Are there any mods I can do to my straight Eight to increase performance or sound...the car is stock now and I would like to make it snappier, but with minor mods for now...any help would be greatly appreciated... Best Regards- Darren www.slinginink.com
Well you could install a two carb intake, Edmunds made one,making an intake would certainly not be out of the question, and there was one that was a factory option. Then you could split the exhaust manifold, make headers, or use the dual exhaust manifolds that came paired with the factory dual intake. Howards made a cam for them, it might be worth giving them a call they probably still have the pattern, they might be able to make one for you or regrind your stock cam. I have also heard that a mallory dual point distributor for early pontiac V8 can be adapted to fit the Buick straight 8, but I'm not sure. Finally I suggest you pick up a copy of California Bill's Chevrolet, GMC & Buick Speed manual, which you can get from amazon. Straight 8's seem to be getting more popular these days, they're a neat motor. I was going to run the straight 8 in my 53, but put together a 283 instead, as the I-8 was locked up & full of water and I just couldn't afford the rebuild parts. Good luck with your motor It wont be a screamer, but you should have no problem making it sound meaner and getting somemore pep out of it.
Do a search Amigo. Lots of us are building these (my silly self included) and we've shared plenty of info on previous posts. Upping the compression is a great first step. The stock 7.2:1 ratio doesn't help the cause. Neither do the monstrous factory four-ring pistons. Once you get it built, what'll you put behind it? Check www.transmissionadapters.com for an S-8 to Chevy pattern adapter, and plan to ditch the torque tube setup in favor of a later axle. The engine is the "easy" part- what you'll put behind it is where it gets tricky and expensive. Egge has rebuilder stuff like gaskets and bearings, Neilsen has cams, Pontiac distributors can work, and multi-carb intakes aren't hard to fab. The factory one referred to earlier isn't great, but it's better than a stock single-barrel. Headers are had to fab, but of course it can be done. Mine is overbored to 283ci, has a bunch of headwork, new high-flow valves, custom Ross pistons (for 9.5:1 on stock rods), and is still coming together. My intake is a fabricated piece for twin Harley Davidson (S&S Super) sidedrafts. I'll do a monster post on it when its complete and dyno'ed. I'm backing it with a 700R-4 and an '82-up F-body rear axle. Do that search- I've posted photos of my stuff a few times... ~Scotch~
Be aware that the front exhaust manifold from a '41-'42 will run into the stock side motor mount that your '50 has and cannot be used without modification.
Well...honestly, I don't care. I know that sounds odd, but I figured I'd do all the cool stuff I can to make power, add a dose of reliability (with oiling system mods, since S-8s oil "backwards"), and run it. There will be concessions made for fit (with headers), style (with induction) and practicality (the cam will be "mild" compared to what I normally run). Still, the stocker made 128 horses when new, and if I don't double that number, I'll look for what's wrong with it. I figure 250-ish ponies should be completely do-able for this package, and will provide a modern level of performance while knocking down good fuel economy with the 700R-4. I'm also really conservative with my estimates, and it'll probably be more than 250. But, that's saying nothing of the torque figures, which should be much more 'respectable' to comparably-sized (283ci) V-8s. If it makes 1 hp per cube, I'll be ecstatic. If it makes more than 300 ft-lbs., I may dance...or at least get some great burnout pictures... This car is to be my custom cruiser, and I wanted to keep the S-8 because it's uniquely Buick and so few have chosen to do so. I know I can get decent, reliable power and economy out of this engine. If I really want to go fast, there are other rides in the garage built for little else but hauling ***. This one should be comfy, and really, truly cool. But, since it's mine it'll still have to get out of its own way without protest. 300 ft-lbs would do that for me. ~Scotch~
When you know that the stocker made 128, 250 is VERY impressive, especially on a motor that ,even in the 50's, had little performance aftermarket.
I have the same thoughts, not quite 250bhp on my shopping list but 180+ would be nice.... I would have thought that the first mod would be inlet, you are running a siamese ported head so you could run 4 carbs, 1000cc bike carbs (harley?) or side drafts? I don't care for "under the hood" looks so I am going to go for a pair of 4.2 litre Jaguar carbs on mine. Then the exhaust, junk the stock manifold and make a free flowing system into twin pipes out the back but.......how would you pair them up for ballancing?????? any ideas anyone? I have pertronix ignition on mine which works fine so I am leaving that on but I have heard there is a swap available for a dual point system. post any mods you do... Cheers, SPence
Seems like you guys are talking the small (248 CI) engines. Does anybody have any idea if the big Roadmaster(320 CI) engines will swap in or are they too long? Some of the guys I run with in the vintage dirt races have 320's bored out 1/4" (I think the use I/H pistons making 356 CI), hi lift rocker arms and 5 97'S. They make plenty of power. They're probably a little radical for he street, but I'm sure the extra inches would help. Remember, there's no replacement for displacement.
Buicks.net is a good source of information on the ole str8 8 the dual carb intake an split exhaust manifolds are a good upgrade made only 2 years the 248 / 263 will interchange some parts but the big 320 is its own beast i used a bentdsens transmission adapter on mine with a th400 the adapter cost more than i paid for the 53 263 engine an transmission , used a pertronix ignitor conversion in stock distributor with an accel super coil an an msd 5 spark box , it will go in my roadster some day lol
Don't get over enthu8sastic on the porting water is close. No more than the alignment sleeves. Hean surface is thick and will take a .090" cut I believe.By all means get California Bills book. Best thing you can do is get rid of the dynaflow if you have one. I believe 250 hp is very optomistic to say the least.
I was talking to the guy who I got my blown lakester from the other day ( big spear 8 ). He said he hogged the intake runners out a lot, and it looks like it. Maybe you can port the big 8 more. I just took the turbo off to make it more easy to get running again. I figure I will run it once without the turbo up and down the street some. It went 175 without the turbo at Bonneville before I got it, so that should be plenty. You can put BBC and Ford Valves in it to breath better also. I will post when i get it running again. The video should sound sweet. Hopefully running this week. wil www.sakowskimotors.com
Anybody had any luck splitting the pot metal buick exhaust manifold to ge a 6x2 configuration? I had one on 1956, sounded good, ut it cracked within amonth.
I think you're better off to use the stock manifold as a pattern to cut a flange and build a header for it. Somewhere I have a 1968-1971 era Rod & Custom where a guy had put Jag side draft carbs on the 320 in his '38 Century coupe. Three of them I think. Might have had to machine an adaper to bolt them up, but it didn't look complicated in the pictures. The last 320s (51-52 Roadmaster) have insert bearings and came with a 4bbl intake manifold, too.
Check out the Salt Car Racing videos on www.youtube.com , and also their facebook site for engine pictures.
Big Buick engines were insert from the start 1936.Small block started in 1934 and was poured bearing until '37 I believe. Insert from then until the end 1953. the dual carb manifold was an early attempt at "four barrel".I never liked the right angle turns at the end ports. Was common to run a 97 on each of the 4 intake ports. Would need a balance tube for idiling.
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