Buick Nailhead truck motor ?

Hey ,
I just picked this up yesterday , trying to figure it out . Please check this stamped block # out and give me some idea / hope : { note the"I"s are " I"s and not "1"s } block # I47I48I6

Thanks ,
Jeff Brock

 

I don't know about your numbers, but in this part of the world Nailheads were in GMC trucks around 1959.

Bob

 

I don't know where Picton is, but in these parts, Pontiacs w/4sp hydros were in GMC trucks

 

Picton, Ontario, Canada.

The Buick I saw in the 59 GMC was a medium duty truck (3 to 5 ton rateing)

 

yeah, the Buicks were in Chevy big trucks.

Data I have for the 56-59 Loadmaster 322 engine in 9000 and 10000 series chevy (US) trucks has the engine number starting with CA or CS.

edit: also the Chevy engine number stamps from the 50s have the number 1 stamped as the letter I

 

GMC had an engine plant fire and had to use Pontiac and Buick powerplants till they built a new facility.

 

GMC also used OLDS in the 50's.

 

Sounds like GMC's went around the block a few times in the 50's, if you know what I mean.

 

GMC truck and coach division and Pontiac division were and still are, kinda sorta the same division from what I understand.

 

is that the only number stamped on the engine?

http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/engine_ident_where.html

 

GMC used several corporate motors over the years (they used Olds and Pontiac engines in the 30s too), but the Pontiac V8 is the only one to have it's own unique to GMC version (336 CI, based on the 370 IIRC). Only when the 305 V6 was introduced did most of that go away.

 

Thanks for the info so far . I'm trying to narrow in on the year .
Yes , the "I47I48I6" is the only stamped # and it's quite clear except the "6" at the end is odd looking . The casting # on the back of the block is 1169334 . It is hooked to a Dynaflow with a cast # 1842992-9 . It has a 12v starter that looks original.

 

Kinda off the subject but i saw one GMC that had two chevy engines, front to back and i believe they were 'W' engines. Got a picture somewhere, need to go looking. It was factory too.

 

that sounds like the GMC v12. it was basically two gmc 305 v6s in a single block. had four heads on it.

 

The only thing they had in common (other than being Divisions of G.M.) was a Pontiac, MI address. They shared nothing . GMC Div. did not have it's own engine design until 1938. Up to that point they purchased Olds, Pontiac, and Buick in-line sixes. The Buick was an O.H.V. design that Buick had last used for it's own purposes in 1930 and which was the foundation for the famous line of GMC sixes that followed.

 

GM, fire in the hole, if you know what I mean! Hydramatic fire, engine fire, GM stocks fire, what's next, Cadsler, Dodgick, Dodgiac, Mitsurolet, dodge silverado trucks. LOL

 

Pretty sure the 322 was the only size Buick used in GMC trucks. They were available for several years in the '50's and early '60's. Good truck engines, lots of bottom end.
That V12 was an interesting looking engine, but one of the worst dogs GM ever built. Used gas like a flush toilet, and gutless as a snake! Heavy, too.

 

The Buick 322 was a passenger car block from '53-'56. From '57-'59, Chevrolet used them in their heavy trucks. Buses, dump trucks and the like. They were called The LoadMaster series of engines. The cams were different than the passenger cars, and the rated power and RPM was different than in the passenger cars--I'm assuming this is because of the different cam specs.
I haven't ever heard of GMC using them.

I'd be very surprised if a Dynaflow trans ever ended up in a dump truck or bus from the factory. Literature I've seen doesn't indicate an auto trans options for the trucks.

-Brad

 

God help us all..............

 

I agree with Brad, you won't find a Dynaflow in a Chevy truck the size that these engines were used in.

Sounds like it could be an old engine swap...passenger car engine/trans in a pickup truck?

 

I think with this odd stamped # that it WAS a "LoadMaster" Chevy truck , coupled to a Dynaflow maybe later in life .
The only report from previous owner was that it came out of a big truck {both motor and tranny}. Must be an odd 322 block from that 57-59 era .
If it helps , the 4 brl intake is cast # 1170617

 

There was a thread on here asking about a Hydro to a 322 Buick. From what I remember, that was an option for the trucks, but it sure must've been rare, not well done. LOL

 

Squirrel: Could you imagine steppin on the gas and the engine revving, but the truck don't go! Curious 'bout stall speed/ratio in that situation. LOL

 

yeah, it would be fun trying to move a lot of weight with a Dynaflow!

Anyways, the Chevy truck books really are insistent that the numbers stamped on the 322s they used all started with CA or CS followed by 2 or 4 depending on the carb. Also the A and S designate auto or standard trans, and the auto trans they used was the Powermatic, not the dynaflow or hydro.

 

The guy I got my '59 364 from told me it came out of A truck.Don't remember what truck, but it is from Canada. I read on the interweb that there is only one casting # on the top in front of the valley pan .Also all Canadian nailheads are low compression motors 8.5 to1 on the 364's. Is this true?

 

Your "I"s are "1"s, even today some of the #s and letters on the blocks today are hard to read or make out. There should be 2 other codes on the block but if the engine is together they are covered. There should be a cast date on the block it would be a letter followed by 3 #s (ex. A128). There also will be another code to tell what plant it was cast at, it will be 3 letters with a symbol near by (ex. CFD, the symbol will be a X with a - through it, inside of a circle). This code you will most likely have to pull the tranny to see.

 

Funny, that's not what they told me when I worked for GMC truck and coach division.

 

I know a guy that drove and worked on 59s, he said his was a 401.

Bob

 

56-59 chevy truck 322c.i.

 

Maybe in a U.S. book, what does it say about Canadian built trucks ?

Bob