Guest Anonymous Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 is the all aluminum 215 V8 a good motor for a Z conversion? How much is 1 worth if it runs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 Its a light motor. Only goes like 385 lbs or something like that. The higher compression models had like 10:1 compression and put out nearly one horsepower per cube. It was bought by rover in the 60's and still to this day powers the range rovers, discovery etc etc. They (rover) have displacements now of I think its up to 4.6 litre. Its a commonly used swap engine in England and theres many different transmissions that will go behind it. Its used alot by the Sandrail crowd who stuff it full of buick 300 cid parts, along with a mixed bag of volvo parts and end up with about 300 inch motors putting out 300 hp or higher. Downside? Yeah, parts are a little harder to get, and its fairly expensive to get the horsepower up really high unless you know a machinest that works for free. It would make a great conversion for the Z, thought of doing it myself, but it didn't make financial sense to get the torque I wanted. Its worth what someone will pay for it. Probably a motor with loads of miles on it, probably in the 150-250.00 range, but I'd check out the Rover webpages to see what they're getting for them as my number is a conservative guess. It comes down to how much horsepower you want, if you want a mildly warmed up 215, with about the same 215+ HP, its fairly obtainable without to much trouble. There are aftermarket cams, manifolds and the like for it. Try this link, you'll find loads of brit sport cars with the buick 215 in them as well as Ford and Chevy V8's: http://members.aol.com/danmas/examples.htm Regards, Lone [This message has been edited by lonehdrider (edited January 02, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 3, 2001 Share Posted January 3, 2001 Check this site out: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~zedskid/ Its a Z with a Rover Type (Leland) block in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 3, 2001 Share Posted January 3, 2001 Yup the link above is my car... I also posted the link in the repeat of this qu. under misc. tech. As I said there, have a look and post or e-mail questions. And I agree with Lone's comments. In summary you get a nice light engine (lighter than the Nissan 6) with reasonable HP. But, being something of a rarity (even the version I used) it's expensive c.w. GM or Ford alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 4, 2001 Share Posted January 4, 2001 Zedskid, Beautiful car. Very nice job. I imagine it handles and goes pretty sweet with that light rover in there. Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Thanks guys, i appreciate all your help. That is a sweet car. I think I'm going to look for a small block chev all things considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Lone, Yeah it's come together OK; I think I've finally got the suspension geometry worked out too so it seems to be handling v. nicely at the moment. And even though there's not as much power as some of the guys here, the weight drop from day 1 helps. But I'd really like some trick heads to lift it a bit. We're never happy, are we.... Mike, Good luck whichever way you go. Even though the Chev's a bit heavier, the extra HP you'll be able to afford'll easily make up for that. And as many have pointed out, there's plenty of ways to reduce the weight of a Chev. Most important thing is to do what makes sense to you and enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Zedskid, You probably know about this, but a popular swap for heads on the Buick 215 was to use the iron buick 300 heads. Bigger valves, supposedly a bolt on I'm told. Course you lose a little weight advantage then. Not sure how much gain and if would offset the weight penalty. At any rate, nice car, I think its a good balance of power and handling and probably not taxing the drivetrain nearly as much as the higher powered Z's. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 5, 2001 Share Posted January 5, 2001 Lone, I've heard others mention the Buick 300 but I don't know anything about it (I don't think the engine came to Australia in any form). Do you have any web sites I could look at, or any other info? And yeah the low drivetrain stress does help a bit. While it must be pretty cool having the big HP engines, I'm glad I don't have the issues about beefing everything else up that go with it. Not that I really see my car in this league, but it's the basic principle that made the old Lotus 7 such a good idea, and has meant that people still build things like Caterhams today. If you don't have heaps of weight to begin with, you don't need heaps of HP to pull it, huge brakes to stop it etc etc. Anyhow, I'm off my soapbox now! Thanks again, Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 quote: Originally posted by zedskid: Lone, I've heard others mention the Buick 300 but I don't know anything about it (I don't think the engine came to Australia in any form). Do you have any web sites I could look at, or any other info? Thanks again, Mark. Mark, Here is a web link where a guy tells of his 215 build up and it includes a bit about those heads: http://www.team.net/TR8/mp/html/body_buick_215_conversion.html Also, here is a quote I found on a page giving the background of the 300 buick engine. Oh yeah, I stand corrected, the heads were available in aluminum for a while, the block was cast iron: " The aluminum engine was dropped for the '64s, which had an engine with a similar 300ci design but with a cast-iron block and aluminum heads. These big-valve heads appeared only in the '64s and will retrofit onto the smaller Buick/Rover engines. An all-iron 300ci engine followed from '65 to '67, along with a stroked version at 340 ci. The '68-'75 Buick can be traced back to the original 215, as can the 198, 225 and 231 Buick and Jeep V6 engines. Many parts interchange between all of these powerplants. " That quote is from this page: http://bilbat.fp.execpc.com/aluminum.htm Hope that is useful. Take care. Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 6, 2001 Share Posted January 6, 2001 Cool! Thanks for that. I'll go do some reading & thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 10, 2001 Share Posted January 10, 2001 Hey that's great info, it'll help with one of my other cars - a Triumph Stag with the same engine and box as Zedskid's quote: Originally posted by zedskid: Cool! Thanks for that. I'll go do some reading & thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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