History Crazy shit at the junkyard

Whilst on another junkyard date with my fiancé, I stumbled upon a Ford F1 with a peculiar v8 swapped in that I couldn't identify. The lady examined the block, and found it to be aluminum. Yall, we found a Buick 215 v8.

 

I think it's an Olds, though.

 

The 215 aluminum brock was used in the Buick Special in 1961.

I think Pontiac & Oldsmobile both used the aluminum V8 from 1961 -1963. HRP

 

Cleaned up it would make a nice coffee table

 

Depending on how much they want for it, I'll get it just to have. These are pretty rare these days I'm sure.

 

Leaves were optional

 

The valve covers are Olds. The Buick version looked more like a nailhead.

Subtle differences, most guy don't even know they are two different engines.

 

Would make a cool T Bucket engine
Dan

 

The Olds version used their own heads whereas Buick had their own that looked nailhead like. Short blocks are the same although the pistons may be specific to the heads used.

 

I ended up with around seven of the 215's by buying C list piles for a couple hundred dollars. I assembled one runner so far and working on another that will be a 300 cu in using a 300 crank. Plus a Rover which started as a 215 cu in but grew to 300cu in plus in England.
It is a neat little engine and fit the Ruby which is what prompted the accumulation.

 

We went to another junkyard and things only got crazier. I quite literally fell to my knees before this automotive royalty.

 

Worth twice as much if the air cleaner was still on it.

 

And if it was a Twin-H you would really have something!

 

I had a 215 in my '62 Skylark....great little engine!!

 

had a friend of a friend who hated American cars. he bought a new Rover with the Buick motor. he had no idea until I mentioned it, but I made sure to point it out every time I could so he would remember. his only American car he ever owned was a Vega, maybe he should have put a 215 in it.

 

2 door version of one just 5 miles south of me. About the same shape. Sitting way down in the dirt. Pretty sure whole botton is bout gone.
A 48 convertible just 3 miles south of that.
Not for sale. (Uncle was murdered in it in the early 50's. )

 

No offense to your friend, but if someone picked a Vega as the only American car they'd buy, there's nothing I can call them other than an idiot.

 

If your friend owned a Vega I can understand why he was sour on American cars.

 

If that's the order it happened in it makes sense, but the mental image I got was of someone refusing to buy American cars for decades, and then finally settling on a Vega.

 

As a kid I had a friend who put one in his Vega, stupid fast.

 

Mickey Thompson attempted to qualify a 215 Buick engine and a 215 Oldsmobile engine in his rear-mounted engine cars, at The Indianapolis 500. *Neither "Qualified"

 

Back in the 60s, Repco-Brabham sohc V8 formula 1 engines were based on the Buick-Oldsmobile aluminum block, however they were much modified and that was the only part of the engine used for the F1 engine. The heads were 2-valve sohc crossflow, the crankshaft was EN40 billet steel, and single plane. One of the most unique features was the dry sump system, which used a two stage pump, and the oil pan/sump was cast with a passage that was the oil pickup for the sump. There was a shuttle valve system that moved front to back under braking or acceleration that opened the appropriate port in the pan for where the oil would be. Only using one return pump section saved them a few horsepower. It was also successful, winning the title in its first year of racing.

 

The 215 was a great little engine but the dual path 2 speed automatic was crap!!

 

Buddy of mine in his Vega going down the highway. Think the guy next to us is yelling you have a flat tire, what he really said was the car's on fire. Common for the Vega.

 

Gurney did qualify in ‘62 with Mickey’s aluminum Buick powered car. Didn’t finish.

 

About 5 years ago I was walking through the pic-a-part in Charleston SC and there was a Daimler 250 (actually a Jaguar Mk2 body) with the Daimler 250 hemi v8 in it. I don't know if it was stuck/busted/blown but if i'd had the time to mess with it I would have bought it just to HAVE it...

 

I've often thought a V8 out of a junked Range Rover would be a good hot rod engine. Get rid of the complex FI system and put on a four barrel carb and manifold and some finned valve covers. If you were obsessive you could even polish the heads and block.

 

I owned a '62 convert briefly, with the flexible bendy driveshaft and a transaxle.
Weird.

 

As a UK resident I find it very amusing all this enthusiasm over Rover V8s haha, maybe I should just round a load up and ship them stateside. Anyone up for a RV8 > SBC trade