i have a 95 4.2? engine i want to put in a 37 ford. first off is the trans. ive been told you need an adapter for different ones but ive heard a c-4 may bolt up without to many problems. if so would a ford aod do the same? second, how about the carb and manifold. i have a 500 cfm edelbrock carb but ive heard 390 is better, what do you guys think? third the manifold.dont have one yet,but looking to purchase. so what do you think,is a stock 215 buick good or should i go with an edel brock.. thanx Lee
Look at some TVR forums and UK rod forums for advice on tuning. Seems the yanks never really took to the small Buick, despite the huge benefits of a lightweight block.
Then go ahead and be pissed... The all aluminum Range Rover engine is a licence built Buick 215 with a bigger displacement. So its about as On Topic as a SBC400. Where the original poster went wrong is also posting some stuff that belongs in the Classifieds. I'll Delete that part right now...
The Range Rover motor sounds like an excellent choice. Find the ideal trans, and you're good to go. About the same CI as a flattie, I'd love to know the weight change between them.
I believe the weight is close to a OHC Pinto 4cyl engine. So its light... It was introduced by Buick in the early '60s. Then later the Brits licence built it. First as a 3500cc ( same as the 215 ), and then later slightly bigger versions. I would guess there has been development done to them over its long service life. And it was sold in a place where gas is really expensive ( compared to the USA ), so chances are its relatively good on gas. At some point, Rover replaced it with something else. But as long as we are talking about the engine that is from the Buick 215 family of engines, I dont see a problem with it being On Topic...
The Ford flathead for '37 weighs approx. 525 lbs. The 215 Range Rover 215 weighs approx. 320 lbs. Near 200 lbs. difference. Doing my part to make this thread last longer than the tatoo thread...
me too. Was it Edelbrock or Offy up till a few years ago was selling a very cool 215 2x2 intake manifold for Rochesters. I wish I grabbed one before they stopped production.
Good motors. If you cleaned one up and painted it and parked it next to a Buick 300 no one could tell the difference without looking at the bell housing. D&D Fabrications works with the Olds, Buick and Rover versions of this motor. There a subtle differences that involve both interchangeability of parts and adaptability to various transmissions. Check out their website then give them a call. Always helpful. http://aluminumv8.com/
Rover used the motor in 3.5 litre form in their Rover P5 Coupe, Rover P6 V8, Rover SD1, a few MG V8 sports and MG ZT V8 Saloons, Range Rovers (up to 4.6 litre). There is a book, released in the UK in 2005: How to power tune Rover V8, from 3.5 to 4.6 litre , by Des Hammill (ISBN 1-903706-17-3). In Australia there was the Leyland P76 that had a V8 option. The V8 was the Rover unit but in 4.4 litres. The advertising was a bit "optimistic". Repco also did some work on the motor and turned out a 5 litre that was used in some open wheelers and one Australian Sports Sedan with some success. Rare and expensive, but, it shows what can be achieved. In the P76, transmissions (manual [stick] and automatic) were supplied by Borg Warner Australia. Who also supplied Ford and General Motors-Holden. The auto was a Borg Warner 35 3-speed. A "ZF" transmission 4HP22 was fitted to the SD1 Rovers. A ZF 4HP24 to 4.6 litre Range Rovers. The SD1's auto option was a GM 180. A bit of googling should give you a reasonable list of transmission, manifolds, carb/fuel injection options. Good luck with your project.
Good engines alright. I had one in my truck. Also have 2 spare engines sitting on a shelf in my workshop. One is destined for my Morris Minor Ute. Tatoos?? None of them in my workshop ...
I've often wondered if the bolt patterns are the same; intake, bell housing and exhaust as the 215. Could you stoke it like the 215 with the Buick 300 crank? I just love the 215 and had an old man with tons of parts for sale slip though my fingers. I should've made the time when I had the chance. He was in Columbus Ohio. Can you guys tell about the bolt patterns and crank?
The 4.6 can come out to 294" with a crank out of a 300. The weak point seems to be the heads. Aluminum heads from a '64 Buick 300 are the best starting point and can be fitted with larger valves, but are getting harder to find. There are a number of intakes available. There is someone in Britain making heads that flow great numbers but I think that you have to use their manifold because they are a complete redesign. They are very spendy though with the Brits VAT system. There are a number of cams available from U.S & overseas companies. They are compact, and can deliver good power for their size and weight. A used, bare aluminum 4.6 block can be had for maybe $400. Compare that to Dart or some of the other race motor manufacturers. It is my understanding and feeble memory, but I think Jack Brabbham & Repco developed SOHC heads for the old 215 block and won the Formula 1 Championship...twice! The only engine of U.S. origin to do so. If they became popular maybe there would be more parts available, I think that there are enough of them available to be a consideration.
Here are some pics of Jack Brabham's Repco Formula 1 engine. ( may have been based on the Olds 215, which is basicly the same engine )
the 215 and 4.2 are a lot different.. they changed heads.. intake manifold bolt orientation bellhousings yadda yadda yadda.. however if you can find a transmission out of a landrover and the electronics you will have a high tech engine and trans.. the 4.5? was the last varient it was then replaced by a bmw unit. in about 2000 or so.. the bop archetecture lasted almost as long as the sbc did.. just in different forms. I left my aluminum v8 knowlage on the shelf many years ago when I sold my last mgb so my facts may not be spot on.. do some research before ya buy any parts..
get over to www.nsra.org.uk loads of rods in the UK running rovers, if you fancy a stick shift try the 5speed box...bit "clunky" but good even so.....a mate has a 3.9 with 5 speed in his Popular...runs mid 14s with no probs even with a "on the way out" gear box!!
The bog-standard 215ci Rover with twin SU carbs got 155bhp. A decent carb - such as the 390 - better heads, and a pair of headers and you are easily pushing 200bhp. And they are light as hell. Never owned one, but been in a few Rover-powered cars. They can really shift.
D&D offers a cast bell housing that will bolt up to a saginaw or a muncie. Add a hydraulic throwout bearing and you have got a very neat and compact set up. Using the D&D bell housing does require machining .003 off the back of the Rover crank shaft, but that is not a biggie. I am building a model A roadster with a Rover 4.6, 4 speed, and a quickchange. Should turn out quite fast with such a light motor and body. The other cool thing is that you can bolt many of the early Buick parts (valve covers, timing covers, distributor) and it looks just like a nail head.
just make sure the engine your using didn't over heat bad there know for dropped sleeves . Cam options are very small check out http://www.v8engines.com/. if you need any info pm me worked for rover for 10+ years
That's not correct. The bellhousing bolt pattern is the same from the first 1961 GM motors to the last 4.6 Rover built in 2006. The crank flanges may be different but the bellhousings interchange. The stock GM bellhousing (or the D&D bellhousing) will allow a GM-pattern manual trans to bolt up. The heads also interchange. The Buick and Olds motors differ in that the Buicks used 14 head bolts where the Olds motors used 18, but the 14 locations are common to both. You can easily bolt Buick heads to an Olds block. The Olds heads use the extra 4 head bolts to retain the rocker shafts, so putting Olds heads on a Buick block requires machining threaded plugs for the other four holes. The early Rover blocks use the same 14 head bolt pattern as the Buick motors. These heads interchange. The later Rovers use a ten bolt pattern that is simply ten of the 14. You can put the ten bolt heads on a 14 or 18 bolt block with no problems, in fact, the heads actually seal better because the asymmetric Buick pattern led to head gasket problems. You can also put the Buick heads on the Rover 10 bolt block, in fact the aluminum 1964 Buick 300 heads are still a preferred upgrade. Intakes all interchange. The new Edelbrock intake fits the GM 215s as well as the last Rover 4.6. The later Rover motors use cross-bolted mains. A Buick 300 crank drops in (with rebalancing and correct rods, of course) and provides a 4.9 liter stroker.
What he said... Great motors these rovers.. This being a 95 motor it very well might be a "Pegasus" block. These have cross-bolted mains too!!
+1 on the sleaves. When I was sporting my 97 4.6 HSE, I started considering a Northstar swap due to the irritating ticking that developed.
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