Buick OHV in-line eight engine family
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2023
- Today On what it’s like, it’s time for another engine family Episode today we diving deep with the Buick overhead valve in line 8 engine family first introduced in 1931 it was produced until 1953 tons of information in this episode enjoy
Also when doing this episode there was tons of conflicting information out there if you could please correct me in the comment section below for anything that isn’t right =)
If you’d like to get in touch with me shoot me a comment in the comment section below or check out our Facebook group that correlates with this TH-cam channel if you don’t have Facebook and would like to reach me send me an email at
What_its_like@yahoo.com - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
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Sledge hammer peter Gabriel
Yeah buddy you’re the first that was pretty obvious l just wasn’t sure if you guys were familiar with 80s music lol should have known but congratulations =) 1965 GTO come in tomorrow
@@What.its.like. Pontiac produced a Trophy 4 cylinder slant 4 a GTO motor cut in half used a V-8 Cylinder head on a four 😜😂?? Different variations produced you could get a four barrel carburetor from Pontiac on the motor and Mickey Thompson experimented with it in a few speed trials ....
Never would balance and shook it self apart 🤦🤷 .. Happy Motoring ✌️
Awesome John
Good job John!
Straight eights were some of the smoothest sounding engines that I have ever seen.
Totally agree =)
Buick offered what they called *Compound Carburetion* in '41/42 (two 2-barrels in a progressive-linkage) which made the highest HP in the GM family; even more than Cadillac (in fact the Buick limousine of that time is often called _"a better Cadillac than Cadillac")._ Buick also offered America's first 4bbl carb in 1952, a Carter WCFB.
Awesome thank you so much for adding that information =)
Compound carburation gave the 248 engine 10 more HP. The front carb had the choke & the idle circuits while the rear carb acted the same as the rear 2 barrels on a four barrel carb. It was likely discontinued because the rear cylinder tended to get too much fuel & experienced greater cylinder wear. It was certainly an impressive looking engine.
I heard that the first car to have a 4bll carb was a Straight 8 Roadmaster in 52.
@@MichaelRHull-wy7wg That's correct. A Carter WCFB 894S-5A 4-barrel mounted on a GM Buick Fireball straight-8 320ci engine which was standard on the Roadmaster.
@@Matt_from_Florida my Dad told me his 52 Roadmaster had one on it.
Gotta go with the Packard cause it's the Packard!
=)
I inherited my grandparents '48 Roadmaster, still the finest car that I ever owned.
Sweet what body style
@@What.its.like. 4 door, 3 speed column shifter.
Sweet =)
Scott from Cold War Motors, in Alberta, Canada has experience with Buick, and Packard engines, he and his "Agents" did a Summer Showdown a few years ago.
Sweet =)
0:14 "Buick was exclusively overhead valve after 1904"
DANG, that's AMAZING. I remember Ramblers in the early '60s still with flat-heads.
I saw a Buick straight-8 head one time (but I was young, like 11) and remember how LONG it seemed to me, and HEAVY.
Somebody commented in another video and said that Chevy beat Buick to overhead valve because Chevy was overhead valve 1929.. not knowing Buick was overhead valve way before that I was always the under the impression that Nash pioneered overhead valve but then learning the reason why Nash was overhead valve was because when Charlie Nash left Buick he took some engineers with him.. I really want to find an ambassador with a straight eight with overhead valve that engine seems like one of the most underrated lost and forgotten pieces of tech to ever exist.. lol That might be a bit of an exaggeration
@@What.its.like. *Valve Wars of the early 20th Century*
Part One in a Two Part Series ... Later, "Valves Actuated by Overhead Cams" ...
Friend in college had a 1937 Buick with a straight 8. This was 1975, I honestly don't remember which model. I do remember two things 1) his nickname for the car was "Busty Betsy" which made us all laugh and 2) that straight-8 was so incredibly smooth that you could not hear it running. Scary thing for me is it was 38 years old at the time, which is like having a 1985 car today. I am getting old!!
Thank you so much for sharing all those memories, we had that talk the other day what is old I don’t think 85 is old 35 yes 1935 haha
I had both a '34 Series 40 rumble seat coupe and a '35 Series 40 sedan. Worked on the engines of both with ease. Was able to order parts from Sears and J.C. Whitney ( it was the 1960's). I enjoyed my experiences with them. Neither engine ever let me down. Both vehicles had cable-operated mechanical brakes. Them was the days !
What did you think of this two I really like the styling of the 35
@@What.its.like. The thirties intrigue me the most. Lots of fender and running board. Even my '35 had a small access cap in center of the lower grill for an engine crank. I loved them.
That was a really great summary of the Buick straight 8s, Jay. I had no idea there were so many variations. It is always good to learn something new.
I didn’t know there was that many variants of this engine either the crazy thing is the big block design is smaller than the largest displacement of the smallest block which I found very interesting..
Very nice. Thank you. (of course..the Packard...)
Sweet choice =)
when i was in high school in the 60s a family friend had a 38 buick coupe wjth the straight 8 with a 3 on the floor, great looking car and alot of fun to drive, it was all original he paid $400.00 for it.
Great story thank you so much for sharing those memories
I pick the OHV Buick straight eights every time. Had both '49 and '52 Series 50's. Could balance a nickle on the flat top of the carburetor air horn at idle and it would sit there indefinitely.
Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer
Yeah buddy you got it but johnboybTx beat you for title
Packard straight 8's also had 9 main bearings. My pick as well. Really enjoying your engine series! Take care.
I thought the Packard engine had nine main bearings as well but I couldn’t find any information to back that up. I thought that was one of their selling points as well as one of the reasons why the engine was so reliable. One day going to cover the Packard engines as well as some other really cool stand out engines that don’t get the time of day i’m trying to think when the best day to do engine day it might be a discussion episode it might be an engine episode I don’t know I thought about doing various days for various things
Yeah, the Packard was amazing. Aluminum head in the end of the line '54 and 212hp IIRC.
Important to note that the Senior , or top of the line Packards - Super 8 , Custom 8 - 356 , 327 had 9 main bearings , the smaller series based from the 120 s , up to the 288 , had 5 .
@@derrickrees8895 Thank you for that information.
@@derrickrees8895 Believe they had 327s in the 9 bearing block and also in the 5 bearing block. Some 9 bearing ones might have had precision hand selectable balancing weights (lead filled?) screwed into the crankshaft counterweights.
I think some Packard Eights had shorter stroke and bigger bore than the Buick Eights. Probably more reliable when trying to make over 140 hp.
I have a 1951 Buick Roadmaster Riviera 4dr. which was Buicks top of line model. She has the big 320 cid. 150 horse engine in her which is good 'cause she is a beast! I've never been a high performance how fast can you go kind of guy and basically, Buick at that time was never about performance. It was about smoothness and ride. If you wanted performance at that time from GM you went to Oldsmobile. I always wanted a "straight 8" Buick and I finally found one a couple of years ago. It has about 100K miles and I don't think it's ever been rebuilt. It starts right up, doesn't smoke or use oil. Oil pressure is still right in the middle of the gauge. It runs like a fine watch and has the best sounding exhaust I've ever heard! I love just watching and hearing it run! I also have a 1949 Packard with the 327 cid flathead 8. Another great engine but I haven't gotten mine to the point of running yet, maybe one day!
Because of the torque and the readily available parts these engines were very popular with builders of Chesapeake Bay fishing boats through the early 60's.
It would be sweet to hear one of those with the multiple carburetors and the velocity stacks.. that one had open pipes
@@What.its.like. They weren't built for speed and had a wet exhaust. Most didn't have mufflers so they were a little loud above 1500 rpm.
Yeah totally agree wasn’t built for speed it was built for comfort Super smooth engine
The 320's were used in Flixible buses during the 40' & 50's. The had a unique sound. I thought they were 6cyl GM truck engines with special mufflers but they were straight 8's.
Buick's straight 8 is one of the many reasons I❤ my most favorite GM division my father had a dark green sedan and a candy apple red convertible both with straight 8,s 53 was the last year nailhead V8,s replaced it in 1954
The coolest thing about the straight 8 is it required a longer front end that looked better and it's interesting that an American 53 Buick Had a shorter front end, had a V8 and was 12 volt
Worked on a Packard 8 years ago for an old guy that had it forever. It's was a pleasure, and a smooth running ol girl.....loved it.
One day we’re going to do an engine episode on the Packard eight =)
Buick motor. Wow , I think they changed the displacement every couple of weeks. That almost zero compression ratio. The gas must have been poor back then. Interesting vid,thx.
Gasoline was very poor back then, sometimes, 60 octane or less.
It’s crazy how many versions there are
I'm really fond of both Buick and Packard, but I also know that Packards are virtually indestructible. The 1954 packard panther had a 359 straight 8 flathead (9 mains), to which a McCulloch supercharger was mated, and that made 275 horses. Imagine the same engine with 4 carbs, bigger valves, larger ports...it would easily get to 350 hp
Definitely Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. Awesome music from the best muso's of that era. 👍
Had a '53 Buick Special, last year of the straight 8's, only in the special. Standard transmission, wonderful engine.......only drawback is that the engine had a maximum top rpm that it it wouldn't exceed. 40 mph in low , 90 in high, down hill or flat running no difference. A guy raced one on a circle track raceway. against flathead Fords, Hudson twin H powered sixes, and most other makes. He would be the firts one out of the turn, but by the time he got to the next turn almost everyone else had passed him. Shows the result of the max top rpm of the engine. I'd take the Hudson 8.
Thank you so much for sharing that insight =)
My 48 Buick automatic was like a electric motor. Very smooth cruising vessel for So. California , this was in 1970 I was 23yrs old.
The 1948 Buick Roadmaster was first with hydraulic lifters.
Awesome thank you so much for that correction
Drove a 38 century deluxe back in 2007. 2nd owner(Dad&son), garaged, original. 400k documented miles. Smooth car
Wow that’s incredible how many rebuilds or same engine. =)
@@What.its.like. as far as I know it was a labor of love. From what the guy told me the intakes and seals were every 20 years and carb, belts were 10. He didn't go by miles. The internals were original. The car held up incredibly well and he was about 90 when I met him. He only ever owned two cars. The Buick and a 57 4 barrel 4 speed Bel Air that was his baby.
Wow thank you so much for sharing those memories with us =)
Packard till the end of time 😉
Another great episode
Motor comparison is great 👏👏👏👏👏 Happy Motoring 🤠✌️
I wanted to get video of all of the engines with the noises but the problem I had was they didn’t sound good when I tried to implement them like it was almost muffled
The hupp sounds absolutely amazing it’s one of the best sounding flat head straight eights that I’ve ever heard but the Packard is super reliable tried and true
I had a 1947 Buick straight eight babbit pounder.Starter on the gas pedal activated a solenoid. Use to start by itself in the winter .Wondered why it was out of gas when I got up to go to work. Carried a 5 Gal. jerry can in trunk. Caught it in the act of self starting.Solenoid changed,problem solved. It had air oil shocks,rode like sitting on a cloud. My first 50$ car in 1964.
That’s interesting thank you so much for sharing that memory with us $50 for a car that’s crazy I had a friend that sold a car for 100 bucks but I’ve never bought a vehicle cheaper than $500
Cheers!
"He's driving a ACME straight 8, with overhead valves, with a California license plate"!! - Bugs bunny
My father had 1937-1954 Buicks he loved them all and raced them all so I pick the 1940 Buick he worked on them and he ran shine in all of them he had two spotlights on them in case some one followed him at night
Awesome story great choice
My father had a 36 Buick with a one of three experi😅mental straight 8 in it. The engine had a much longer stroke than the normal 8. He had to rebuild the rods because the were considerably shorter than the normal 8 for 1936. The engine ran well but it was very hard on the drive line if you used the torque that was on tap. In 1936 the rods were not fitted with insert bearings and had to have new babit poured and be fitted to the crankshaft. This was emeadiatly after WW II and cars were not easy to find.
Great video. Thank you for sharing 😊👋🐿
Glad you dig this episode
Probably Buick but I like them all.
=) sweet
My dad owned a 1950 Pontiac flathead straight 8. At idle it was so quiet that I, a young kid about 10 or 12 years old had to get very close to the car to hear it. Yes, my ears were young and had perfect hearing. Buicks with OHV were a bit noisier.
Gotta go with Hudsonand Packard for powerhouse for mileage and dusey and cord for real racing power!
Yeah for sure I left those out
Ever since I found out about the Nash overhead valve in line 8 that’s a car that I really wanna cover
Great choices
You said you'd do a straight eight video at some point, and here it is. Anyway, I'd take the Packard engine because it would come with the Packard.
I plan on doing packard engines as well.. going to try and do an engine episode a week =)
Never knew there was such a variety. My second cousin ran moonshine and had a Buick straight-8 until he brought the first Olds Rocket 88 to these parts. Can't remember much of what he said about the Buick other that it was fast but wouldn't stop. Wish he were still here to ask him more about those days...
It’s crazy how many Versions and variations there are
i would take the nash, 9 main bearings you could turn this motor into a powerhouse and it would hold up.
Im surprise that engine never gets talked about I just recently found out about it I’ve gone 34 years without knowing about that one.. I wonder if anyone ever built one for speed
@@What.its.like. the buick 8 had a small bore and a long stroke so it was a low rpm engine, one reason it had a low compression ratio. power came on in the 2000 rpm range, 3000 rpm was about max on those main bearings.
Great vid!!! 👍👍
Glad you dig =)?
Love the straight 8s. Dad had one in his 37 Buick convertible & one in a 1948 Olds Woody Wagon. Those cars were so cool. Great sound with Cherry Bombs too. The Olds was a flathead type.
You are welcome.
I would pick the second (the yellow one)one.
sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
Yeah buddy you got it right out of the gate unfortunately johnboydTx bet you for title
I do like your going over these engine families. Keep up the good work
Sweet plan on doing more next engine episode is on the Packard twinsix =) I was hoping to get that one done today but it’s probably looking like tomorrow or Sunday it’s gonna come up with a set day for engine episodes but not there yet
Excellent, hugely informative.
=)
Just bought a 53 Buick Special convertible and up pops your video about OHV straight eights. Liked and subscribed. Also had a 49 Packard with the 327. It was smooth.
Awesome how do you like your Buick special I love the way the hoods open on those you can open on either side or pull both pins out and take the whole hood off but that hood is super heavy.. need a couple of guys probably four guys to take it off proper don’t wanna scratch anything
Welcome to the channel if you dig Classic Cars you’re gonna love it here =)
The hood on the Buick opens from the front. The Packard opened the way you described, from either side.
Thank you so much for that correction I was thinking of the earlier Buicks from the 40s late 40s
I've seen some videos of hot rodders that bored out the Buick 8 and added in some hot engine components and they really go fast once they are done up!
I too have seen this motor hotrodded and it’s very interesting
They were good motors gut the physical size WAS a drawback for hot rodders. Pontiac made a large straight 8 as well, but the Buicks had more horsepower and torque.
Yeah I should’ve said something to the effect that it has a large footprint but for straight eight it’s probably one of the smaller engine choices especially the ones from the early years because they’re not hardly any bigger than the Chevy six the 320 takes up a good bit of space
Of the engines the 32 Nash would be my choice, when I heard those straight 8's with 5 bearing made my skin crawl, yes you could make it with 3 bearings but you are going to have to make an oversized crank to keep it from flexing, If ford thinks that there big six needs 7 bearings, then a straight 8 needs 9.
My dad had 5 straight eight buic specials and they would not die
Outstanding as always! So much good information has already been shared; I have nothing left to add but a huge - Thank you! ~ Chuck
Glad you dig chuck =) i love the engine segments it’s really cool seeing where stuff came from and just history in general
Many decades ago, I read an article about inline 8's which said that Detroit had experimented with an inline 9 which was smoother but never used due to expected consumer resistance to an odd cylinder count. Have never seen any other info about this. I wondered about the torsional rigidity of that long crankshaft.
I’ve heard and read that that was the Achilles’ heel of the Buick design for the crankshaft.. flexed I also agree street eight was known for smoothness, I wonder what is smoother a straight eight or a V 12
1952 at 320 in.³ straight eight used in the roadmaster produced 180 hp because they put on a Rochester four barrel carburetor Jerry Mcdonogh
Thank you so much for that information =)
I think these engines are the ones that are suppose to be in the Hot Wheels car named "Crazy Eights".
Yup 2 Slanted straight 8s. The Dome looking things on the top of the engines are SU style carburetors. A very modern 90s-00s car with very retro powertrains. I miss the days when Hot Wheels designers went radical and crazy but I haven't really been paying attention to the more recent stuff.
@@RedSkylinex60 I found my Dad's 1987 Toyota LE Van in Hotwheels. I bought 2 in 2 different colors to remember him by. Hope they produce a 1974 Buick Century and a 1964 Buick Wildcat sometime.
Hi Jay!: That was a nice informative run through of the inline 8 Buick engines! I learned a lot! THANKS! Have to go Packard on the engine, as they were SO SMOOTH!!!
Amc modern in line six was supposed to be the next one but figured we’d come back to it plus I wrote that script twice wife likes to clean and lost it lol..
I think we are going to do packard 12 next week =) for something totally different
Glad you dig this episode
MY dad had a 1940 Buick Super with straight 8. He owned it from 1940 to 1958. It seemed to me that it always needed repairs (he repaired).
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience =)
Cool video, I have several straight 8 Buicks myself. It's my experience and understanding that insert bearings weren't used in the big ends of these engines until 1950. Before that they used babbit bearings in the con rod big ends (which interestingly enough could be adjusted somewhat by removing shims from under the caps).. Also forgot to mention the new piston and cylinder head design for the 1953 263 engine. (probably a list ditch effort by Buick to squeeze some more power out of the straight 8 before completely defaulting to the Nailhead for all models in 54)
Thank you so much for sharing that information =)
9 main bearings and boost? yup!
#1 choice would be the Packard, being as it would also be in a Packard car which were excellent. #2 being the Buick, as I've worked on a few of them and really loved the car and engine as well. And hard to miss "Sledgehammer' by Peter Gabriel from his album So.
Sweet choices yeah that’s a pretty iconic tune
Peter Gabriel, Sledgehammer.
Yeah buddy
Thank you for this wonderful presentation - I always wondered why Packard stuck with the flat head straight 8's for sooo long . In view of the fact that they produced the Merlins for the P-51 they certainly were not lacking in engineering ability. I owned a 1954 Buick Roadmaster Coupe with the nail head - it was a wonderful engine very quiet and very smooth.
Awesome thank you so much for sharing your experience with this engine one day going to cover the Packard Straight eight
The next engine episode is going to be on the Packard 12
@@What.its.like. excellent choice !!!
Hopefully that episode will be tomorrow we’ll have to see =)
I have read that with the low octane gasoline that was common much before the 1950s that the advantages of overhead valve over "flat head" weren't as much as when higher octane gas allowed higher compression ratios which allowed overhead valve to show its advantage
also early gasoline created more carbon and crud deposits in the combustion chambers and the "flat head" engines were easier for do it yourself cylinder head removal and scraping of deposits from the head interior and compression space
I think some of the Packard flat heads in the same year of Oldsmobile's famous OHV V8 introduction made more horsepower than the first year or two of the Olds engine but the Packard engines were probably much heavier and needed more space under the hood and probably cost more to build than the Olds engines (after high development and initial tooling set up costs for the Olds had been amortized)
@@davidpowell3347 I also owned a 1953 Packard Cavalier with the 327 flat head - it required much more oil than the Buick 321 OHV V8 nailhead. There are times when I wish I had access to a time machine and could march into the Packard offices with a trunk full of drawings of upgrades that could have saved them from collapse - after George Romney stuck them in the back they would have needed a trunk full of cash as well. That Packard was allowed to fail was in my opinion a major fail for the US auto industry.
A great presentation about the Buick in-line 8 OHV engine Jay. I had no idea that there were so many variations of that engine during its time span. I myself just recently finished reading about the Pontiac in-line flat head Straight 8 engine. It was nicked named the "Silver Steak" which soon became the name of their most popular model. Maybe you will do a video presentation on that Pontiac 8 engine which was around from 1933-1954 and was popular with public right up until the end of its long run. As for the choice of motors. I'll take that Packard by a mile. With a top speed of 90mph and over 100mph on their Super 8 160-80 horse power engine that was quiet and smooth all around it was a tough one to top for its overall performance. 😊
Yeah for sure definitely want to cover all of the engine families that are lesser known the next engine episode families going to be on the Packard 12 it might be today it might be tomorrow
@@What.its.like. I'll look forward to it. I believe that is the same engine as their celebrated twin-six.
Yep goes by both names
I have heard that most GM cars had OHV engines and never went with the flathead style engine. Great presentation. Do you think that one of your videos could be featuring the indestructible Dodge slant six? When I was young, some of my friends had a car with this engine. We beat that poor car using it to enjoy car, Motor Cross. The engine never faltered one bit but the bodywork did not do as well. I think the only way to kill a slant six would be to run it without oil. It may even still be operable.
Glad you dig this episode the next one’s going to be Packard 12 I believe I’ve already covered the Chrysler slant six engine family here is the link
th-cam.com/video/yMR5PyD-ad8/w-d-xo.html
Long stroke engines that wore out fast.
A video going over ether the wisconsin v4 or the ford taunus v4 would be cool
Awesome request =)
9 main bearings !! Sledge hammer?
Yeah crazy right and you got the song
Used to power (Flxible?) buses in the 40s or 50s.
Awesome information I didn’t know that =)
4.6 compression is a fucking waste of gas,on the other hand the V8 nailhead was magnificent
I think these engines had a really low compression because of the really crappy gas
The fuel then was very low octane rating and would knock if compression was high.
40 Buick
Sweet =)
I've heard that Rolls Royce used the Buick I8 as the basis for their I8s. True?
I’m honestly not sure I’m not really up on Rolls-Royce Bentley or a lot of foreign cars for that matter.. to me I would rather have a packard than a Rolls-Royce but that’s just my opinion
I had a 53 and with the dynaflow it could barely pull itself around
Nash straight 8.
I want to cover that car so bad it seems like a hidden gem
Do you know the bore spacing of the 320
A inline six would be a better choice, because, it is naturally balanced, the inline 8 is not.
PCV has Nothing to do with Vapor lock!!
Simply replacing the fuel and ignition system these motors live....
Hudson 8
Sweet choice =)
@@What.its.like.
I own a 51 Pacemaker. Hudson engines run smooth and like a sewing machine. Remember they dominated the dirt tracks for a long time.
That’s awesome I really want a ride and one flash drive one eventually that’s one car that I really have a soft spot for in my heart.. i’ve heard nothing drives like it floaty but it handles..
5 main bearings or 9 main bearings. Hmmmmmm
9 any day of the week.....
=) maybe we will do a lost engine episode coving 10 super underrated engines
@@What.its.like. Try to include the 1960 GM 215 cubic-inch aluminum V8...
And maybe two Buick V6's:
The Buick 3800 V6 Engine...
The 1962 Buick 198 cubic-inch V6 engine.
Have a great day.
Those are super cool I’ll make a list =)
@@What.its.like. Just thought of another, its a early American V8 engine:
The 1919 Curtiss OX-5 V-8 aircraft engine.
This was the NAZIs favorite engine.
In world war 2 GM's Opel division put a derivative of this engine in ever so many trucks they made for the army.
Interesting 🧐
@0:58 "the engineers wanted to make this look like a Chevy six" BS . Buick engineers were'nt influenced by Chevrolet. I gave thumbs down and stopped watching.
I did the same to your comment so many people love splitting hairs.. the Chevy stovebolt six predates this engine by a few years stove bolt six came out in 1929 and the Buick came out in 1931 and they look similar so they not?? So in that sense Buick designed there engine to look like a stovebolt six because the stovebolt six was first