New 235 Acquisition...

So, a friend of mine sent me a post on Craigslist for a "1950's Chevy 6 CYL - Dual Exhaust".  Needless to say, it peeked my interest, especially after I noticed the "GM" on the factory looking dual exhaust manifold.  I called and went to go take a look.  The guy said he bought then engine 15 years ago and had no idea what it came out of.  He alluded to the fact that it might be a Corvette motor. 

Upon some investigation, the casting date was '54.  It have an earlier 216 bellhousing, a single carb intake  and was missing the distributor.  The early 'Vette 235's had dual points so it might be possible that someone took the distributor as I would think they are fairly rare, even more so than the exhaust manifold.  The casting numbers were 3835911 on the block and 3835913 on the head, which according to some sources are correct casting numbers for 'Vettes.  However, for as many sources that say it is, I found the same number that say it isn't.  The engine serial number is 0952I86F54Z.  The F 54 Z code stands for Flint, Michigan, 1954, standard shift engine.  Unfortunately, I believe the Corvette serial would be F54YG.

Regardless, for what he was asking, it was still a good deal....even if it wasn't a 'Vette motor, so of course, I bought it.

 

T5-4116 Adapters back in stock...

I found sometime this weekend to machine another batch of 4 11/16" T5 adapters.  They are back in stock and ready to ship...

You can get them here:
S-10 T5 adapter to GM 235, 261, 250, 292, SBC, etc....

Busy weekend...

Made some more progress on the new building.  The roof is completely done and the rest of the building is entirely wrapped with Tyvek.  We were able to get the siding starter strip and soffit j-channel on so now the wrap shouldn't blow off...hopefully.  The walk-in door is in and most of the required bracing on the inside is done. I still have to install the hurricane clips on the trusses, then it should be ready for inspection.

It's been raining quite a bit here lately, so the next big project is going to be gutters...

a roof over our heads...and machines...

The building is moving right along.  Last Friday, we set the trusses, sheathed the roof, laid the felt paper and finished the drip edge.  Saturday, we came back and got all of the shingles down.  There are still some little things to do before the framing inspection can be completed, but they shouldn't take too long...

Holiday weekend...

We made some good progress on the shop over the holiday weekend.  Luckily the weather was fairly decent except for the snow storm that we were framing the walls in.

Setting the walls with a Gradall felt like we were cheating, but did it ever make it nice.  It took longer to get the machine to the site then it did to actually erect the building...

Next step...the trusses...

Venting....

I was able to finish up the smoker grill.  Originally, the customer wanted two vents installed but changed his mind to having only one.  There is even a handle to he won't burn himself...

Now, if I can only get him to smoke me some large chunks of meat.....mmmmmmm

Hudsons and 5 Speeds...

I had a customer drop off a 262 Hudson motor for me to start designing an adapter for a T5 5 speed.  He's got a '37 Hudson coupe that he wants to drop this in and insists on having a manual.  Pretty cool in my book...

Hudson has some fairly innovative designs back in the day.  The used a wet clutch instead of the more common dry version.  A stamped steel housing covered the clutch and pressure plate and sealed around the throw out bearing.  The clutch sat in about 6 oz. of fluid.  The one thing that strikes me as humorous is that the flywheel actually has drain plugs.