Buick 215

I was wondering if there is any companies that specialize in the 215 V8s or who carries a large amount of parts for them?

 

LOTS, in England.

Used to be some here, before engine mods were essentially outlawed.

Some 225 Buick V6 parts interchange.

64 Buick 300 aluminum heads have bigger valves and ports.
Crank will fit too, if you want to stroke it a bit (305 Chevy pistons = 244").

Or just make life easy, get a fuel injected Rover engine.
The Rover blocks are stronger and not so rotted from corrosion.

One of my favorite engines.

Here is one I once built, 13.05 in the 1/4, about 160 MPH on the road, in an 1800 lb. sports car.

 

Try D&D Fabrications.

http://www.aluminumv8.com

Also, do a search. Lots of discussion here.

 

Trans was from a Renault, same as Delorean used.

Most of the parts came from England, never got to dyno the engine so exact HP is unknown.

You really are better off to start with a Rover engine, even with carbs.
I ran four Webers and custom tri-Y headers.
Heads were the 64 Buick 300's

A 3.9 Rover V8 is easy to find.
They are the best bet for a strong engine, the 4.2 has too thin cylinder walls.
If you never intend to do a rebuild it again a 4.2 is fine, but tends to cost more.

Lots of U.S. cams and pistons available, some oiling system and valve train parts are the same as a Buick V6.

 

Lots of info on here: http://www.britishv8.org/index.htm

215 - 300/340 hybrids are not unknown.

 

I cant use a rover motor, I already have the Buick. I just want to get a modest amount of power and good reliability. Im putting it in a 29 Model A sedan.

 

The stock motors were pretty peppy. A bit of cam, headers, and an Edelbrock intake with a small 4 barrel carb will push you down the road just fine. The original cars weighed about 3,200 pounds. Your Model A should weigh a lot less.

 

If you want to, please contact David Ray, (aka, Ignitionman), on the boards because he chatted with me several years ago about his B&S'd one that I want to say he had in a Vega! (Close to 300"s???)...

I had both an Olds and a Buick, but through the years, they got trashed.

I still have the Buick's AFB intake up on my shelf out in the garage only because to me, it's just too dam cute to scrap!

And my Olds engine's intake had the round turbo-seal "hat" ring on it along with the 2-barrel carb linkage that went through the ring down so it sealed under boost, but it wasn't a 215 turbo engine.

pdq67

 

The '61-'63 blocks are thick enough that you can bore the original sleeves out of them and bore the holes large enough to accept 3.75 inch sleeves and run 265 Chevy pistons with the stock stroke for 247 cubes.

 

Throw in the crank from a Buick 300 and you get an aluminum block 300 cu in.

 

And if you are a YOUNG, stout guy like I am no LONGER, you should be able to pick it up and pack it off in your arms!!

Ready to run!!!!!!!!!!

pdq67

 

KEP made or still makes a adaptor plate to run any later GM trans = Glide or turbo. I have two he made for me back in the early 80's
Van

 

taperformance.com has some parts i believe as well

 

thanks for all the info, its always good to learn more about things you never thought you would

 

The Buick engines will rev higher than the stock rocker shaft will survive if you keep your foot in it with a light car.

Not certain, but the Rover shafts and rockers probably fit and are sure to be stronger.
Used sets should also be easy to find, and cheap, from the 3.5 engines.

The other items to really look at carefully are oiling and the aluminum timing cover/water pump base.

 

Another fan of the 215!

 

I always wanted to stroke a 215, been holding on a CHERRY 300 crank waiting to find a cheap 215. Awesome motor Rover still uses a Hybrid Buick V8 in their SUV's!

 

Well, not quite "still". The last Rover version of the Buick sold in the US in 2002 and the last one sold worldwide was 2006. The 4.0 and 4.6 liter versions have cross-bolted mains.

 

I have a cheap 64 300 for sale if anyone is interested. PM me.

 

Not to Hijack, but I guess I am... I have a lot of Olds 215 parts I need to sell, almost a complete engine minus block, pistons and rods, but many spares... PM me..

 

When these were new the Buick and Olds used different piston and head designs.

Switching heads would raise the compression, but I forget which way the head swap went.

 

I think that Olds heads on a Buick block resulted in nearly 12:1 compression.

 

Are there any good books on these engines?

 

215 In an A? I like your style.

 

Thanks KrisKustomPaint Im wanting to do something that is a bit different. Not the over used SBC in a model a.

 

I've got a nice 11:1 Buick 300 just waiting for the day I stumble across the right A or T project

 

So a 215 block with 300 heads... would the 215 intake and exhaust manifolds bolt back up?

 

Yes, though you might want to port match the intake to the larger 300 heads.

 

also might try poston, they are buick specialists, but not sure if they cover 215s. I would like to build a Track T with a 300 cranked 215, 450 holley, home made track-style pipes. BTW, late 90s S-10 (15 X 7) steel wheels with the triangular cutouts are a close modern match to an artillery wheel.