Chevy fleetline engine identity

I have just imported to the UK a lovely 49 Chevy Fleetline which the previous owner tells me has a 235 engine instead of the original 216, I have been trying unsuccessfully to match up the engine number, any chance any of you guys can tell me what this code is saying????

3836848 and below it is cast GM5

Thanks in advance.

 

I think you might have the casting number off the head ....the block # is down by the starter......little tough to see. The 848 on the head would indicate that it is a later engine though .......and the more desireable one .

 

Sorry forgot to add........www.inliners.org has a listing of castig numbers that might help your cause .

 

Thanks for that, will hunt for the other number and put it on here when I have found it.

 

I believe its the head number

 

Look at the block, just above the pan rail behind the exhaust pipe. If there's a three-bolt tin plate there, it's a dipper babbit pounder. If there is no plate, it's a pressure oiler.

 

Usually, but the 50-52 cars with automatics and hydraulic lifter 235's were without the plate. These engines are identifiable by the cylinder head casting.

 

"848" would make it 1953-62 vintage. If the water pump is higher than the top of the block, its a 1953-54 or '55 first series truck.
If not, then 55-62.
55-57 blocks have no 3 bolt side motor mount. 58-62 have the 3 bolt sidemount.
Note that this head will fit a '53 235 from a truck or manual trans. car, which were both babbit pounders.

The block casting number is below and forward of the distributor.

The stamped code just to the rear of the distributor may help as well.

 

Thanks for the info, have had another look and the only other details I can find on the casing are cast just above the starter motor on the right hand of the engine, reads as follows; CON4 H24
There is nothing in front of the distributor and the water pump sits right at the top of the block mainly mounted on the end of the cylinder head.
You'll also have to excuse my ignorance but "Babbit Pounder"? Not a term I am familiar with so lets add that to the list of questions.

 

I could be wrong but I believe the 216 has 2 nuts on top of the valve cover and the 235 has 4 bolts(2 on each side) on the sides of the valve cover.

Like I said, I could be wrong.

 

'54-62 engines were 4 bolt valve covers. '53-earlier were 2 bolt, regardless of displacement.

 

H24 should be the date code Which would translate to August 2, 1954. And with the water pump not sticking above the block deck, it should be an early 1955 vintage car engine. No provision for a 3 bolt sidemount. May or may not have hydraulic lifters.

The stamped serial number is behind the dizzy, on the machined pad right next to the clamp that holds the dizzy in place.

The casting number for the block is below and a few inches forward of the dizzy. If the block is covered in crud, scrape it off...


"Babbit pounder" is a slang term for an engine that has the rod bearing material poured onto the connecting rod. In other words, the bearings are part of the rod and not replaceable. The material is called babbit. "Babbit poured" is another way of describing the rods.
In the case of the older Chevy sixes, the rods also do not get pressurized oil fed to them via the crankshaft.
"pounder" is what happens when you rev one of these engines too high for too long. The rod bearing/journals give up and the motor starts to hammer or "pound"...
So, babbit pounder...

 

What also has to be accounted for is that any amount of swapping around may have occurred with these engines. The head and block may be from different years, if the engine has ever been swapped or rebuilt. This is why both the head and the block casting #'s need to be checked.

The 848 head can be used on older engines to give a slight boost in compression ratio. A 235 may be disguised to look older with a 216 valve cover by using two threaded studs on top of the valve train in place of the 235 V.C., which uses the four screws around the edge. Same deal for most all of the aluminum after market V.C.'s.

BTW, a babbit pounder is an older engine that was manufactured with the bearing material already on the block to support the crank, rather than the later insert bearings, which can be replaced during a rebuild, rather than having to get the block re-babbited, which requires a shop that specializes in this work. Typically, Chevys w/ babbit engines did not pump oil throughout the entire engine, but used dippers mounted on the crank to distribute oil through part of the engine rotating assembly; they were also known as dipper or oil-slinger engines.

The later engines with the oil pumps did not have oil filters, but 216's and 235's may be converted to spin-on filters with a little extra machining done during a rebuild. For full details on this, check out the Inliners site.

Later, Kinky6

 

Snarl, you surfin' the HAMB during your lunch break, too?



Kinky6

 

Chevys w/ babbit engines did not have an oil pump,

when did they not have an oil pump? I'm sure all the 216's had oil pumps.

 

I think you misinterpreted what he said, sounds like the water pump is the early one.

Yeah, I think they all had oil pumps to oil the mains/rockers etc

 

All Chev 6's have oil pumps, 1929 on up. Any dipper I ever had, and that's lots of 'em, had the plate on the side. It's a regulator for the oil going to the dipper trays. No plate, it's a high pressure engine.
'55 was the first with the 4-bolt valve cover, at least in Canada. Had a few '54's like that. My '52 235 has the little plate, it's a dip.

 

I thought he might have meant that as well, which is why I worded my reply the way I did. I'm trying to get him to double check the numbers.

If it is the earlier engine, the block casting number would be at the front right corner of the engine. There will also be no angled two bolt mounting pad at the front right corner.


With the earlier water pump and a H24 date code, that would make it a late '54 car or '55 1st series truck engine. The stamped code by the dizzy will pin in down for sure....

 

And during work too....

 

O.K., mea culpa, and all that jazz! Typing while distracted, ya know?

Yeah, they got oil pumps, but not all of the oil actually got pumped through the engine, some of it got squirted into little dippers as the crank rotated for the lower end lube. Can't remember if it was just for rods & pistons, or crank also, but anyway, it saved a lot of drilling for oil passages. Definitly not the last word in internal lube management.

Later, Kinky6

 

I knew I was in the right place for the info I was after and thanks to everyone for posting.

I have been searching for more casting numbers but other than the big GM7 right at the bottom front right hand side I can't find anything. The plate to the left of the distributor is blank and there is nothing else in front of it.

As I had a spare minute I thought I would put up some pics and see if that helps. Also whilst we are here, whats the glass jar wit the screw top for??

 

Glass jar with screw on top is a reservoir for windshield washer fluid.

 

On the right side of the block below the seam for the side cover and behind the distributor is an ear. Stamped into the ear is a 6 or 8 digit number followed by a two or three digit/letter code. That code can be googled to ID the exact place the motor came from. You will probably have to scrape crud off it, but there is no other reason for there to be a bulge on that part of the motor.

The block casting code is also helpful and is ahead of the distributor on the side of the block and often covered in grease/dirt. Usually 6 digits and about 5/8" high.

 

It's a 1954, or a 1955 1st series truck engine. Parts are all the same.

here's were the casting number is


here's were the stamped code is