Buick from Springfield is a 1950, ran 150 on the first day at the salt this year. look up car #1950 for other runs.
That car is a 38. At least the grille is. Don't know why they dumped the dual carb setup, most likely a war/rationing deal. The dual intake is a bolt-on, the heads from the earlier 248 and the 263 are interchangeable. The 248 had progessively larger main bearings, front to back, cranks are not the same. I suppose you could turn a 263 crank down to those stepped bearing sizes of the 248, but I think it would be simpler to just PM me and I'll ship you one of the 263 blocks I have stacked in the garage.
You guys got it all wrong, those motors are worthless. Hell the scrap guy will make you pay him to take it. Take it out, put in a small block chevy and send that lump of***** to me, I'm always happy to help out a fellow HAMBer
May I add that I figure ALL stock straight-8's, idling, will balance a nickel on top of a flathead headbolt or ohv valve cover bolt head! They all run that smooth. Great old engines and the Packard-8 is probably the biggest of them all(???)..... pdq67
yeah that's why I am selling all my smallblock stuff to keep my 263.... and I am willing to trade the sb stuff for a good 41-42 intake and exhaust setup
I got a line on a dual exhaust for my inline 8.... it's the 41-42 exhaust... can I run that with my stock 53 mani? then dig up a dual intake at a later date?
small block chevys are like****wholes everyone has one and they stink. Why be like everyone else dare to be differnt or youll just blend with the rest
I've had a few old straight eight Buicks and stock they had pretty good bit of power for the size of car they are. 1952 Roadmaster 320 had an optional 4 barrel setup... I've had a few of those.
Some cool info on the great staaight eight motors. They were not fast but were so smooth and hiway friendly. My Dad had a 51 Riv that was awesome he had a split manifold with Smithys on it and it sounded fab. Thanx for all the interesting Buick talk, cool! ~Sololobo~
My dual carbs and true dual exhaust woke my 52 up. Even with a Dynaflow its scoots pretty good. Here is a pic of the setup just before I finished it. I also have a youtube video of it running so you can hear the exhaust.
Engine looks cool! I was a bit prejudiced against the old Buick straight eights. My Aunt and Uncle had a '51 hardtop. It was totally quiet, except the valve train sounded like a sewing machine when you accelerated. And the acceleration could only be described as leisurely. Anyway, glad they actually have some performance in them!
It wasn't because of the War, since they didn't make any cars during the War anyway. For the MAIN REASON you have to turn the clock back 69 years or so. The mechanics in those days were not skilled in working on factory optioned-multi carbed cars. The set up was good...if it worked right. But, when it needed adjustments that's where the problems came in. The similar situation occured in the 50's when Chevy & Ford offered Fuel Injection on Fords, T-Birds, Corvettes, and, Reg. Chev's. The mechanics ended up tearing off the FI Units and replacing 'em with 4 Barrel Carbs. Had real problems trying to get 'em to work right...so, again, the easy way for that time period was to go back to the basics, 'cause they never could get the "optional FI" tuned right. (That's why Fuelie Chevs & Fords today...that survived the cut, are worth many, many bucks ! Same way if you find a Buick Compound Carb set up...usually, you better be ready to pay a pretty good tariff. ) JK www.legends.thewwbc.net
I know Chevrolet and Pontiac had FI back in the '50's but this is the first I've ever heard of Ford having it. What years, engines and models was it used on? Could it be had with the optional superchargers? Thanks.
------------------------- Ford *never* had fuel injection in the 50's. Mart3406 =========================
mart3604 is right. One thing about compound carburation in Buick eights is that it's not dual carbs. It's more like a 4 bbl spread out. The straight eight always ran leaner on the outer cylinders, away from the carb. Then you move the carb 3 or 4 inches towered the end and the other end really gets left out. Until you are in the throttle enough to open the secondary carb and open the air valve secondary.
The Jalopy Journal
