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54 engine ID help

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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 10:36 AM
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Default 54 engine ID help

Here's the block #'s....09037I5 F54Z. There's an attached tag just below the ID# that says "Power-Pak rebuilt engine". I think it's a 54 engine (F54Z) but not the correct one for this car? Thanks
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 10:51 AM
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The 54 Corvette engine code ended in YG, and looked like:



According to a website, the Z code engine you have started its life in a Chevy Two-Ten, manual transmission, single carb, with 115 hp. Website.

Does the head end with a 241 casting number? The 241 head was not a great head - many cracked if the car overheated. 241 heads were Corvette only, so are hard to find now.

Russ

Last edited by YesA59; Oct 11, 2008 at 10:57 AM. Reason: Added Info
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by YesA59
The 54 Corvette engine code ended in YG, and looked like:



According to a website, the Z code engine you have started its life in a Chevy Two-Ten, manual transmission, single carb, with 115 hp. Website.

Does the head end with a 241 casting number? The 241 head was not a great head - many cracked if the car overheated. 241 heads were Corvette only, so are hard to find now.

Russ
Yes the head # is 3836241, I think the stove bolt 6's were all the same with the difference in HP being the head/carb(s) setup. Just my opinion tho....

Last edited by MasterDave; Oct 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM.
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 11:45 AM
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Originally Posted by MasterDave
Yes the head # is 3836241, I think the stove bolt 6's were all the same with the difference in HP being the head/carb(s) setup. Just my opinion tho....
I think you are right, except the later 54s had a slightly different cam, which boosted the hp by 5.

The old 6's could be tweaked significantly for greater performance. Take a look at this contemporaneous article (in pdf): Soup That Chev.

Russ
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by YesA59
I think you are right, except the later 54s had a slightly different cam, which boosted the hp by 5.

The old 6's could be tweaked significantly for greater performance. Take a look at this contemporaneous article (in pdf): Soup That Chev.

Russ
Now that's funny! Still, that's what they had in the day and they did what they could.
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 03:30 PM
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As I recall, it was only a year or two before the Corvette that the passenger car sixes still had splash lubrication with "dippers" on the rod caps and had cast iron pistons.
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 03:36 PM
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My '54 had a 3638241 head, or so I thought. After I bought it I started working on it I noticed the expansion tank studs wre screwed in to the side of the head with bolts. The bolt holes were drilled and tapped into the side of the head and it had no factory casting bosses. I took a magnet and placed it on the casting number and discovered it was nonmagnetic. Further investigation revealed that the original head numbers were ground off with a grinder and JB Weld was mixed and stamped with bogus numbers made from an impression from a correct head. I later found a good condition correct head for it, boxed it and set it aside. For now the wear and tear will go on the look-a-like head.

Here's a picture of the engine stamp pad on my '54 for your reference. It has all the right numbers for the car including the casting number and date code. I checked the 911 block numbers with a magnet and it was good. If anyone thinks this pad is bogus I'd like to hear from you. I've looked at a handfull of stamp pads and they all look a little quirky to me.


Last edited by Randy G.; Oct 11, 2008 at 03:44 PM.
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 06:44 PM
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Default Re-stamping The Pad

If the pad is not too wide already, it can be milled and re-stamped to look as it should. I have an excellnt source for this work, if needed.

Brett
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by JohnZ
As I recall, it was only a year or two before the Corvette that the passenger car sixes still had splash lubrication with "dippers" on the rod caps and had cast iron pistons.
'53 manual trans cars still had splash/rod dippers & 216 cu. in.. '53 Powerglide cars had full pressure to the rods & 235 cu. in.. '54 all had pressure lube & 235's.

I rebuilt a '53 PG engine for a friend around 1964 and put it in his manual trans car. I had to make a 'special' size pilot bushing for the PG crank using a drill press and a mill bastard file.

The 216 dipper rod engines would fade fast if you ran them hard. Spent a lot of time under some removing rod shims & checking with Plastiguage.

Grandfather bought a brand new piston grinder for his machine shop just before everyone discontinued using steel pistons. Wound up hauling it to the scrap iron recycler. I don't think he ground more than a couple sets on it, if that many.

Sam Hassebrock Automotive Machine Shop, 7th & Sidney, St. Louis, Mo.
Just north of the brewry (Bush). I55 runs over the site.

Last edited by 67L36Driver; Oct 11, 2008 at 11:15 PM. Reason: John led me astray with the cast iron.
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by 67L36Driver

Grandfather bought a brand new piston grinder for his machine shop just before everyone discontinued using cast iron pistons. Wound up hauling it to the scrap iron recycler. I don't think he ground more than a couple sets on it, if that many.
OK, I'll show my ignorance (or my age) here...... what on earth do you do with a piston grinder? Yeah, yeah, I see that one coming.... you grind pistons. But how and why?

Jim
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Old Oct 11, 2008 | 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by jim lockwood
OK, I'll show my ignorance (or my age) here...... what on earth do you do with a piston grinder? Yeah, yeah, I see that one coming.... you grind pistons. But how and why?

Jim
I understand that back pre '50's ('40's?) some engines used steel pistons. You bought them oversize and ground them to fit what you bored the block to. I don't remember Grandpa ever using the damn grinder in my presense.

Note:
My experience with machinery is that a moderately hard steel shaft will run in a cast iron bushing/housing extremely well at low surface speeds. So a steel piston in a cast iron bore would wear very well given the large load bearing area.
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