Thread: question about my 235 chevy

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Hey guys
I'm new guy on the block and i had a question about my 235 chevy. I have had for a about a year now a 1958 project car that i am rebuilding with the assistance of my dad and we are going to get the beloved clifford 4-barrel intake. WE talked to the clifford guys and they said that pretty much the only good choice was the holley-390. we had been looking at the edelbrock 500's but apparently the 235's cant handle that much flow without some serious metering rod tweaking. And also they said that there was a problem with fitting the fenton headers witht he cliff intake and that, due to what i guess is roughness, the fentons are not as good at scrounging the exhaust. So basically my question is whther or not any of you out there have had any expirience with these problems and systems and if you could offer either verification, or alternatives, or any advice whatsoever. And on a long shot, if any of you are familiar with the hot rods fo norco and the ceramic tube headers that they make, i would like to know if there is any problem with mounting those headers with the cliffrd intake. LAstly, just wanted to know the real deal about the ceramic coating, good-bad-worthless-overpriced-what?

The help is much appreciated


Biggy B

more questions down the line no doubt

Welcome aboard. You don't want to build that 235, the engine you want is a 216. (that's a joke, and a long story.............don't ask..... ) Actually, the 235 of that era is a pretty good little engine, and will respond to the slight mods you are planning. Yeah, I think a 390 is a better choice. General rule is 100 cfms per 60 cubes, so 235 works out to just about 390 on the nose.( of course, I'm running 2 x 500 cfms on 306 cubic inches, but I'm not good at math )

I can't answer your questions about the Clifford stuff, but others on here will. However, I can address the ceramic coating. If you are talking about HPC and some of the others, they are great IMO. My Limefire headers were coated 15 years ago, ran the car on the street daily in rain and everything, and they still are presentable. Plus they coat the inside too, so you don't get rustouts.

Until you get the engine dialed in, don't install your shiny coated headers. You run the risk of cooking the coating if you are running too rich or lean. I slightly blackened mine because I was too impatient and wanted to hear my rod fire up for the first time.

Don

HEy thanks for the help, i think were stuck with the 390 holley anways, so its good to know its the way to go, just wish it wasnt so expensive -- got any secret lairs for cheap carbs? i'll keep asking around for someone who has mocked up the norco headers on a clifford intk but i guess there is something to be said for a nive system that was made for itself.

Did have another question- clearance. would anyone happen to know if a clifford intake with a holley slapped on is gonna fit under my hood -- '58 biscayne--? are there any aircleaners out there that dont look like upside down helmets that'll fit under there?

I'd leave the 4bbl alone and get 3 Rochester 1bbl's, using a offenhauser 3 carb intake, and go to www.stoveboltengineco.com and get a set of his tubular headders. reason I say this is, the 2 end cylinders on these 6's tend to run lean due to the fact they use exhaust gas to heat the intakes, which leaves droplets by the end cylinders, the 3 1's will give the end cylinders what they need. you will save a few bucks also. you could also drop about 1k on a 235 blower manifold ( no longer made ) and put a 4/71 blower on it, if you wanted extreme power from that 235.

dont have to money for the blower but it would be nice. I was cautioned against a 3 carb set up due to the fact that you would be sucking all barrels all the time. whereas with the 4 you are only using as much as you need until the secondaries kick in.true?

That realy depends on how you set your linkage

Originally Posted by stoveboltkid'58

dont have to money for the blower but it would be nice. I was cautioned against a 3 carb set up due to the fact that you would be sucking all barrels all the time. whereas with the 4 you are only using as much as you need until the secondaries kick in.true?

yes if u use a straight linkage, if u use a progressive linkage, they'll go 1 at a time depending on your foot position. with a 4bbl, you will always use at least 2bbls, then ither depending on your foot position ( mechanicle secondaries ) or when vacume allows it ( vacume secondaries ) the second set of 2bbls opens up.

[QUOTE=Itoldyouso] "Welcome aboard. You don't want to build that 235, the engine you want is a 216."

Aw, come on, Don, cut our man Zak a little slack! The guy's FIFTEEN!

Shoot! When I was fifteen:
(1) I was certain that my career in life was to be raising Chester White pigs.
(2) I had the hots for my just-out-of-college English teacher.
(3) My dream car was one of those little "King Midget" things with an air cooled one-lung Wisconsin engine.

Then I learned that hog farming is hard work. Then I learned that my English teacher was meaner than a damn snake.

But I'd still like to have a King Midget.

Jim

well the oofy idea does sound interesting but i'd really have to work it over my pops who is real big on "mechanical soundness is worth more money"
so my question is how much gain really are we talking about in the fueal mileage departament and how much power am i gonna lose on the low end with the three carb set up. SOme things to consider: probalby 2/3 of this daily driver will be highway, how much would the offy package with threee roch's cost? less than a clifford intk and holley 390? I'd have to be 100%sure that whatever headers i got would fit witht he offy, and how hard and expensive is a tri throttle linkage?

pick up the 3 235 rochester on ebay from $1-30 bucks a peice from variouse sellers, rebuild them for about 20 bucks a peice. you could use Carter W1's if you got the 216 manifold, it will bolt up but the bolt spacing is diffrent, which is the Carter W1's bolt spacing. as for fuel mialage, if your driving at like 50-55 MPH and only 1 carb is open, your only using 1 carb, as u go faster your efficency will naturally drop. progressive linkages can be bought but are not hard to make with some steel rod, a thread die for that size rod anda couple plates u can cut out, I like the 1's that use the center carb as the carb that is the main carb ( put the choke on this 1, all others have no choke ) and the carb that opens first, for fuel distrobution, it's smack dab in the center just as the original was. only problem is keeping the carbs tuned in right, but u can get a balance bar from www.speedwaymotors.com to tune them in right, it's not gonna affect the cars reliability if there out of tune, your just gonna know it. www.stoveboltengineco.com has everything you need, and it's 1 guy that runs it, Steve Langdon he should be able to answer any questions u may have. I do know that Fentons will work with the offenhauser intake with the fenton heat riser kit, what u might want to do is have your factory exhaust manifold split into 2 exhaust, then u can run the offenhauser intake with no problem cause it will sit on the factory heat riser, just like the original. another thing you could consider is a 2bbl from stoveboltengineco, he sells Holley/webber 2bbls for like $89 each, you could get 1 of these along with 1 of his 1-2bbl adapters he sells to fit these on, bolt that up to your factory intake, run a split manifold and go cruising, that's a little less complicated than most options. you will need an elecrtic fuel pump in any case due to the fact, the 3 1's will require more GPH of fuel, a 390 holley needs 6-7 PSI of fuel and your stock mechanicle is pumping out 3.5 PSI, and the holley webber needs around 4-5 PSI. also need an ajustable regulator. the pump can be put after the original pump or eliminate the mechanicle pump with a block off plate.

WOW man, you really set me up, and i really appreciate it. I'm gonna present all this new info to my pops and see what he thinks but i'm sure if he has any doubts he can ask you guyz.

THanks so much for the help, wish i could return the favor


I'll kepp the questions rolling

B

Don't ever sell a "-bolt" short; built right, they can pretty well hold their own against almost any V-8 of the same size and level of build - they just sound different, that's all. I had a 235 in a '57 Chevy 210, that could stay with most of the stock "under 283 inch" bent blocks around; the only advantage it had was that I had balanced it and held it to tight tolerances when I rebuilt it.

Hey stoveboltkid'58, check this one out on Ebay. Item number: 160002053171


This one is really Old Skool Cool.


Don

Hey guys

well we ended up going with the 390 holley with the clifford water ehated manifold and fenton split exhausts. REally great package, at least for me. Still working for the dual exhausts all the way back cause well, whats the point of split headers on a six with no duals, right?!?!

Anyways thanks for all the ehlp and i will know where to come for more questions

B

does anyone know a lot about a chevy 216. you see i bought a new battery to start it, it started and ran till i turned the damn thing off. now it turns over but wont start.any advice would help