6 Cylinder vs 8 Cylinder Bellhousings

[Bill Clippinger]

Bellhousing bolt pattern question.

Did the 235 six-cylinder engine use the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the small block V8? In other words, if I wanted to remove a 235 engine and install a 283 or a 327, would the bellhousing/transmission bolt up correctly?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

[Wayne P.]

Re: 6 Cylinder vs 8 Cylinder Bellhousings

I think it will work ,but why not change that boat anchor tranmission as well? An aluminum powerglide or turbo are both easy changes.

[Mike M.]

Re: 6 Cylinder vs 8 Cylinder Bellhousings

a 235CI BELL WILL NOT FIT A sb OR bb CHEVY ENGINE.MIKE

[Dave Suesz]

Are you putting a V8 in an early C1?

Because the early Blue Flame cars are a lot of fun as is. Classy looks, and the Corvette+6 cylinder combo drives people nuts. If you want to go faster, get another car. The 6 cyl car can be upgraded with the drivetrain/suspension from the later C1, but it'll cost a fortune and kill the value of the car.

[Tom P.]

Re: Are you putting a V8 in an early C1?

I'm not going to debate the issue of 6 vs V-8, or value of the car with an engine swap, etc, etc. But, to answer your question, here is what you need to know. Starting in '55, ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Chevy V-8 engines----265, 283, 350, SB400, 348/409, 396/454, will bolt up to the same bell housing. Also, ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL straight 6 and V-6 Chevy engines SINCE 1963 have the same bell housing bolt pattern as all of the V-8s.
The 1962-earlier straight 6s (216, 235 and truck 261) have a totally different bell housing bolt pattern from the V-8s and 63-later 6s (the 6s, just like the Corvettes, were TOTALLY redesigned for 63, NOTHING interchanges).
Now, the tranny bolt pattern on the BACK side of both 6 and V-8 bell housings are the same since '55 (the front side of 54-earlier pass car trannys have a different bolt pattern from 55-later).