Читать книгу Chevrolet Inline-6 Engine 1929-1962 - Deve Krehbiel - Страница 7

PREFACE

The year was 1978. I was driving down a two-lane road near Waco, Texas, and I saw an old pickup with a tree growing through it. The farmer who owned it let me have it for $75. After much ado, I hitched it behind my 1973 Gremlin X and hauled it back home to Hesston, Kansas. I had no idea of the engine’s condition, but the truck was in relatively good shape, considering. It was a 1954 Chevrolet 3100 pickup. The only remaining picture of it is with me in front of Airman Housing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, during my Air Force Technical School days.

I will never forget that truck. After a few parts changes, the engine started right up. The entire truck was mostly serviceable, and I used it all over the country. I drove that truck during Christmas break from Biloxi, Mississippi, to see my new wife at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1,200 miles! No engine overhaul, no maintenance other than the usual (after removing the tree).

Even at the age of 20, I knew that Chevrolet made an outstanding product in the 6-cylinder Stovebolt engine. They are the most resilient engines that I have ever had the pleasure to work with. To this day, if you can find them, you can take a 1950s farm truck that hasn’t been started in more than 40 years, free it up, start it, and run it most of the time without much trouble. Although my marriage didn’t last, the old truck just kept right on!

That truck was my first foray into vehicle restoration, and I didn’t do much with it, but years later I began new frame-up restorations focusing on 1950 Chevy pickups. I decided to write down every aspect of these restorations in careful detail and create a website so my experiences were documented for others. It is a labor of love, and it documents all the mistakes I made along the way and, more important, how to fix what is broken. One system after another, careful documentation, lots of pictures, and a deep desire to succeed drove my work.

As you use this book with your own project, be sure that you follow accepted safety procedures and clearly understand the dangers of machinery, equipment, etc., as well as how to mitigate the dangers by being cognizant and diligent while operating machinery. Please use your common sense. And don’t forget to have fun!

A young and inexperienced Deve in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1978. Sir. Yes, sir!

The 1954 235 was a combination of old style and new styles. With slits in the valve cover and older bottom-end engine parts, it was a unique year for the 235. It was the first truck engine to have insert bearings and full-pressure oiling.

This 1954 235 has the oil bath air filter, bypass oil filter cannister, and mounted horn. After this year, General Motors stopped drilling the intake manifold for mounting the horn but left the boss in that location.