Potential on Buick straight 8

[JR66Ford]

I found a '50 Buick in the backwoods boneyard. It's a complete car minus the rearend. Anyways, it has the straight 8 in it. Are these worth anything in the hotrod world? I guess it would need to be a big to stick it in. Well, the guy will sell the whole car for $1200, it's in east Texas.

[RileyRacing]

check out this... Scotch gives the lowdown on the 50's...

Buick straight 8 link

[chromedRAT]

there was a coupe or roadster in the 60s that did some DAMAGE against the competition with a buick I8.

[stan292]

The straight 8 from the 60's mentioned above was probably Charlie Seagrave's altered roadster. He was a Buick straight-8 "freak" with tons of cash to spend on his passion (a food industry fortune, I believe). Not much of note for that motor in the racing world before or since then.

If you're thinking of pedaling it for some cash to a racer - I'd say your chances are virtually nil. There might be a possibility of finding a restorer who's interested. You might try lnliners.com. or one of the Buick lover's websites.

Good luck.

[seldom scene]

I think the junkie has one too many zeros after the 120 the car is worth. I8 buicks make good boat anchors, but not much else unless you're willing to spend a lot of money and end up with little power but a great novelty. A I8 in an early Buick fenderless channeled touring body has been my dream for a long time, but alas will probably remain a dream while I build my Fords.

[squirrelmurphy]

Those who go to El Mirage and B'ville could tell you about Muffler Toms straight 8. That thing sounds way different than anything on the lake. I don't know how fast he's gone lately, but he does all right. He's an old timer who used to own a muffler shop here in Long Beach.

[Stevie G]

There is a book out on GMC Sixes and Buick Straight eights.
They have some potential if you are the do it yourself type.

[Scotch]

Mmmkay...here's the latest from Scotch's Buick Straight 8 Research Lab (tm).

We've got the motor torn down and mocked up. To get the compression up from 7.2 to 9.5:1, we've shaved .100 off the block deck and another .100 off the deck of the head. I'm working with Ross pistons to develop a nice piston with a good small dome. (the stock pistons had huge-ass domes, which horsepower guys know doesn't do shit for the flame front). Going to the smaller dome in combination with the .200-inc removed from the mating surfaces will serve to bump compression to a better place. We're getting a custom cam from Marcus' connection, and I've got a pair of Harley Davidson 275cfm sidedrafts I'm building an intake for.

The Straight 8 has some quirks I wasn't aware of previously. The oiling system is reverse in it's design from the norm. Usually, pressure flows from the pump along a galley to the cam/lifters, then up the pushrods to the rockers. In cleaning up this block, it became obvious there were no oil galley plugs and therefore, no oil galley. How then does it get oil, and how can we make it better?

Further research showed the pressurized oil goes from the pump up to the rockers first, through a hollow rocker shaft. Then, it flows down through the hollow pushrods to the lifters, flowing out and over the lobes to provide lubrication. Backwards, yes, but apparently still effective.

So, in looking everything over, we wanted to get more air in and out of the engine. The intake ports are siamesed, meaning the 8 cylinder engine has only four intake ports. This makes mocking up the intake easier, since we only need to center each of the carbs between the two corresponding exhaust ports.

I'll be keeping the stock crank and connecting rods. The rods have an oddball pinch bolt design on the piston pin, which I'm not stoked about. The rods themselves are over 7.25-inch long, and are relatively thin. This means replacement is virtually impossible with typical BB Chevy/Ford/Mopar rods. I could have a custom set made by Carillo or Oliver, but it would be cost prohibitive. Were I racing this, it would become essential.

We're shooting for 100hp more than factory, which puts us in the 225hp range. Knowing this, it's not hard to see that each cylinder, at peak, must be capable of supporting about 30hp. The stock rods are plenty adequate for this.

The post-1949 Buick S-8s are fitted with typical insert-type bearings. Pre-50 engines have poured babbit bearings, which are not replaceable. When choosing an engine like this to build on, the 50-and-later engines win big time because of this alone. Bearings are available and affordable for the later engines with inserts. I don't want to think what would be involved in re-pouring babbit bearings, or even the machinist's bill for swapping up from poured to insert bearings. Get a later engine and keep it simple.

There is much to be gained in porting one of these heads. There is a ton of casting flash and slag in these castings, and a little time with a grinder goes a long way. Helping one of these engines to breathe a little will help everything from smooth idle to acceleration rate to peak power potential. They don't have to be made LARGER, they simply have to be reshaped to perform BETTER. We don't want to increase the volume of air moving in and out of the engine as much as we'd like to increase the velocity of the air moving through. So, a simple cleanup and matching of port sizes and shapes is all these engines need.

Once I get this one running, we'll have more solid connections for these parts- especially the Ross pistons. If they get orders after mine comes out, they may keep the file handy for future orders. If I do this right, pistons will be available for everyone who wants something similar.

We overbored the block almost .100-inches too, and it will now displace 283ci (vs. 263ci stock). This bore size will allow us to use out-of-the-box Acura rings (cheap and plentiful) on the Ross slugs.

I'm working with MSD on ignition- I've been told a Pontiac distributor can be made to work in an early S-8 with minor mods. If this is so, I'll be doing it. I'll share this info with MSD and maybe they can offer them on special order.

I've chosen to run a 700R-4 trans behind it using a Bendtsens transmission adapter. They can be found here:
http://transmissionadapters.com/Buic...ht_263_320.htm

The rear suspension will be late-model F-body. The factory f-body torque arm mount will be retained, and I'll be doing what's necessary to get the post-'82 F-body axle installed and functioning. I'll be coordinating with Glen on this.

Currently, the project is coming togehter at Pro Machine in Placentia, CA. The shop owner John Beck is learning right along with me, and I can confidently recommend him to anyone else wanting one of these hot street S-8s. He's got all the connects and we're learning what these engines want. Once it's done, I'll have pics and dyno sheets (really!) to show how it did. For now, I've got some teardown and mockup pics...but know there's more to come.

Scotch~!

[Scotch]

In the pic above, you can see the S-8 cylinder head. Huge, cumbersome, and inefficient. I love it.

Anyway, here's a closeup on the combustion chamber. It's not a horrible design, but it doesn't have much quench. We may weld these up a bit, but considering the power levels targeted, we may not. Once we get the new Ross pistons, we'll re-evaluate it.

[Scotch]

This IS Tech Week, right? Here's some tech and some more history lesson. Here's the rods I was worried about until I did the math (remember, each of these rods has to support 30hp at peak, which won't be too often). Here's a look at the rod and piston still assembled..

[Scotch]

Here's the "pinch bolt" setup that holds the pin in place. THe thing that worried me most is the "split" portion of the connecting rod beneath the pin. I determined this to be the weakest point in the setup, but was reassured we may actually be taking some stress AWAY from this point with the lighter piston/ring setup. I then reasoned we'd be adding a bit with the additional cylinder pressure being created by the higher compression and efficiency of the air/fuel moving in and out of the engine. After a couple beers and much discussion, we decided it was probably a "wash", and this setup could easily support the 30hp/40 ft-lbs. of each cylinder.

[Scotch]

Another look at the disassembled rod/piston.

[fatassbuick]

Scotch, that's some awesome stuff. You may be the George Montgomery of our time!

As for a Straight 8 being worthless, I've logged about 15k miles on mine with almost no problems to speak of. It cruises at 85-90 mph...not too bad for being 51 years old.

[Scotch]

The main bearings are only 2-bolt, but there are lots of them and they are quite thick. Considering the final hp capacity of this engine (225-240), they'll be plenty.

[Scotch]

The twin sidedraft carb setup is something I've wanted since I first saw one of these engines. I've seen vintage pics of racers using twin carbs on inline engines,and the effect was dramatic (visually) and effective (performance-wise). Using 275cfm carbs, my final carb flow capacity will be 550cfm, which should be about perfect for a 9.5:1 283ci mill on pump gas.

[Scotch]

Another look at the twin carb mockup...

[Scotch]

I'll post more updates as it comes together, but know that before you jump into a Buick Straight 8 buildup, these parts are much larger and heavier than other engines you've worked with. Make sure the facilities you choose to work with have the ability to clean, machine, and assemble these oversized goodies. Good Luck!

Scotch~!

[Georgia50Buick]

Hey Scotch - Awesome job on the build-up!

I just recently got a '41 dual setup for my '50 248 ci. and am in the process of rebuilding carbs (Carter WCD's) and getting them on. Any hints from anybody on clearing the motor mount with the front exhaust dump?

Thanks, Rodney

[41ChevyTrucker]

great posts scotch! man I want to start rebuilding my motor right now when I read posts like this. Screw the cost factor of building old motors, its all about the build! You should maybe put together an straight 8 book when you are done. Probably wouldn't make you rich but it sure would be cool.

I think a 320 straight 8 with a stick in a light truck, say maybe a chopped 41-46 chev, would be pretty dang cool.

[fatassbuick]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Scotch - Awesome job on the build-up!

I just recently got a '41 dual setup for my '50 248 ci. and am in the process of rebuilding carbs (Carter WCD's) and getting them on. Any hints from anybody on clearing the motor mount with the front exhaust dump?

Thanks, Rodney

[/ QUOTE ]
TP has done this. If you check out that old link on page one of this thread, he explains it. I'll bet he would send you some pics if you emailed him.

41Chevytrucker, I've been planning on a t-bucket with a 263 or a 320 for awhile. Wouldn't be the fastest thing in the world, but it would be fun as hell. One of these days...