How Many 261's Do I Have?

[1972RedNeck]

I've never been a big six cylinder guy, or any gas engine for that matter, but I have always liked oddities such as GMC V6's, 270's, 302's, etc. We have a bunch (10 or more) old stovebolts around the farm and today I got the bug to look for a 261. It turns out that I for sure have a good running one in a 1959 Viking 60. It has the big oil filter ports on the block along with both sets of captain's bars and a 3836850 head.

I have two more running engines that could be 261's. Both blocks have the two sets of Captain's bars.

The first has F0629LE stamped behind the dizzy and has a 3836848 head. The head is obviously the "sought after" small combustion chamber head off of a 235. I couldn't get the block number as it was freezing cold outside and the grease was super hard.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the stamping comes back as being cast in June of '56. This would rule out the '53/'54 235's that had Captain's bars. Does this mean it is a for sure 261?

The third engine is similar to the second. It has the same 3836848 235 head but has NO numbers stamped in the pad behind the dizzy. It too has both sets of Captain's bars.

Thoughts?

[curmudgeon]

The presence of captain's bars does not necessarily indicate a 261 as you correctly point out about the '54:

http://www.jimcartertruckparts.com/A...261-Engine.php

The only way to be sure of course, is to pull the heads and measure bore size and check the block casting numbers, (I guess you can check after Spring thaw):

http://1954advance-design.com/Stoveb...g-numbers.html