this may sound silly or maybe not, but how many folks out there are running any straight 8 buick engine's.. and if any maybe you might know where in the world can I find a few speed parts,..stuff like multi carb intake a good cam grind or headers etc..I looked on here but can't seem to find anything , maybe I don't know my way around enough yet or something,
41-42 buick manifolds are the stuff of gold... they have dual carbs an exhaust....with a little modding you can make em work.... if you find one send it to me Lots of guys out on the Buick forum are building custom exhausts and things... These guys have some great resources under "straight eights" http://www.teambuick.com/ They have a shop manual on there from 52 have I have found very useful..... I was told by some buddies who were into vintage power that buick performance stuff is hard to come by...If you do find it be prepared to spend big bucks...The problem is just the same as the inline chevy and gmc sixes... These engines are torque monsters but the head....well it hampers performance...the intake and exhaust are on the same side and the gasses do some twisting....ideally a cross flow head...intake on one side and exhaust on the other would work very well...I know ...guys help me here....wayne had a cross flow GMC chevy head in the 50's I don't know about Buicks... I know you can get head work done and lump porting on inline sixes will improve flow...should work on a buick.....once again...guys?? I know you can also fit a blower on the inline 8.....there is a land speed buick out there that has a blower on it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDoA4HJNf-I I think this guy is on the HAMB.... Makes me happy just to hear it... Hope this helps....I know the guys on the buick forum have done some crazy custom headers....
There are some fast Buicks on the salt. A twin turbo Buick eight in a Jag sedan got my record last year. You could do a search here. Look for Jeff Brock and a fast carburated Buick Straight eight
TAKEN FROM THE BUICK SITE The following article is reprinted from an old car magazine. The pages sent to me did not identify the magazine, but I expect it was printed in the early '60s. After reading it, I want to take apart my straight 8 and "improve" it! <center></center> Your right! It would make a good boat anchor. But there's still life in this long tall chunk of iron. For a smooth street rod, how about one of these engines warmed up on the inside, chromed and clean on the outside, in conjunction with a Dynaflow trans? But that's only an idea. Let's find out a little about the engine. There were three engine sizes all similar construction. The smallest, 3 3/32 bore x 4 1/8 stroke, displaces 248 cubic inches. Nest is the 263 inch version, 3 3/16 x 4 1/8 , while the largest is 320 inches and measures 3 7/16 x 4 5/16. The largest and the smallest first saw life in 1937, the middle-sized in 1950. All will take up to .125 inch overbore, which would give the largest engine a total of 344 inches. Increasing the stroke is not recommended, stay stock here. Original compression ratios were quite low, from 6.3 to around 7.0, so it can be seen that an increase is in order. It is possible to mill the head .175 inches, upping ratio considerably. On an early 6.3 to 1 ratio, a .125 mill will increase ratio to 7.3. For any ratio over 8.5, a solid skirt racing piston should be used. Stock pistons have insufficient strength under the crown and collapsed crowns may result. Stock wrist pins are satisfactory, should be an easy push fit through the pin bore at room temperature. Combination chamber surfaces should be ground and polished to eliminate hot spots. There are two head gaskets available, one of .050, the other .015 inch thick. While either may be used with a milled head, the maximum for city driving would seem to be the thin casket in conjunction with .100 milling. There are reground cams available. Two of the suppliers include Iskenderian and Howard with assorted stages of timing. Howard has a half-dozen cams ranging in lift from .420 to .465 inch and in timing from a mild 3/4 street cam to full race models designed for fuel or gasoline and of little value on the street. Isky's are comparable. His 3/4 model increases horsepower 10 to 15 percent, aids acceleration above 2500 rpm, works with either stick shift or automatic. Prices run from $65.00 to $89.00. If a reground cam is used, increase valve spring tension by adding a 5/8 inch SAE flat washer on each valve guide next to the cylinder head between the head and the inner spring seat. This will supply about 15 pounds increase when the valve is seated. Worn valve stem tips should be ground square with the valve stem, while rocker arm bushings and shafts should be checked for wear, replaced if worn. The surface of the rocker arm that contacts the valve stem may be reground to the proper radius if it is worn. Engines pre 1949 had poured babitt-type rod bearing with adjusting shims. Post '49 engines use steel backed inserts. Because the late rods and bearings are interchangeable with the earlier models, this change is recommended. Buick straight eight cranks have five main bearing journals. Generous in size, the become larger from front to rear, except in the 263 engine where they are a constant diameter, 2.562 inches. To prevent misalignment of the crank, matched sets of main bearing inserts must be installed when fitting the crank to the block If the crank must be ground to an undersize main journal or crankpin diameter, the shaft should be re balanced. The balancing unit on the front of the crank is for torsional oscillation damping, and will not counteract any unbalanced weights. Main bolts should be torqued to 90 to 100 lb/ft. Crank end play should be from .004 to .008 inches and may be increased by scraping the thrust surface of the center main. Connecting rod bolt, a special diameter of correct alignment between con rod and rod cap, require 40 to 45 lb/ft on the small engine, 60 to 65 lb/ft on the large engine. The flywheel may be lightened by removing metal from the front and back surfaces without cutting into the clutch surface. Buick's diaphragm type clutch pressure plates are not satisfactory and should be replaced with a Gorg and Beck 4050 replacement pressure plate. A new clutch plate will take severe usage. Flywheel and pressure plate assembly should be dynamically balanced. Buick heads have four siamesed intake ports and eight exhaust ports that require porting. The intake ports are thin, however, and require care to keep from cutting into the water jacket. I the large engine, the small intake port size is a limiting factor in performance. One should install new valve guides, but measure the height of the old guides, press the new ones in to the same depth. After they are installed, ream the guides .374 to .375 diameter. Cut of intake guides flush with the top of the port and ream off burrs around the guide hole. Because no valve seat inserts are used, and the head casting is relatively soft material , valve seats must be made wide to prevent the valve seat from pulling through the head. Exhaust valve seats must be at least 1/8 inch wide and so located that the exhaust valve contacts the valve seat in the center of the seat area on the valve. Intake valves and seats may be refaced to 30 degrees from 45. The intake valve seat must be about 3/32 inch wide. and should contact the valve near the outside of the valve seat area, leaving about 1/64 to 1/32 inch between the upper valve seat face and the seat. The size and shape of the factory valves are satisfactory for replacement. As nearly as we can determine, there are no intake manifolds for use with three or more carburetors, but it should not be difficult to fabricate a manifold for any number of carbs. Four Stromberg 97's or 48's for gas, or four Buick Strombergs make a good conversion for alcohol.
Hidden Valley Auto Parts in Maricopa Arizona had a 2 2-barrel OEM intake with carbs at one time. Don't know if they still have it.
http://www.teambuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12588&highlight=dual+exhaust nice discussion on intakes and headers....this alleycat guy seems to have it down
I just passed on a '40-'41 two carb intake last friday for $15.00, true story, shhot me NOW if you like ....I did get a bunch of rocker assemblies though...most of them are the longer 33" shaft. How do I tell if they're for a 320 or 322 ??? I figure the shorter shaft assemblies are for 248/263's ??? also...are the rocker arms themselves any different between the 37-53 straight 8's ? THANK YOU in advance for any reply to this thread...CB
Yes the rockers are different between the 320 and 249,263. And different if they had hydraulic lifters or not on the various engines.
Thanks for the reply... I have 5 or 6 complete sets, mostly on 33" shafts, likely solid lifter. the estate they came from the fellow did alot of circle track racing with straight 8's in the 50's and 60's. i would imagine he ran solids in those engines. they still have several complete engines available, one OEM rebuilt, and one racing engine with headers, etc.
While we are on all this....anyone have luck with finding a fan shroud that assists in cooling? I plan on driving the piss outta my 53 with the 263 but I was thinking a nice fan shroud, rebuild the radiator, and modifying my portholes to vent heat would help immensely... I know some of the old fords will fit a shroud offa mustang...anyone do anything similar with the Buick?
i put a aluminum radiator in my 53 special and have not ahd any heat problems since. it got pretty toasty by the end of the thresheree parade in symco last week, but 2 hours of idling along in 90 degree weather will do that. not that a shroud isnt a bad idea, im just saying there is an easier way.
I've pretty much found that building your own is the way to go. I've rebuild my head with some MAJOR porting work. Got the parts together to build the bottom end, mostly, only need some more spacers for the main bearings (anyone know where I can get these?) Planning on putting a small blower (4-6psi) on there just for the hell of it and building a custom intake/exhaust manifold for all of those. It's a long term project that I've been collecting parts for .. I've got 3 other projects to finish before my Buick 8 263 is going to be used.
I have a duel carb straight 8 intake manifold and exhaust manifold asm. I'm going to sell.. came off a old Buick. I'm on vacation for the next week or so.. I hope to find someone intrested... I have no ideal what to ask for it tho.. any ideals what I should ask for it? Clayton [email protected]
Mine's factory stock and I'm chickensh** so I'll leave it as is as long as it continues to run smooth as silk.
I've read the date..so hush..; ) Just thought this was some good reading and thought it deserves a good zombification..
I recently fired up my 39 Century can verify that a Herbert street cam and chopping the flywheel works, along with the dual carbs. Also my old timer Buick guy says that the straight eights really want compession [around .150 off the head]. thats what the early boys did but I would start about .090 first and be sure to check how much has already been taken off. The dual carb setup is straight forward, welded tubing' There was a guy selling the mounting plates, or make yer own.
If you have facebook, look up Saltcat Racing. As far as I know its the worlds fastest straight 8 Buick engine, turbocharged, injected, crank trigger ignition etc. They run a Jag sedan and a lakester/streamliner depending on its configuration
The factory two Stromberg intake is OK. But this is a construction shot of a Hilborn type fuel injection I made for a big Buick. Should flow some air. A smart guy could do this as an EFI. But not me.
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