After several months of inactivity, I finally made a little progress
on the old 3600 project. I hoisted Dave Riffle's old 235 motor up onto the
tailgate of my FORD pickup (don't ask what happened to my outdoor workbench)
to remove the clutch, flywheel and bellhousing. All went pretty much as
expected until I got to the bell housing itself.
Whoever had last assembled this motor had left off the lower
bellhousing bolts! I reckon that somebody put the flywheel and clutch on and
only then remembered that the bellhousing goes on first. They probably said
something like "Oh Bother" and mumbled something to themselves about "these
old Chevys are all cast iron anyway" and just went ahead and put it together.
Dave reported no trouble in service so maybe it doesn't matter much.
With the motor safely on it's motor stand I am now able to get a good
look at things. First the numbers. With the starter off, the casting numbers
are CON4 29. The stamped numbers the distributor are FIOI4A. Can anybody
translate these?
Second, the tin cover over the tappet/pushrod area has some old
lengths of aluminum bar stock drilled so that the lower rank of capscrews can
go through them and on into the block. The tin covers have copious quantities
of gasket goo extruded out in a most untidy manner and there is evidence of
plenty of leaking oil. Are these non-Chevy bits attempts to stem the tide,
and if so, isn't there a better way to go about this? Are these covers prone
to leaking? Should my cover be damaged, are they readily available? Are the
finned cast aluminum hot rod covers any better?
Paul O'Neil,
1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
Fullerton, California USA
Hudson29@aol.com
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