The '61-'63 Buick and rare Pontiac Tempest V6 (they used Buick version) 215 engines and '64-'66 Buick 300 engines resemble the Nailhead appearance. Ray
Lol, only in the fact that the top of the valve covers are level. The distributor is in the front which is wrong. The tops of the heads are angled, which is wrong. The exhaust is close to evenly spaced, which is wrong.
Sorry but I don't think that 2 things, it's a V8 and the top of the valve covers make it resemble one.
The heads are different on the buick, they are a nailhead look. The olds heads look like an olds. The heads will interchange from block to block, however there is one extra head bolt and I can't remember if it is on the buick or the olds .
Actually they're not. The tops of the heads are not level, nor do the valve covers bolt through the center. Here's a nice '62 version to show.
Here is another picture of my 215 Olds, as you can see the heads are different. There is a really good article in Street Rodder magazine, the December 1997 issue. The article is called " The Nailhead" Baby Buicks by Doc Frohmader. this article goes into depth of the differences and the possible options for more hp and cubes. My Uncle ran one in his midget here in Iowa in the mid 60's and was very succesful with it.
Lol, I know what you see. You see the top of the valve covers as level. And the stock valve covers look similar to all the other Buick covers before them. But sorry that doesn't make it a "baby" Nailhead. For the one thing that I supposedly don't see according to you, there are at least 5 things that blatantly say it's not. It's been discussed before but I'm happy to beat this dead horse for you guys. And with that reasoning, the SBC is a baby Olds or Caddy.
My uncle runs 1 of those baby nailheads in a chain saw , I have tried to borrow it on numerous ocations to cut down this big dead Oak tree in my front yard, its about 3' across at the base so I need a big powerful chain saw but he says I will probably , mame myself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE0jnfJKNNU
"Buick produced 376,799 cars with this engine in just three years." Then you figure the Olds variant, and the Rovers. I'd say a whole lot.
If you get the right Rover engine it has a number of improvements, and displacement increase, over the GM produced units.
It seems like the late model Rover units would be easiest to find, even though I prefer the appearance of the older 'kinda sorta look like a nailhead' units. What year Rover models still had distributors? If I was going to use one of these, it would be with points and a carb.
- Rover engines retained the Buick look. - Rover blocks were sand cast, GM blocks were semi-permanent mould castings. The castings look a little different and the Rovers weight a few pounds more. - Depending on the year, it is possible to interchange distributor and distributorless parts, OR, some cutting, machining, and welding of old and new is needed.
Well, that may be closer to the truth than you think..........you see...Ed Cole, who is the engineer most credited with development of the SBC, was on the the "Boss Kettering" engineering crew when the Olds/Caddy were being designed..........and went on to become Chief Engineer for Chevrolet........soooooooooo Ray
Also there are tons of stock cast and tube header combinations on Ebay from the various Rovers, V8MG's, and TVRs. And the stock Rover valve covers are cast Aluminum with ribs. They polish up pretty well.
I'm gathering parts for: 3.9 Rover block/heads Buick tin valve covers Buick 4 barrel intake with adapted Holley Rover timing cover Buick POINT dizzy with Hays conversion Externial regulated Alternator and last but not least ROVER cast iron dual outlet exhaust manifolds. Should run well, and still look like a '62-ish Buick 215. The cam is the only part I've not figured out yet.
I had two of them in the past, both the Olds version. One I was going to put into my MGB, built it and had it on a stand in my garage. Used to start it all the time just for fun and noise. Sold it one day to a guy who put it in a sand buggy. The other was a 267 (215 block 300 crank) It was set up for a dry sump and drained the oil from the valve covers into the tank. External pump was plugged to the block and had a fabbed base with -8 AN lines to the tank to pick up the oil. All this so it could run inverted with a 1 1/2' long driveshaft supported by a Caddy front drive bearing on the bell housing. Ended up selling it to a guy for his Corvair but I was going to put it in a "Tailwind" like this one. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WsH-j4pF4fE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Vance is the man. He was my high school shop teacher. Here's his T's engine, he adapted y block valve covers.
Scored a new/old toy for my baby Buick V8 project. Found a new/old stock black cap Mallory dual point distributer. Should look pretty cool on the front of my little V8.
Well, my dad was a fighter pilot and had a '63 Olds Jetfire with the turbo (and water injection). 215 hp= 1HP/cu in. supposedly the first production US car to do so. In any case, in southern NJ in 1963, that sucker would fly. Unfortunately, the Olds dealer couldn't keep the turbo running very well and dad traded in a year later. The turbo cost more when he bought it and was worth less than the carbed version when he traded it in. Wish I had one now.
Glad you posted this picture, I didn't have any engine pics, and how about the air cleaner he formed over a tree stump.. as I recall
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