I am pulling a 216 out of the 53 Bel Air. The engine was rebuilt and painted back in 1987 (I have the reciepts from the work that was done) It is now stuck due to sitting for so many years in a garage. It "looks" good but is it worth anything or is it just scrap now?? What should I do?
"but is it worth anything or is it just scrap now??" people give them away or throw them away... that doesn't mean people are not looking for the parts. I had one with a giant crack in the block. ended up scrapping the block, head, crank and pistons, but got just over 200 bucks for the rest of the parts on ebay. I'd take it apart and see what it takes to unstick it before i did anything
If the crank is not moving the motor is stuck. Open it up and find out whats wrong could be a stuck piston or bad crank shaft. If you ask for my opinion go with the 235 its a lot better and has more horse power. I had a 216 in my 50 Chevy 5 years ago and swapped it for a Chevy 250 out of a 73 Nova.
I'm in the same situation. Just removed the whole drivetrain from my 50 chevy to put in a v-8. I dont have room to store it for long but I would hate so see it scrapped. I put an add in the classifieds and on craigslist hoping someone can use it. It seems there's a larger market for the 235 than the lowly 216.
I have the 235 for it but for whatever reason, the guy that had it before pulled the 235 out, sold it, and replaced it with the 216.
216's are really only worth something to a restorer - with the splash oiling system, babbitt bearings and cast iron pistons you can't make much power with them. I ended up sending mine to the scrap yard.
A buddy of mine told me to unstick it but then said only an "old man" would want it! He's a mechanic but doesn't work on older cars.
Find a restorer or an Army truck guy. Those old stovebolts are getting pretty hard to find. If it was inside out of the weather it won`t be stuck real bad. Squirt some diesel fuel in the plug holes and try turning it after a week or so. A rebuilt engine is quite tight, it doesn`t take much to lock them up. A trick that works is to squirt a pressure washer in the plug holes. Push hard and seal the nozzle as well as possible in the hole, the pressure will force the piston down and break it loose. Don`t just junk it. You stored it this long, a few weeks to find someone who wants it shouldn`t be too hard to take. If you were closer I`d buy it myself, we have half a dozen Army trucks it would work in. Even a few hundred bucks is better than a trip to the scrap heap.
Are you pulling it because it's stuck or because you don't want it? Either way I would do what R Pope said to find out it's status. If your heart is set on trashing it IM me your details and I'll get the word out on chevytalk.org and to the stovebolt guys - it would be a shame to waste it. ~ Carl
"old mans" got money too. I'd never build one up, but there are plenty of people out there who would.
I pulling it out to put in a 235, but at this point, have a pretty decent hoard going on so I don't have the room for it. Wondering if selling it "as is" is a good idea or a bad idea.
When are you pulling the motor? If it over 3 or 4 days pour some diesel, transmission fluid or at least some MM oil into the spark plug holes. In a few days see if you can spin the crank. There are a lot of car nuts in New England and a LOT of restores - someone's gotta want that motor. Sorry - it just makes me cringe to think of old motor parts and cars being scrapped. BTW - cheers on moving to a 235 and not a SBC!
The 235 is great! The older gentleman I got the parts car from put in alot of work under the hood but failed to see the detramental rot. He was a great guy.
Do guys with 21-stud flatheads haul them to the dump? All old engines are to be treasured. Build a speedster or a '40s-style lakes car. It's not like nobody was hot rodding Chevys before the 235 came out. -Dave
the motor is mostly a 235 splash oiler. All new 1953 Chevy passenger cars had 235s. 54s had the new "full oil pressure" 235 with the familar 4 bolt valve cover.
exactly what i was thinking! those are good motors. they are kinda dogs stock but you can pep them up alittle without busting the babbits out. it would look cool in a really early lil roadster built out of scrap parts. save it
If its the orig motor, its a splash 235. Keep it - lots will interchange with a full pressure 235 (like the head). Keep it - some of that stuff is hard to come by.
It had the 235 but the guy who had it before me pulled the 235 out and sold it, put in the 216. I'm not sure why he would have done that. I sure know I wouldn't have. I have the 235 ready be pulled out of the donor and put in the Chevy just had to figure out what to do with the 216.
Just to give you an idea, there's two of them in a you-pick yard I frequent right now. One of them is just sitting there, loose, it turns over by hand and feels like it has some compression in it yet. $100 plus a core charge would take it home. It's probably going to scrap. Which, if I had it I might try and free it if it looks nice and sell it, but I've had 235s and 216 parts listed on Craigslist and eBay and on here and zero interest. I sold the good carb off one at a swap only because a guy happened to need one right there. Frankly, the one yard here is paying $313 a ton for car stuff without tires and that makes the motor worth close to $100 as scrap (600 lbs or so) - my bad 235 is going, some '56 Pontiac heads are going, and the 216 intake/exhaust I held onto is probably going to go too, and good riddance, along with a '50 manual trans rearend. I can buy other stuff out of the pick side of the yard that shouldn't have been scrapped, with the money, and who cares about these Chevy parts that even if you can find someone who wants them, their head is stuck in 1965 and they don't even want to pay what the scrap man will give you.
Don't really want to scrap it I would rather see it put to use. I am trying to get the $$ together to fund the brake work that the good chevy needs and anything for this broke ass will help. I don't have the room to hold on to the 216 and it has crossed my mind that it would be sitting there with nobody willing to buy it. Have a rusted Chevy that I don't want to see get scraped either but some day I think she might have to unless someone is brave enough to want to rescue her.
If you search the HAMB, there is a thread on building a dirt track racer- and the engine/trans they use is a 216. I have the article saved, but not the link to it... If you do scrap it, I'd be interested in the carb. LOL Thanks! JK
I used the 216 in my wife's 38 chev and rebuilt it. Had isky grind a cam and put an offy with two single barrel carbs. It runs ok but now wish I would have gone with a later model six that would be more reliable and have better power.
just did the "easy swap to better sixes" to install a 235 in my '46 chevy because the 216 was stuck, after tearing down the 216 for the front mount plate I discovered that the lifters had some surface rust keep ing them from moving, now I've got a 216 in pieces that was a good engine and too many projects to reassemble it. I would advise taking the side cover off and inspect your lifters before doing much else.
Alright guys, put the diesel in waited couple days went back, no luck. So I decided to take it apart. Pistons are cleaner than dinner plates so I'm thinking its a bad crank. Any suggestions?
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