A friend just gave me a 63 215 buick engine with a very small auto trans.What do you know about these things?It's light as hell.Does any one make an adapter to ford? Thanks Jim
There's a junkyard near Salina, Ks, that has one of these lying in it's aluminum pile, I almost bought it once, and I'm sure it's still there. These engines were produced by Buick to save weight, and to give more power than their "new" V6 they had back in the '60s. Buick played with this engine for a few years, and couldn't get it up to their satisfaction, so they sold it to Rover of England, and they made a hell of an engine out of it. I'm not quite sure, but I think they also put these into MG's. Eric
There is a company in MI called D&D Engineering that is the authority on these engines and a great source of parts. There are also several web sites that supply lots of info and how to get in touch with D&D. You just have do a couple of searches. I have one with the manual behind it stashed for a future project. They came in Buick and Olds versions with heads unique to the make but with the same bottom end. They came in HPfrom the two barrel@155 to a hot Four barrel version@200. Built from 61 to 63 then sold to British Leyland for use in the Range Rover. Like most obsolete engines,they are expensive to build. $800+ for a master rebuild kit. Hope this helps.
I owned a '62 in Germany for about a year with the 215 and "super turbine" [I think that's the name of it] 2 speed automatic. It's similar to a powerglide but different. I've been told some of the powerglide guys use the turbine torque converter for a higher stal and some of them supposedly had a switch-pitch converter too. They weren't very popular but I never hurt mine. They are only a 2speed tranny. I've not heard of a 215 engine to ford tranny adapter. Buick used a 4 speed [T-10 BW, I'm positive] behind this engine but flywheels and bellhousings are hard to find. Kenne/Belle usta make a lot of performance stuff for the little booger but I'm not even sure if they're still in business. Buick also made a 4 barrel intake.......mounted an AFB and they're tough to find too. The 300 cu in crank supposedly fits for a factory stroker and I've heard the 300 heads fit and have bigger valves and ports. Rover in England bought the engine from Buick and have used it in their cars since the 60's. They use a dual carby intake that can be bought in Jolly Olde England. Prolly find one used........maybe even on ebay. Mine ran good but had a little head gasket problem. Leaked water externally out of the head gaskets, right on the ground. Newer technnology [since 1968-69] has made this problem less of a problem.
Ive got the 4brl version in a 1100lb sand rail and it screams I keep thinking if I build a little roadster thats what ill use.
The 215 Buick has some things the same as the Olds 215 and some things decidedly different. Since yours is a Buick, I won't talk about the Olds 215 particulars. I understand the distributor, oil pump, and and timing chain to be interchangeable with the late Buick 350. Therefore, these items would not be all that expensive for a plain old rebuild. You'd also have the option of using an HEI distributor. The '64-5 300 crank and rods will fit. I don't know if you have to turn the mains down or not. You likely would need custom pistons. I have heard of 298" aluminum "215's". D&D can set you straight. I know of a guy that was building a killer 215 by locating an Aussie Leland (?) crank and doing something with that... The '64-5 Buick 300 heads have much larger ports! Alas, the 300's have taller decks and wider manifolds, so you can't use a 300 intake on a 215 with 300 heads. You probably shouldn't use a 215 intake with 300 heads either. I don't know what the solution to the 300 heads would be. Check with D&D. One last side note on the 300 heads and intakes: in '64 they were also aluminum, in '65 they were iron. Much more to know about these engines, but that'll do ya for now.
[ QUOTE ] Does any one make an adapter to ford? [/ QUOTE ] Yeah, but the one I'm thinking of is probably not what you have in mind. The Rover version of that Engine is (was?) popular in England for Racing, but the 5Speed that came with it was heavy and big. So a lot of them got mated to the 4speed Gearboxes Ford used for the English version of the Pinto Engine ( 2L OHC ), and the Racing Gear boxes designed for the Racing versions of the BDA. Since they are used for racing, you can find lots of good parts to soup them up, like Cams, Intakes ( 4 Downdraft 2bbl Dellortos, etc...) and at some point somebody was going to make aftermarket replacement Heads that would be a lot better than the stock ones. I was looking through my old Street Machine mags( English Magazine ) the other day to look for info on the Morris Minor built by Nic Mann. It had a Turbocharged Rover Engine that put out 500HP, and it was driven on the street as well as raced...
the rangrover of today stillhas the same engine,though it has grown to 4,6 litre instead of the 215/3.5 litre.I personally think these engines are junk,as they are prone to cracking the mains and saddles,isky offers cams,and edelbrock has a 4brl intake for it,so does offy.
[ QUOTE ] I've not heard of a 215 engine to ford tranny adapter. Buick used a 4 speed [T-10 BW, I'm positive] behind this engine but flywheels and bellhousings are hard to find. [/ QUOTE ] I've watched them come and go reasonably on eBay. I've thought about one in a small roadster for a while. I dig 'em and you can get parts once you figure out where you need to go. Parts aren't ooutrageous, the prices run inline with anything that's not a SBC.... there's a 3-speed bellhousing on ebay right now. ebay
Here's an intake.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7921938480&category=33555
Thanks guys.It turns out I have a 4bbl manifold for it an other friend gave me years ago.If any one hears of an early ford trans adapter let me know.It could be cool in the 34.Thanks agian for the info. Jim
[ QUOTE ] I understand the distributor, oil pump, and and timing chain to be interchangeable with the late Buick 350. Therefore, these items would not be all that expensive for a plain old rebuild. You'd also have the option of using an HEI distributor. [/ QUOTE ] Tried an HEI on mine - wouldn't clear the intake. Looks close if I were to grind off the edge of the bolt boss on the left-forward bolt hole, but I haven't been motivated to try yet. [ QUOTE ] the rangrover of today stillhas the same engine,though it has grown to 4,6 litre instead of the 215/3.5 litre.I personally think these engines are junk,as they are prone to cracking the mains and saddles,isky offers cams,and edelbrock has a 4brl intake for it,so does offy. [/ QUOTE ] The Rover V8 is avail in 3.5L (215), 3.9L, 4.2L, & 4.6L. The later 4.2 & 4.6 engines are not fully compatible with the 3.5/3.9 engines - lots of subtle differences. Kinda like old SBC & new SBC - lots of stuff fits, lots of stuff don't. I'm running one in my truck with that big heavy 5spd. Great combination & does reasonably well.
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