Re:Olds V-8? (and some buick ID tips and facts)

[twoeightythreez]

Thanks for the reply! Hope u have fun with your Hybridz.( I know I will BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Buick engine. I happen to be a Buick enthusiast. I think it would work great in a Z. ( The only basic downside is they're really expensive to build properly!)

A little bit of Buick identification training:

Buick engines are most notably I.D.'d by thier front-mount distributor and oil pump.(actually looks similar to the Datsun L-series w/o the OHC)

A SB buick is ID'd by it's deep-skirted block, this means that the oil pan flange is not angled anywhere on the engine. The timing cover's bottom is flat. A BB buick looks the same, except it's oil pan flange angles up in the front at the timing cover. Once the timing cover comes off, you can tell by the cam gear. A sb Buick has a bolt-on distributor drive gear and fuel pump eccentric, where the BBB 's is integral with the cam. (non-replaceable unless u replace the cam) The timing covers are aluminum on both bb and sb engines, and the distibutor and oil pump mount in the timing cover.

A couple of interesting BUICK facts:

Did you know the weight of an all-iron buick 350 is about 500lb?

A BIG BLOCK BUICK (400-430-455) with aluminum heads and intake weigh about the same as an all-iron Small block chevy? (hint,hint)

The Buick 455 has the biggest BORE, The shortest STROKE, and the best ROD-TO-STROKE ratio of any American Big Block ever built. (stock!)

The stock BBB heads have heart-shaped combustion chambers (way ahead of it's time in 1967!)...FYI, Aftermarket chevy "dart" heads use the same combustion chamber shape.

Factory Forged Connecting rods in the 400, 430, 455.

In Car Craft's big-block comparison, using engines built as similarily as possible, the Buick 455 made the MOST Horsepower. (25 more hp than the next highest, the Chevy BB.) I believe it made close to 560hp if I remember correctly, and it was perfectly streetable by grandma.

The DOWNSIDES?

THe block is a bit weak as big-blocks go,because Buick engineers made is as light as they could w/o using aluminum, but it's reliable up to 600hp or so before it needs to be strengthened...T/A performance has cures for that. (Main bearing-web girdle) Buick small blocks are deep-skirted and don't have this problem, but nobody makes many perf. parts for sb buicks.

 

Oiling system is way-sucky, but is easy and cheap to modify for better oiling. (check aluminum timing cover for wear, use high-volume pump, must make some kind of oil bypass[very easy to make] for the lifter galleries, as stock buicks use the front cam bearing to transfer oil to the driver's lifter gallery from the passenger side lifter gallery..once that front bearing wears, the driver's lifters get oil-starved, especially at high RPM.)

 

Aftermarket parts are made only by a few niche vendors so are extremely expensive.

 

Buick Big Blocks haven't been made since 1976, so they're getting harder to find. (still not as hard as finding a BBC in the junkyard that's buildable)

They are rapidly becoming popular these last few yrs because they are still cheap to buy and make ridiculous power and torque when built right.

(they may be expensive to build, but no more so than, say, a mail order Big Block Chevy with 500-600hp. )

 

Everyone is entitled to thier opinion, but I believe Buick big blocks were one of the most (if not THE most) underrated musclecar engines EVER!

I could only imagine the kind of power one could make if the aftermarket would jump on it and throw tons of R&D at it like they do for Ford, Chevy, and Mopar.

 

I'm still gonna run a chevy in my 240z, but I am still a Buick guy at heart.

I don't have the need for the kind of torque a Big Block (of any make can put out in the lightweight Z, and I think the best way to ultimate Z performance is to use a (relatively) small displacement, high revving (Buicks, as much as I love 'em, are NOT RPM engines) high-output chevy engine, because it'll keep the sports car spirit alive in my Z. (as Timon and Pumbaa said of Simba in "the lion king" before he went back to retake his pride.. : "You'll still be the same guy" [pumbaa]...but with POWER!"[timon]) Hey, I can't help that comparison....I was 16 when "Lion King" came out and DROVE to the theatre.

Have fun with your Z!

P.S.: No power steering isn't fun in parking lots with a small block? ONLY IF YOU'RE USING THE FRONT TIRES if you're steering with the rear tires and all that small block V-8 power, 3-point (or should I say one-point) turns are a LOTTA FUN!

[Guest 240SBB]

First of all, thank you VERY MUCH for serving our country as you are doing and stay safe! Give 'em hell though!

 

Thanks for the Buick information. As another Buick enthusiast, I can back you up on what you said about those engines. The Buick 455 was an innovative engine, not to mention an out right terror to other big blocks on the street. As for putting a Buick V8 in a Z, you're probably right about it working better as a drag racer than a well-rounded street machine. Of course, a turbo-charged Buick V6 may be a good thing for street use.

 

After owning a late-model Z-28, I think the LT1 would be a just about the best choice for a Z. By best, I mean (1) ease and economy of obtaining one--just call the local wrecking yard (and get the whole car), (2) performance, (3) fuel economy, and (4) durability--the LT1 is a work horse! Nothing against the LS1 here, they're just a little more expensive.

 

Anyhow, I'll get back to my day dreaming of doing this conversion some day . . .