Buicks Miracle Motor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มี.ค. 2021
- The Buick Fireball is a jewel of Post-War American engineering that has powered Musclecars, Economy Cars, Luxury Off-Roaders, Indy Cars and even Formula One racing.
Here's a brief overview of this historic little power plants history, evolution and family tree.
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It's probably fair to say that the Rover V8, descended from the Buick 215, is the UK's Small Block Chevy. Its compact size and light weight absolutely transformed the sportscars it was put into (TVR, Morgan, Marcos, MG, Triumph) and of course was the heart of the Range Rover and better equipped Land Rovers for decades. So pleased to see my favourite little V8 getting some love from Uncle Tony!
Rover bought that engine from Buick
@@anthony8362 exactly!
Small Block Buick.
And it wasn't until the 70's/80's that the General started 1 piece making the MOTORS of the vehicles at that level.
This is the single most-interesting auto-related channel on TH-cam.
Truely is. Im a mopar guy anyway and thats how I got here. But I stayed for stuff like this.
Definitely deeper that the constant LS -swap filler of many channels.
Really??? Do you just watch one channel? This dude talks ... As far as wrench turning.... Naw.. I didn't nt think Tony really builds... I think he likes cars tho.
One of the best, for sure. My vintage iron and Vice Grip Garage also excellent
@@Rudolph676 really, he doesn’t build lol? That’s all he does. He just does it the way 90% of people have to.
the l67, supercharged 3800 is a great motor. I've got one in my VS commodore in Australia with a t5 and 3.73 diff gears and it pulls really early on and keeps going
No doubt. Have an L67 in an 05 Impala SS and it just keeps going and going. FWD but I've had good luck with the weaker 4t65e trans. I dig the iron block/heads set up. Bullet proof. With just bolt on exhaust components, 3.5" supercharger pulley, Power log (looks like a shorty header to me) and a reprogrammed PCM, it's amazing how much low end torque these 3.8s make and how easy they are to work on.
The FWD transmission in a Century is absolutely junk!
My grandpa worked at buick plant 1 flint Michigan 44 yrs he bought a gnx in 1987 when they came out I still got it was num 387 its my shop right now
a great historical super car, glad you acquired this amazing machine !
Rover, in Great Brittian, acquired the all-aluminum 215 cid engine from GM in the mid 60s. This is the engine that wound up in the Triumph TR8. The TR8 with a stick shift was a Corvette killer. I was a mechanic at a British Leyland dealer and got to work on several of these cars. I also saw this engine in a Rover luxury car in about 83 when I worked for an independent import repair shop. That Rover had been sent to Dallas, TX 3 times on truck for not starting when hot. After they got it back the third time with the same problem they brought it to us and the owner said to jury rig it any way we could to make it start. It took me about 15 minutes to fix it. It had Lucas electronics on it and we used to call them the Prince of Darkness.
Yes. The Buick Fireball! Very cool GM benchmark in history
The aluminum 215 V8 actually started showing up in 1950-51 Harley Earl concept cars... and ended regular production 2006... limited production 2018...
ONLY if you knew what combo of parts and mods really brought thunder. Problem was, that as fascinating advanced smaller engines were,UNLESSthdre was some racing sactioning body who's rules all but mandated or greatly encouraged the use of a particular odd engine, there always were more standard engines which could produce more power at less effort and cost. Lots of times if you started with a larger block and sleeved down to a cu in limit or destroked an engine if you didn't need bottom eng torque, it was a far easier way to go. Remember the small red ram Dodge hemi's? Just sayin'
@@cindylawrence1515 - Small Red Ram Dodge hemis were for efficient HP and efficient MPG in a lower priced car, but not as low as Plymouth...
In my late teens I bought a new 1974 Vega GT, and within a year the stories started coming out about the Vega 4 cyl self-destruction.
I wanted more power anyway, so I bought a 1963 Skylark with the 215 4 barrel V-8. It was about to throw a rod. I rebuilt the engine and it ran like a top.
I got in touch with Dan LaGrou at D&D Fabrication, who sold a kit with motor mount adapters, modified oil pan and a bell housing to adapt the little Buick 215 to the stock Vega 4 speed, using the stock Vega clutch and pressure plate. I paid for my conversion by going to various junkyards in about a 150 mile radius, and buying Buick/Olds oil pans and bell housings as cores, and then shipped them to Dan for cash. He is STILL in business, by the way.
The engine sat in the body like it was designed for it, and it worked like a charm. The only two weaknesses uncovered in about 150K miles were the stock Buick motor mounts and the rear axle upper shock mount. The Vega had bad axle hop, and the upper shock mount would tear out. The left motor mounts broke a number of times, but I got to where i could replace the one in about 5 minutes.
One thing I still find interesting... The little Buick had an absolutely WONDERFUL exhaust note. I ran dual 2" exhaust back from the stock manifolds, and exited the exhaust in front of the rear tires. Instead of a real muffler, I ran the resonators from a 1968-69 Firebird 400 (the smallest "stock" muffler I could find at the time). I don't think I ever heard a better sounding engine exhaust.
Sad ending... A kid kept badgering me because he wanted to buy my car. After a couple years I sold it to him. Within a month he ran it into the side of a stopped train at a very dark RR crossing. He wasn't hurt badly, but the car was destroyed.
This was one of the tightest, most information filled videos I’ve seen in a long time on TH-cam. The quality of this piece is like the highlights of 80 percent of auto magazines editorials ever put out. Really cool stuff Tony. I don’t know how you keep popping up in different decades as an obvious outlier in the pack, from magazines to message boards and forums to this you just keep showing up as the apex in whatever you do. What’s next, you gonna be the 1320 champion on their youtube page street racing with your Miata? Lol keep up the good work you’re like the scorsese of car content you’ve been around since the 70’s and you haven’t let up in quality only bettering it.
Tony used to write for something like "mopar power" (or was it "hot rod"?) or some magazine like that
so ya... he has experience in writing...getting to the point.... finding the interesting and cool stuff....ETC
.
but im 100% sure not a single video on here has an actual script..... its just him remembering stuff and asking the right questions lol
@@kainhall which is what’s so impressive about it. He can make a 14 minute video purely on their knowledge of it
Buicks need more love.
Had the 65 300ci 355 wildcat 2door skylark 20 years ago felt like a bigblock torque wise in a 3200lb car great power to weight ratio. Then added a Qjet carb and she really came to life.
I got a 97 Buick park avenue Ultra with super charged 3800. Has 551000 km. Drive it every day. Sleeper. Lots of fun.
The factory hottest version of the modern 3800 was not the L67 as people are saying throughout the comments. It was the series 3 3800 labelled L32 that came out in the Grand Prix in 2004. That engine was factory rated at 260 Hp and 280 lb ft of torque and basically the extra 20 HP from the L67 was from a better M90 supercharger. The only car that had the series 3 was the Grand Prix GTP... any Impala, Monte Carlo, or Regal had the L67 series 2 variant. The L32 had bigger intake valves and stronger powdered metal connecting rods. I believe GM sold it as a crate engine rated at 280 Hp as well. Around 10 years ago I had a 2004 Grand Prix GTP Comp G and modified it. It was high 13 second car at my crummy altitude and track. The Comp G gave you doo dads like red calipers and paddle shifters but I liked how it gave you the 3.23 gear in the transaxle over the standard supercharged cars 2.93 gears. Fun fun.
I'm at an old man recently that had an mg with one of these engines in it from the range Rover. Making like 220 240 wheel horsepower. Custom-made the headers and the cold air intake. 5-speed manual. Very nice very fast little car.
I have the 3,5 , 3,9 , 4,2 and the crossbolt 4,6 in various land Rovers. I love how parts is interchangeable. Get a 4,6 and use parts from the 3,5 (carbs, dizzy and front cover) and put right in.
The Rover v8 cds twin carbs works really well. They work in every offroad situations.
Would love to see more Buick tech on this channel! Especially the small block Buick V8's that nobody ever covers.
I have a factory installed Buick 350 in my '69 Jeep Wagoneer. I'm slowly making progresss on getting it to idle and run smooth again after sitting a few years, thanks to your carb tuning videos. 👍
I had a Buick 350 in my skylark I can help with some questions.
SEAFOAM or Marvel mystery oil, and let it idle for a few hours.
I had a '63 Buick Special with a 215, 11:1 compression, quadrajet & gold with a white roof. Sweet car.
I had bought one of these way back in 1979 "rebuilt" for $50 from my girlfriends Dad. I never used it and sold it for $250 to a guy that put it in a 1970 Datsun Pick up and backed it with a 4 speed. He did the whole job in a weekend. I am still pissed I didn't have more talent back then to do the same thing......
Gen 2 - 3.8 V6 best motor ever! I have a 2002 Buick LaSaber that delivers consistent +/- 30 mpg on the highway . Amazing 👏
for just shooting the sht, you guys were pretty accurate with everything. Like you said, in 1987 it was the last of the Turbo Buicks culminating with the GNX - BUT, in 1989 the engine was resurrected for one year only in the 1989 20th Anniversary Pontiac Turbo Trans Am using cylinder heads from the 3.3L Buick to clear the strut towers. The Turbo V6 also made it's way into 1980/81 Chevy Malibus and El Caminos - with a bulged hood, even. The 3800 was a completely different engine and the last "Buick" designed engine. Now, look up the 1951 Buick LeSabre Prototype to really see how the 215 is the grand daddy of all things Buick. That 215 was also all aluminum and was a hemi design having two rocker shafts per head. One set of push rods were almost parallel to the ground and both rocker sets rocked the rocker backwards. Take off that second set of rockers that made the engine super wide, and put all of the valves in line using a common rocker shaft and shazam, you have the nailhead. The engine went from a lesson in optimum head flow for the time to one of the worst for packaging. They were replacing straight eight engines so they needed the narrow engine packaged V8. That 215 from 1951 was also supercharged and had dual fuel gas and alcohol. The production 215 was a little more conventional in the valve train area unlike the Nailhead and the valve cover rails of the heads were raised on the outboard side so the valve covers would sit vertical to resemble the actual Nailhead. One last thing, a Stage 2 version of the 3.8L engine destroked found it's way into the Indy lights series. The Stage 2 version's nominal size was 252 cid. It was tried out everywhere and used a good amount in NASCAR. The heads performed so well that NASCAR teams using Chevy based V8's would cut up the heads and weld them back together in a V8 configuration. Possibly, a production run of V8 versions were made by a 3rd party.
Steve Whitman poked and stroked one to about 265.
He bolted it upside down with a propeller on a homebuilt airplane (tailwind w8) and flew it to Reno to race it.
I've studied that engine
Bought a 1987 Cutlass Ciera Brougham new in '86. 3.8 liter (3800). Kept that car for 17 years, 280,000 miles and it never had a valve cover off and never used oil. We gave it to a neighbor who drove it for another ten years. Great car, Great engine!
BUICK V - 6: "The little engine that could".
I've had several and only been disappointed by one, a 231 odd fire. I couldn't get sufficient oil pressure. I suspect that the previous owner ran it consistently with little or no oil and trashed the engine. Who really knows...
Seems to me that Buick has always been a leader in its cars and engines; which is why I'm a stickler on owning Buick cars with Buick engines in them. An excellent combination. 👍
Thank you for the excellent and informative video!👌
I have a supercharged 3800 in my 1997 Regal GS....is a fun grandma's car. Thanks for the history lesson
And a GREAT sleeper!!...from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠🇺🇸p.s stay safe
The only time I ever saw a mechanic cry was working on one of these aluminum block monsters. He had to take it apart three times to finally get the heads on it. Every time he would try and torque the heads he would get almost finished and a head bolt would strip out the threads in the block. He would have to disassemble the engine and Heli Coil another head bolt hole in the block. Great engines when NEW but after they had a year or two in the field and about 20k miles on them with all the heat and cool cycles and anit freeze eating at the threads GOOD LUCK if you had to work on one. ANY threaded hole into that block could fail. Mechanics nightmare.
Ford straight-six 1941 - 2016, its been in everything from tractors to dragsters.
But through different generations of engine geometry that have nothing to do with each other (specifically around 1941-1960-ish) and was just not in as many factory cars as this motor. And on factory applications the 215 went from a gas sipping economy motor to exotic sports cars. Something that the Ford straight 6 only does when it’s made to race and build by hand and not for any stock application.
That wasn’t one engine design though.
i think 96 was the last year for the 300ci in the US, i daily a 95 f150 with 230,000 miles runs great and has great oil pressure and recently passed CA smog.
@@theeoddments960 well I guess the video should have been called "The Most Successful (And Versatile) FACTORY Engine Of All Time?" but if that's the case then this video should probably be about some Volkswagen engine.
Ok fine 1961-2016 in factory cars and trucks, But how much more exotic can you get than a one off drag car with a hot rodded straight six and to omit a hot rodded engine on a TH-cam channel about hot rodding is just wrong.
@@IggsBoson i guess you have never heard of the HAGR class
.
everything from AMC 4.0 / 4.2 to GM 292.... ford 300s.... dodge slant six....ETC
you MUST run a straight six
Kaiser Jeep called the v6 the Dauntless, from 66 to 71. Available in Jeepsters and C.J. models. arguably the best Jeep engine ever. I'm fiddling with one right now. Thanks U.T.
Arguably.
Because the 258 2V is the most versatile and reliable engine . . . for a jeep universal.
The Jeep universal weighs next to nothing , and the 258's low end torque (can idle at 450 rpm) was ideally suited to multiply with the 2 speed transfer case .
The 258 might not pull to 100 mph , but the Jeep universal doesn't like that speed anyway !
@@Richie_the_Fixer 258 is a great engine as well, tough to fit in a flatfender though!
As an aside, the engine in the Leyland P76 (Aussie market) was a 4.4 litre version. Also, the Rover 3500 is the same V8 as found in the TR-8, but different from that offered with the Triumph Stag, which came with a bespoke V8 that Triumph developed - poorly - by siamesing two of their slant I-4 motors, and was never used in any other model. Many Stags were later converted to the Rover 3500 engine for it's better performance and reliability after the original engine promptly died - usually of severe overheating, I believe. :-)
stag v8, head bolts designed to never be removed....
The only triumph v8 I've seen had suspicious white gunk in the coolant, like it never ran antifreeze or something. I always wondered how common that was.
I had 2 '66 Buick Specials.... one was a V6 (factory 160 hp) with a 3 on the tree, and the other was a 300 V8 (210 hp) with a glide.. My favorite Buicks
Not a Power glide, a Super Turbine 300
Superturbine or jet away for Oldsmobile both had switch pitch tork converter that would fit in the 400 turbo for Buick or Olds and the small block converter from the 2-speed is l lot smaller than the big block one and let the stall increase on high stall to over 3,000 rpm before locking up and low stall was about 2,200 rpm...
In 1964 my dad bought a new Buick Skylark that had the 300 iron block with aluminum heads. Dad had a lot of problems with that engine. Mostly blown head gaskets. In 1967 a drunk driver crashed into it while it was sitting broke down on the side of the highway. It went to the boneyard after that.
One contributor to their problems was the '60s coolant wasn't perfected for aluminum and aluminum/iron engines. That would come later.
I’m so glad y’all are taking this channel to the next level.
I can’t wait to be able to hear your videos clearly.
Down in Australia we had the 3800 v6 version in our rear axle drive Holden Commodore (GM) from 1988 to late 90s, they even came out with a supercharger factory. Love your videos mate 👍
For us Brits the Buick (Rover 3.5ltr) was the hot rod V8 engine swap of choice for many back in the 70's and 80's.
The Duntov 283 SBC, the dude was a true car racer engineer, before Shelby.
anything duntov is amazing
Duntov as in Zora Arkus?
@@DSchea yes
Oh yeah, the greatest flathead ford part? The Ardun overhead valve option for trucks. Named after the crazy Russian.
Yeah except that European GP cars had the same tech and output in the 30s.
Put the 215 in an Opel Kadett because they were sold by buick.
I have one in an Opel Manta, great little engine in a light car!
Also the V8 is about the same weight as the original 4 cylinder engine, so it’s a win win!👍🏻
Or an Opel GT. Would it fit?
@@turdferguson4124 I guess it would probably fit but would be a tight squeeze. Would be cool though, like a true baby corvette!
@@stratznhatz I now have the "you're too fat for the Opel GT" TV commercial looping in my head.
200hp, 2800lbs. Same as a Subaru BRZ (14.6 sec quarter mile). A giant killer indeed. Could have beat the GTO to the punch and it was the perfect car for the gas crisis. Skylarks get twenty something to the gallon. GM needed to market this gem of a car. It really had the full package.
I rebuilt one of those that was in a '63 F85 a few years ago. Wow are they hard to find parts for. Fel Pro had to actually manufacture the gaskets for me because there were none in stock anywhere in the US including the Fel Pro warehouse. There was only one cam choice and pistons were 426 Hemi priced. But after it was done that was a great running little car.
HA, I love it when I'm right. I can't tell you how good the Skylark is to drive. 2800lbs and with that SWEET engine it is the most comfortable, good handling, well rounded car that is possible. The 215 powered the first Mclaren. The 215 won 2 Formula 1 Championships. There wouldn't be SUVs if not for the 215 powered Rovers. This is a shamefully underappreciated engine.
Put a 215 in a Lotus in '80's. One hell of a combo!
I have never learned more about auto mechanics than I have from this channel,and I'm 66 years old.These young people coming into the business should consider themselves lucky to have resources such as OTG,Nicks Garage and many others that we didn't have.The amount and wealth of knowledge that you are passing on is tremendous.This was an amazing video and the guest speakers are great!!My vote for the motor is a 1962 Pontiac Lemans or a 62 F85 Oldsmobile
Had a 2000 buick regal GS supercharged. They quote 240hp. With the way the car ran i believe it had every bit of it.
I ran a 14.5 quarter mile in first and second gear with the tires spinning, all stock, 1998 Regal GS
I still have a 1992 Buick Regal with a 3800 in it and I have 51,000 original miles on it and got it from my aunt and it looks like a time capsule. No rust and mint garage kept.
I remember as a young R&R tech at an AAMCO in the mid to late '70's roadtesting a Buick WIldcat with it's 2 speed ST300. I *think* it was a 340 version but let me tell you, when you went for passing gear (1st gear) that thing screwed!
Buick had some of the best styling of the era on their intermediates '61-'67, and an awesome engine family to power them!
63-65 rivieras are in my opinion one of the best automotive designs ever
The first engine I ever rebuilt was a Buick 231 V6 in a 1979 Pontiac Sunbird. It had a Smokey Yunick designed Weiand tunnel ram topped with a Holley 390 CFM. Hotter cam. The recipe was from a car mag in the ‘80’s. Ran like a stock V6. Probably should have ported the heads and done a little more jet experimentation. Ended up selling the car to a guy who wanted the engine for a Jeep. Saw the car later on with a different stock V6 in it.
As far as 1950's engineering goes...Rocketdyne engineered the F1 liquid fuelled rocket engine that lifted the 6 million pound Saturn 5, and haven't yet built a more powerful liquid fuelled engine.
Happy to have just won an '87 range rover on ebay. Thanks for sharing. Very informative
Had a 81 Pontiac Firebird Espirit that came with a Factory Buick 231 V-6. 2 Barrel single exhaust. That engine had no problem pulling that Bird.
"Pencil full of pockets. "
Haha ,I was going to make the same comment
I didn't even get it until I heard him say it. Then I remembered reading this.
I do the same thing sometimes when I'm really excited about something!
Aluminum 215 bell housing pattern is unique unto itself.
So not BOP. Thanks for clarifying that.
Through the years I had a 3.8 l and A 3800 love them my first and second Dakotas were 3.9's another reliable engine the second Dakota lived to see 260, 000k and still ran decent the man I sold it to said the only real problem he had he had to replace the fuel pump at like 250 k but I wanted a magnum 52
Still gotta go with the small block Chevy, way more common and easy to get parts for.
Have an L67 with some decent modifications in a W-body Regal. Fantastic engine, good power & great torque...and delivers the same mileage as stock if you keep your foot out of it. Crazy reliable to boot
I believe the story started with BMW and a 2.58l alloy v8 powering the Baroque Angel in 1954, which they then developed into a 3168cc 150hp with twin downdraft zenith carbies. So this engine disappeared into GM for study, nobody officially admitted the link, but a couple of years later when Buick, Olds and Pontiac brought out their first compacts it had an alloy v8 modified for big volume production and enlarged to 3.6l, but essentially the same design as the BMW engine. would be great to sit these two engines together and compare them in detail. Never the less these are an amazing engine and still lighter than a lexus V8.
My mother had a 1962 Buick Special with the 215 V-8. Great warm weather car, but you couldn't start it if the temperature got below 20 degrees. Years later after I moved to Warren, MI. I had a neighbor a couple of houses away that was an engine tech for GM in the early 60's and through to the late 80's. He told me that GM had a problem with the aluminum alloys they used in the 215. The block would shrink more than the pistons and effectively lock the motor up. He said he would go out to the cold cars and pour about 5 to 10 gallons of hot water on the manifold and then they would start. GM solved the problem by selling off the entire production line to Land Rover and went back to cast iron. My Dad also had a 1966 Buick wagon with the 340. Early production and it was a mismash of 300 cid parts and the 340 engine. The air cleaner was marked 300 and so on.
Best of all was Dad's 1962 Electra 225 with the 401 nail head. Car was a beast. Trunk could hold 25 bodies!
A few quick side notes on the V6. There was a transverse version at 3.0 liters. Because of engine compartment configuration, Buick had to make the head narrower towards the top. When Pontiac tapped the 3.8 liter turbo engine out of the 87 GN for the 20th anniversary TA, they found the heads too wide for the engine compartment. They dove into the parts bin with a measuring tape and found the 3.0 heads. Low and behold, not only did they fit, they also pumped up the HP by about 25!
My other V6 tidbit is that while the transverse version of it got updated to Series III, in the middle to late 90s, the conventional longitudinal version in the F-bodies kept the Series II. Unfortunately, very little interchanges between Series and between transverse & longitudinal.
Dallas, I don't think the original buick built 215 had trouble with dropping liners because they were cast into the aluminum. Rover cut costs by using the press in liners and fixed the porosity issues at the same time they changed the assessory belt brackets. Great job at explaining Buick V8 history.
The 231” version was used in FWD applications prior to ‘88 also, they just weren’t labeled as the “3800”. We had an ‘86 Olds Delta 88 in our shop class in high school, I remember thinking how much more archaic it looked with the distributor. My mom had an ‘89 Delta 88 at that time...with its “fancy” distributorless ignition. Lol
They were 3.8's the transaxle was so bad that a junkyard here in Chattanooga was GIVING away the 3.8 because the cars were getting scrapped.
@@christianmotley262 I could believe it!
Amazing engine and guest, the man is an encyclopedia of knowledge , love to hear his opinions on Fords .Thanks Tony and Kathy....I own Mopar and Ford muscle i must add...
They were also used on the MGs for a short time. An old timer about 4 hours south of you has two of them. He daily drives MGs only lol. Great guy.
When I worked on the MGB V8's in the 1970's we regularly renewed the engine mounts, the torque of that motor tore them to bits!
@@frenchenstein- The Triumph Spitfire 4 banger 1500cc in MG Midgets also tore up motor mounts because it was such a rough vibrating engine that MG hung it from rubber to smooth it out instead of merely sitting on rubber! And those engines and transmissions only lasted 25K miles at USA road speeds...
I put the Buick 215 V8 and little BW T50 5 speed manual in my 1975 MG Midget which I still have...
MG V8's weren't imported to USA, though...
I put the Buick 215 V8 and little BW T50 5 speed manual in my 1975 MG Midget which I still have...
Good job guys. Very interesting. Thanks for this tutorial.
I never owned a car that had an actual 215 version but I've always wanted a '61-'62 Skylark. Buick division had some smooth engines in that era. I remember driving a '61 Electra that I believe had the 401 engine. That engine was so smooth and quiet it was like an electric motor.
Had one of these in my first car. A 62 Buick and it surprised a lot of the hot rodders of the day. Sadly, I accidentally used a tree to stop it and sold the engine to a dude that was building an airplane.
Best video ever. More education than expected and that's hard to do coming from you utg. You def shined here and your friend.
I had the olds 215 in my Vega. Rover bought the tooling and turned it into the rover 3500
That's like the perfect Vega.
Using 215/300/340 parts you can come up with some interesting combos. Great video guys!
Yes! 300 crank in the 215 is common, and the 350 crank goes into the 300. I have a 63 skylark with original 200hp 215. Probably going to store the original drivetrain and drop in a 64 aluminum (heads and intake) 300 and 4 speed.
@@strong_voice_of_truth I really like that '64 300 engine, with aluminum heads and front cover. A Special or Skylark (or really any A-Body) would be really sweet with that engine and an adapted T5.
@@Gothamauto I like it too. It's still pretty light, but the iron block is a little more durable for more power. It looks a lot like the original 215, and the heads and intake will interchange (but drop compression drastically without a piston swap). My '63 is actually a Y-body, which is unibody, and is unique, to say the least. It's a difficult car to swap things into. The drive shaft is a massive pain with a bunch of U-joints and multiple pieces. The tunnel is very small and it's difficult to fit any transmission without cutting. We're going to see how an M22 fits behind the 300. Right now it has the 2-speed dual path auto, which is really odd. The whole drivetrain is coming out and it's getting the 300, M22, and a narrowed Ford 8.8 3.73 limited slip explorer rear with disc brakes all around and 15" 5-lug wheel conversion.
@@strong_voice_of_truth The '63s are neat compacts. The combination you 're planning should be a lot of fun and a great driver.
@@Gothamauto Thanks! I'm hoping so. I have been exploring a lot of different ideas for it, including a turbocharged 3800 II, but we decided to keep it old school and looking pretty much original when you open the hood, but with more guts and stronger components. I was wrong about the trans- it's an M20, not an M22, but should be fine for the light car with a small block.
Great info to share Tony. These Buick Engine designs were way ahead of their time. Not sure if you guys are aware but this engine went back even farther than you think. The basics of that engine were designed in the late 40s. Gm did a couple concept cars that they showed in the 50'/51' shows that had the beginning of both the Nailhead V8 family and the 215/300/340/350 V8 family as well as 198/225/231 family of V6s. The cars were the LeSabre and xp300 show cars. They had a 215 all aluminum hemi design with a roots style supercharger. They ended up cost cutting like Chrysler did with the Poly type engines and took that basic design and moved the exhaust valves up around to inline with the intake valves all in a row. The Pentroof combustion chamber remained. This kept the Nailhead narrow and cut costs by not having difficult to machine heads with two rocker shafts. They went with the cast iron to reduce costs as well. 8 years later they brought out the 215 Aluminum V8 but used a wedge style combustion chamber. These designs as you say carried on into the 2000s. Just amazing to evolve all those years. Seeing as you really seem to love these engine design evolutions like myself I thought I would like to see some of this info. This link has some excellent info on that topic. www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/secrets-of-the-buick-nailhead-v8/?fbclid=IwAR2n9Ru1iZqoLlYdIMpklq-KX0k2CFbceE9j_VyWeRAZEIFBndiGffbDImc Some further research can find some more too. Check it out. Great youtube show. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work.
Australian variant was 269ci 192hp aluminum V8 as fitted to the 1973 Leyland P76 & the ultra rare ultra cool Leyland Force 7 GT...
Love your channel! An MKH-416 (film industry standard) on a boom or Sennheiser wireless cardioid lapel mics would make a huge difference in the intelligibility of the sound. The first thing people notice about a video is the sound quality. You are archiving history here. Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge!
The aluminum Buick 215 V8.
the little aluminum V6 (Buick Special) was lots of fun in a Vega wagon.
The 3800 Series II Buick motor is perhaps the best engine ever made! Any mechanic will tell you it's great. They're torquey. Decent on fuel and last forever. I had customers with over 350000 kms. That's well over 200000 miles for our American cousins. And don't forget. Pontiac made the fastest Trans Am ever maybe by stuffing in a GNX motor in like 89 I think. That thing was a beast.
This was Carroll Shelby's first choice for the A.C. Cobra. GM said no so he went to Ford for the 260 and the rest is history. This was told to me by Shelby's friend and fellow racer William Wonder (still going at 97).
This was great!!! It is amazing , how many different versions of this engine, were used in different vehicles and racing applications... The enthusiasts - Tony & his friend are very knowledgeable about the different changes and versions that took place... I knew a fella back in the mid- 80's who had a Triumph TR-8, with one of these engines. He did have problems with the car-but I don't know exactly what those problems were... From what I remember, he said the electrical system on that little wedge shaped car, we're the main issues... When manufacturers constantly change their designs, it tends to make things difficult to repair the problems that might develop, after the vehicles get some miles & years of use. I like basic designs that are well proven and stay close to the same for several years of production. Much easier to find parts for these types of things...
GM brought the 231 V6 back in 1975. I had one in my 75 2 dr Skylark. Did not like to get wet because the distributor was at the front where it could get soaked in any kind of rain.
Great video gents. What a history.
I bought my 1995 Roadmaster in September of '22. I found it in Waterloo, Iowa with 24,102 original miles on it. Talk about big car comfort. I swear it can go from 70 MPH to Warp 6 in 3 seconds. She's an absolute beast!
Hey guy’s 👋, I’ve got two of them I’ve got A 67 ‘ and A 69 They are in my cj5 and my Courier 😃 Both run great. I love them. Thanks for the History lessons. !!
Great historical content on a popular engine block. Thx. Keeping an eye out now to know the background & evolution on this engine when I may come across one.
215 was also used in a sports car in the mid 60s it was called an Apollo, not the Buick Apollo though, it was the yellow car in the first love bug movie, look it up, pretty cool car!
Uncle Tony, your Buick love is shining through. I like it! I love my 66 Buick Wildcat.
My late father used to own a '68 Wildcat. "430".
They used the 3.8 turbo in the 1989 Pontiac Firebird. The Land Rover also used this V-8 in various displacements. Mickey Thompson entered a stock-block Buick 215 powered car in the 1962 Indianapolis 500. In 1962, the Buick 215 was the only non-Offenhauser powered car in the 33-car field. Dan Gurney qualified eight but did not finish the race because of transmission problems.
I had a '64 Sport Wagon as a winter beater back in the 80's. 300 V-8 with the four barrel and a Power Glide trans. Posi rear end. I'd love to have another one of those cars.
Not a glide, a ST 300
I drove a Holden here in Australia with the v6.
My god!! The power just blew me away.
I would buy this engine tommorrow if I could
get one ,just to have it.
I put a 215 in 76 spitfire with at-5 car only wieghed 1800 lbs really hauled and handled well
Buick nailhead. Light small size made good - great power
Nope... Buick 215 isn't a nailhead, just styled to look like one...
I have a nailhead I put in a '64 Skylark.
It weighs 685 lbs. It is nowhere near, "light".
The 300 I pulled out weighed 400 lbs.
We run the Aussie version of the 3800 in our wingless sprints here in Australia 👍
I've got 225 derived Rover 3950cc v8 in my mgbgt and I LOVE it!
Great channel has helped me with tuning my edelbrock so thanks for that.
215!
I had a 225 in a 1969 Jeep CJ5 it was a great engine for that light little truck. It had a bunch of miles on when I got it and I drove the heck out of it. Never used any oil or failed to start no matter the temp. All I did was rebuild the carb and put on a voltage regulator. I regret letting it go but I was over the ragtop deal.
I bought a 1965 Buick Gran Sport...yes...a Gran Sport with the 300 in it. Bought it from a Buick engineer that I met at Sherman Drug store at 13 Mile and Rochester Rd in Royal Oak,Michigan. Gran Sports had 401 nailheads. The air cleaners where marked 445 Wildcat...the torque rating. He explained to me it was the only one made because it was an experimental. 300cid engine, 4 Jet Rochester carburetor not a 4bbl, cast iron block,aluminum heads...11 to 1 compression ratio. He said to only run SunCo 260 for the high octane. Which I did. It was dark blue with 3/4 vinyl white top,blue interior with bucket seats,center console,automatic. Automatic was Super Turbine 300....2spd...like the GM powerglide. Cool car. I also had a 225 V6 Fireball in another 65 Skylark. My Brother had 1971 CJ5 with the Buick 225 V6. The distributor was postioned just a little different because of the firewall on the CJ. So my sparkplug wires wouldn't fit his CJ.
I always thought the 3800 was a stand alone design. Thanks for the education. One of the best gm engines ever.
nope.... its a 90 degree v6....which means its unbalanced (so they added a balance shaft under the cam, that spins at 2x crank RPM)
a v6 wants to be a 60 degree
.
but buick cut 2 cylinders off..... and called it the "oddfire v6".....
because.... instead of "pop...pop...pop...pop...pop...ETC ETC"
it went like "pop pop.....pop.....pop pop.....pop....ETC ETC"
.
then they added the balance shaft i mentioned..... and made the crankshaft a "split pin"
.
after that..... the engine is one of the smoothest running v6s ever made
DAMN near as smooth as a straight 6
.
but ya.... that 3.8 is a DAMN good engine
decent power.... AMAZING miles to the gallon.... and super durable
.
just replace the lower intake gaskets with the FEL-PRO metal frames..... and the plastic coolant elbows with the doorman metal ones
and it will hit 500,000 miles EASY!!!
@@kainhall I have taken a late series 1 3800 to 270,000 personally and my cousin took a series 1 to over 400k. Bodies just rotted away.
Great videos Tony I always loved my 350 or 307 in 72 nova but I like your information you give out thanks
Wow, very interesting! I worked at ECS/Roush in the mid 80's when Rover first certified the sell in the USA. At the time the Rover engineers mentioned the engine we were certifying was 'an ancient Buick engine,' turbocharged. Many sidebar stories about what the Rover engineers said at the time to justify the then-outrageous $48,000 sticker price (funny comparisons between the minority American buyers and the Queen, basically). Now I know the rest of the story! Thank guys.
nice, I used to have a 1990 2 door regal with the 3800 motor. loved that car
Lol 😆 I’m still going on my old mans hybrid 400/440 six pack . Great work tony !
I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the Buick V6 (currently own a 80 drawthrough 3.8, grand national intercooled turbo setup on a 4.1/252, and an S2 3800 supercharged in a firebird), but hearing the evolution of the 215 in it's v8 days is something I never looked much into. I (shamefully) forgot the 215 turned into the 350 SBB. If you really want to get nitpicky you can get into low port vs high port 3.8 heads, IEEIIE vs IEIEIE port heads on 88 (pre 3800) 3.8's, the 3.3 and 3.0 with BOP patterns in FWD stuff with or without EFI, ect.
When you push the like button even before the video starts, then you know you're a huge UTG fan .... keep on rocking Tony !
Uncle Tony said on Sundays live stream that he didn't like the word fan, said it makes him want to run and hide or something like that.😎
@@bigbear5510 Yeah ... specially flex fans..he hate that even more...
Nice one Tony...Thanks for sharing...
Have one of these all over my bench, out of my TR-8. Very light engine, but you have to get used to scary low oil pressure...the system is set up for volume, and a little work with the main gallery and relief valve does wonders.
I had a '62 Olds F85 that had the 215 V8. It was badged the "Rockette". It was a great running motor.
my dad bought a new 1961 oldsmobile F-85 with this 215 ci (2 barrel carb) engine in it. biggest problem was the prestone antifreeze(magnetic film) plugged up the heater and radiator. after about 3 flushes I convinced my dad to put zerex dupont antifreeze into it and it was fine after that. the car was very light and so had plenty power with 3 speed standard trans,
Interesting.
Ok Tony, now look up the history of the flathead v8 ford. Came out in ‘32 and was in production to...1994 I believe. I was in Yugoslavia during the war and while I was Canadian, I was attached to the French marines. Their personnel carriers were powered by ford flatheads! Blew me away! Apparently some French company bought the dies etc from ford and with upgrades continued using them. When they finally moved away from the flathead they sold them at an auction and an American company called fat jacks (flathead specialists) bought their stock. Talk to fat jack for the full story. Also, we had British “one tonnies “ they called them, as ambulance support. They had the 215’s in them with twin Weber carbs on a y adapter on a 4bbl intake. The carbs were mounted at a 30degree angle or so pointing over the valve covers. Lots more stories but enough for now.
I bought my 63 skylark convertible with the 215 all aluminum in 73 with 71,000 miles on it.It now has 337,000 and i replaced the hydraulic lifters at about 150,000.It has baby blue bucket interior and the paint is 70 plymouth Safire metallic blue painted in 74 changed the 2 speed auto trans to super T10 4 speed in 75.Today the whole car is perfect.
Fun video, thanks for sharing. When on the topic of long lived engine designs, the small block Ford Windsor has also had a very long run. Starting life in 1961 with 221 CID and same basic architecture as a 302 in the mass produced cars/trucks/SUVs up to the early 2000's. They are still being produced and sold as create engines and a vast selection of aftermarket support that the Buick 215 never really had.
Buick 215 has tons of FOREIGN after market support...
The most versatile motor of all time was the Harley Davidson flathead 45. It lived in its own right until the mid 70s in the servicar trikes. It’s layout was the basis for the KH motor that is the father of the XL motor in sportsters. At XL has been in production since 1957. The XL motor is also the basis of all top fuel Harley Davidson motors.
Yes I had a 1 yr. old 71 CJ-5 with the 225 in it, ran like a champ but she did shake !
I always have my eyes open for a supercharged Park Avenue Ultra.
An LT1 Roadmaster would also be tolerable.
I bought a 2000 park ave ultra in 2010 only had 60k miles on it absolutely the best car I’ve ever had