65 chevy truck. Oreilly Powertorque. Its an ATK engine number. Solid motor. 3 year unlimited mileage warranty. Run great and made fine power/mileage with a Weber progressive 2 barrel and the stock exhaust and a T5 trans. Really can't beat it for a solid long running and economical performer. Small block chevy crate engine will be cheaper, (and make more power and get about the same mileage with an overdrive) even having to buy the tinware, and i don't think the 216 tin will swap on to a new 250 crate anyway.
My 100k mile 67 Nova had a 250/3/tree when I bought it in 1983, rebuit the engine and swapped in a Muncie 4 speed, made for a nice combination.
Bought a 70 with one with the 3 speed auto for my mom, went over 100 k before sold and it continued on for years. It would be perfect for what you are wanting. U will need side mounts and a trans mount. It will be a pretty tight length fit. Stock radiator will be fine if it’s in good shape. Hp is plenty. A 55-57 rear is almost a bolt in only needing spring perch holes moved forward to center the wheel in the opening. Many have used Camaro/Novas that guys put in 9” Fords. Automatic would definitely be the easiest. A 350 th is a bolt on. Front brakes should be included in your swap but no totally necessary. 12 volt upgrade too.
The later sixes are longer than the early ones; you'll have to move the radiator to the front of the radiator support. I was originally going to use a late six in my 51 Chevrolet Business Coupe, and even had the complete change-over adapter to bolt it up to the original 3 speed transmission. But, I lost interest, gave the car to my nephew, and he wanted to swap in a V-8, so we went that route. I built a 250 six for an OT Nova in about 1976, and it was a little screamer! Chassis Engineering used to have universal engine swap mounts for the later Chevrolet sixes, but since they sold out/quit the business, I don't know if they're still available. Those engines have SEVEN main bearings, so the bottom ends are plenty tough, much more-so than the earlier sixes that had four main bearings. I am Butch/56sedandelivery
Had one in my 36. Duel webbers, headers, drove it all over with never a hic-up. Can get parts everywhere. TH350 then a 700R4, wasn't worth the effort to change the trans. Loved it.
I know many think that this is a form of hollering, shouting, or so on. But no where can I find info on the net that supports this as a Law, Or Mandate. Only as "Netiquette Guideline" . All I can find is that Shout, hollering is a VERBAL action, not a writing action. So in short, there are several reasons why a person posts messages in all caps. 1: Could be a visual problem, that cannot be corrected, even using larger print 2: may be a physical problem. Like Arthritis, lost of fingers, or limb. 3: Could be a person is not that great with punctuation. 4: Out in the real world, CAPS are used a lot in the corporate world, and maybe the person is use to typing that way. What ever the reason, if the CAPS bother you, just delete the message.
jimmy six hit the nail on the head. I had a 250 Mercruiser (boat version of the 250), a th350, and a 57 Chevy rear end in a 48 Aerosedan coupe. Headers and a 4bbl gave it all the personality it needed. You will love it. I second the brake upgrade. I used 70 Chevu pick-up 6 cyl motor mounts, cut to fit, laid them on top of the frame, then welded them in place. I would avoid the integral head/intake version. CL should have them all day long. The 292 is longer, not as easy, not impossible. 230 should be the same, just less cubes. Did it all in the driveway, and I'm just a regular schmo. Get to it.
Imo, the 250 inline is a great little engine. I put one in a '63 C10 with a weber 32/34 carb, hei, split exhaust and a T5 transmission. It was fun to drive and economical. As mentioned, it's not going to be a simple bolt in for the 216 but can be done. Are you keeping the 3 spd and enclosed drive shaft?
Normally any swap from a 216 to anything except a 235 or 261 in a 51-ish Chevy car will require a trans and rear axle swap.
My dad has a 50 Chevy 2 door. He has a 70's 250 with the auto. It is longer. He had to move the radiator forward a couple inches to fit any type of fan on the back side. But it looks nice and drives real good. A lot of Clifford parts on it.
...I've used plenty of 250 Chevy sixes,...have always loved inline sixes,...have 2 old trucks and one car with inline Chevies on em;...they are diehard engines, very economical and plenty of power to cruz anywhere you"d wanna go...
A bunch of my customers with lowriders run them. Simple, cheap, easy, smooth. They are a great cruising engine. I like the stuff from Walton Fabrication. for installation They make excellent products, and are also really good people. https://waltonfab.com/ They actually make all of the mounts that you need to do this, if you don't feel like making everything from scratch. As long as you follow the instructions, their parts fit, with no fuss, or frustration.
Keep an eye out for a 1970s Camaro, or Nova. You can take the engine, transmission, and rear axle from that, along with lots of other useful bits.
I ran a 250 in my 48 truck for years. Length is the issue in swapping them into older Chevys either car or truck. you can shorten the shaft on the water pump and run a shorter pulley to get some clearance though. Fan to accessory clearance becomes an issue then though. The V8 style bellhousing that fits the 194,230,250 and 292 won't bolt directly to the stock 51 standard trans, if you are going open drive that isn't an issue. Throttle linkage may take some thinking to get around. I swapped pedals and used a cable on my 48 but a lot of guys want to keep the original pedal and linkage. Looking at a photo I took of the 68 292 that is going in my 48 they have a bellcrank on the intake to work mechanical linkage to the carb that would be an easy hookup.
WOW GOOD POINT.......20YRS IN THE AIR FORCE....WE ALWAYS USE ALL CAPS.....AS A 42672 JET ENGINE TECH.....WE DONT CARE ABOUT GRAMMAR WITHIN REASON.......IS THE JET BROKE OR NOT AND WHAT WE NEED TO FIX IT......WEAK AIRMAN RUN AROUND CALLING OUT GRAMMER ......WHEN THEY SHOULD BE FIXING JETS......JUST SAYING....
Even though this probably isn't all that HAMB friendly I was so impressed I've saved it over the years from another forum. Just a very detailed 250 showing how nice a straight six can look.
I had one in a '71 Nova... All I did was install a hei distributor and it ran great... Wish I still had it....
I ran one in a '64 Chevelle back in high school, Clifford parts galore in that motor and it was a fast little car. I looked into using one in my current project (1950 Chevy Fleetline) but, for the cost versus power, I opted to go the SBC route. If you go through with it, make sure yo do a build thread so we can check it out and cheer you on!
hey ya'll thanks for the info. sorry about the SHOUTING thing. i had posted a ad on cl and i always shout there because, well, people don't seem to hear on that site. i had just forgotten to take the caps lock off. as for the engine, i found a 74 250 for $350 it looks clean and complete. going to see it tomorrow. it is out of the truck so i can't hear it run. any suggestions on what i should be looking for? thanks again!
Check around the front of the block where the head bolts on. They like to crack there if you over torque the head. I have a 250 in my 52 GMC and love it. Dual carters from Langdon and split cast manifolds. Great gas mileage and I pull our camper with it.
You can do this swap with the stock drivetrain (3 speed trans and torque tube drive). The 250 will not over match the stock trans and rear end if you don't abuse it. The 250 Chev six uses the same manual trans bellhousing as the V8. This bell will bolt up to some pre 55 trannies but not others, there are 2 different bolt patterns on the trans case, the right one is on certain cars and light trucks 1942 - 54 some say they are more common in pickup trucks. The internal parts are the same and will interchange between transmissions. So you need a manual trans flywheel, clutch, bellhousing the right transmission case then as others point out, the engine is longer you may have to move the radiator forward of the rad support. There are other details like motor mounts etc.
I haven chosen a warmed up 250 for my ‘37 Chevy coupe project. I wanted to be (sort of) traditional, keep with a warm six. Some years ago that would have meant a Jimmy 270. But, I want the lighter weight and seven main bearings, etc., of the later engine. Ray
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