Hot Rods Adapters

I have a light weight hot rod with a small bock chevy in it. I also have a 215 aluminum Buick I thought about putting in it. The question is: does anyone make an adapter kit to bolt the 215 to a 350 GM transmission . Thanks for any help.

 

I'll be curious to see the answer on this because now you have me wondering if that 215 is BOP pattern, if so a BOP transmission would be a bolt on.

 

Google D&D Fabrications. They do a lot of work with 215 Buick/Olds V8s.

215 engines ARE NOT standard BOP pattern. They are a unique pattern that was continued with the Rover V8 derivatives of the original Buick version of the 215. Further, the diameter of the bell housing on the 215 is considerably smaller than the standard Chev or BOP dimensions. A better choice to adapt from GM automatics might be the S-10 700R4 transmissions which have a much smaller case in the flexplate/torque converter area, closer in size to the 215.

Ray

 

the 215 is not BOP. The later 300 is, though.

There are a few manual bellhousings for the engine that will fit the standard GM manual transmissions..probably hard to find these days. Oh...wait...you might be able to buy one new?

http://aluminumv8.com/

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/215-alum-v8.731438/

(I spent too much time googling and was late with my answer )

 

Are we talking about the early misfire Buick engines in this lot???

 

No, that was the iron V6 Buick that was built originally in 198 cu in with the same bell housing pattern as the aluminum V8 under discussion. From '64 models on the the V8 and V6 (then 225 cu in and later 231 & 252) engines used the BOP bell housing pattern. The more common name for the early V6 engines was 'odd fire' as they fired 90*/150* alternately and the shake was horizontal.

Ray

 

So if the early V6 is the same pattern I would assume there is some Jeep stuff out there that might fit which would explain why I have seen a few Jeep CJ's with aluminum V8's over the years. Oh and also...don't overlook the 200R4, it can be a good choice for light rigs and is a bit smaller than a 350...quite a few of them had a dual pattern bell housing with Chevy and BOP both.

 

No, The Buick V6 used in Jeeps was the 225 cu in engine that was built with BOP block pattern.
The only Buick V6 that shared the 215 aluminum pattern was the '61/'63 198 cu in version.

What 'could' explain seeing some Jeeps with aluminum 215 V8 engines is that those engines, in Buicks and Olds when equipped with a factory 4 speed manual trans, had a bell housing that used the common Chevy/GM transmission bolt pattern (NOT the block pattern). That made the 215 stick bell housing easier to adapt to Jeep transmissions.

And, a 2004R is really not smaller than a typical TH350. It may look a bit slimmer because the case tapers more gracefully towards the rear as there is no bolt on tail housing...........the case is one piece.

Ray

 

yup, Buick adopted the modern BOP bellhousing bolt pattern on the smaller engines in 1964.