Wanted: Piston for Chev Engine

[cletrac (RIP)]

First of all, Chev never made a 239. That's a Ford. The 216s had cast iron pistons and the later 235s had aluminum pistons. I'm not sure about the early 235s. Before getting a piston you'd better make sure whether it's standard bore or oversize.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by cletrac

. The 216s had cast iron pistons .

Yes, but there was also various brands of aftermarket 216 alloy pistons made , they were even made here . I've got a set of dome top 216 alloy pistons ..from EPAY years ago. They are about 30% lighter than the cast iron type.

Toby, if your bore size is 3.5" it will be a 216 ..I think Im correct

Mike

[Bob McNeill]

the 216 on epay are .020 o/s flat tops, there is a 235 dipper feed motor in my shed, have,nt lifted head to see if its a 4 ring piston.

[jim sewell]

Toby
There are several steps to take to determine what piston you are after.
1. measure the bore accurately , ie snap gauges , digital verniers etc
These engines came out as 3.500 inches ( blitz's )or 3. 5625 inches ( others )
and determine if bored out to o/size ( some piston manufactures stamp the o/s on the head of the piston.
2.Referring to the picture where you are hoisting out the engine and looking at the angle of the water pump inlet pipe I would say this is a blitz engine that originally had domed cast iron pistons and a single hole in the block where the water pump bolts up to.Check how many holes in your block .
3. Looking at the picture of the piston I would guess that it is made of aluminium alloy , so it may have been a replacement set at some time , maybe had a rebore at the same time.
4. Looking at the picture of the block with the pistons in it , they appear to be flat heads , so the replacement pistons may not have had domed heads.
Check whether they are flat or not .
Summary
Blitz engines originally had domed cast iron pistons , were 216 ci , had single hole from water pump to block . A similar engine made about the same time had two holes into the block with flat top pistons , not many engine parts are interchangeable between these two engines.
So firstly determine what engine you have.
Regards
Jim S.

[Mike K]

scan from the 1950 edition of the Victor Page book..I have both the Chev and Ford versions of this informative book. At just under 1000 pages ... much info .


The page is refering to the 1941 model changes ....

Mike

[Mike K]

The book covers up to 1950 . It describes the introduction of hydraulic valve lifters on the 235 ci motor as fitted to the Powerglide auto transmission .

BTW the 216 first appeared in the 1937 models ... in the book, he refers to the 1935 206.8ci motor as the 'blue flame' motor. ( bore 3 5/16" )

[Mike K]

the 1937 motor .........