Buick 215 V8 build

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oblvnnwtnjhn

Well Oiled
Sep 14, 2021
1,419
Central Mississippi
First Name
Spence
Willys Model
  1. CJ
Willys Year:
  1. 1961
I traded for this engine some months back with the intention of putting it into my since sold 71' MGB GT. I lucked out and found a 215 to T90 bellhousing to ease a swap, so the decision was made, it's going into the 61' CJ5! The plan was to do this at a later date, well if you've been following Oil Pressure thread, the timeline is being bumped up.

The engine sat in storage for some time, stuck. I've been applying penetrant for weeks, still no budge. Today I got dedicated and have 3 pistons removed. The upside, the bores and bearings look to be in great condition, I am thinking this may have came from a wrecked 62' Buick Special Deluxe as I am seeing no signs of damage or abuse.

Once I get the pistons freed and bagged, I will power wash the block and get it to a machinist to have the bores measures as well has the crank inspected.
The plan as of now is an Isky mild cam kit, Edlebrock intake with 1403/ 500 cfm carb, headers, having the heads ported and matched, clean up/rebuild/assembly. Should be good for close to 200hp/240 N⋅m, the engine weighs 310 lbs naked.

I'll post some pics as I know we all love pictures, once I get the pistons freed.
 
Can’t wait to see how this goes.

I’ve always been curious what one of these would be like in a Willys - more but not too much power, lightweight, compact, etc. and like all things Willys, they are part of a good story (the GM-Rover V8-V6).

Also @rocket and @pavel6 know a ton about the Rover version of these.
 
Seabee said:
Are you going to put the longer stroke crank in it and take it to 300 cu in? I seem to remember @rocket talking about doing that......
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I have a 300 crank to make a 266 but not doing that for now. I am told by another Jeeper who had a 215 in a CJ5 Tuxedo the upgrade isn’t worthwhile in a Jeep since limited by its inherent body design as well as stock drivetrain.
 
I will hide under a rock....I would never rebuild a 215, to many ploblems you cant fix, it left gm all fouled up and never got fixed. The brits tried and its still not good. Short of bragging rights I cant think of any reason to put one in a willy s...A v6 would give better performance and gas mileage...my 2 cents and I am hiding under the big rock ....Phil
 
WA7OPY said:
I will hide under a rock....I would never rebuild a 215, to many ploblems you cant fix, it left gm all fouled up and never got fixed. The brits tried and its still not good. Short of bragging rights I cant think of any reason to put one in a willy s...A v6 would give better performance and gas mileage...my 2 cents and I am hiding under the big rock ....Phil
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@rocket is not going to be happy with you Phil! LOL
 
I am kinda on Phil's side. The Buick V-6 is a great engine for these old Willys. I loved mine in my 1948 Willys pickup & my cousin loves hers in her 1950 Willys wagon. I had a Daunless odd fire 225, she has the even fire 231. We both had/have the 5.38 gear ratios.

Since you already have a BOP bell housing, I would get a Buick or Olds 350 small block. I like the Buick/Olds engines as the distributor is up front for ease of maintenance. It also does not hit the fire wall. I do not know what the Pontiac engines had for distributor location.

Parts & "speed parts" are much more available for the 350 than for the 215, as are the engines themselves. I would find someone who just needs the 215 & make them a deal. That should pay for the 350.

Yes, the 350 is a tad bit heavier, but with it's power that should not be an issue.

I refuse to hide, so have at.
 
I guess, as usual, I LOVE being the "odd man out." To me, the attraction of having an engine very few others have would easily push me over the edge to rebuilding it and showing it off as much as I could! I love the idea of an aluminum small displacement V-8 in a CJ. Best of all worlds. I would definitely take @Rockets advice though and make it a longer stroke. Torque is a much better factor than HP. HP= wound out; torque= "get it moving."
 
cptlogger said:
I am kinda on Phil's side. The Buick V-6 is a great engine for these old Willys. I loved mine in my 1948 Willys pickup & my cousin loves hers in her 1950 Willys wagon. I had a Daunless odd fire 225, she has the even fire 231. We both had/have the 5.38 gear ratios.

Since you already have a BOP bell housing, I would get a Buick or Olds 350 small block. I like the Buick/Olds engines as the distributor is up front for ease of maintenance. It also does not hit the fire wall. I do not know what the Pontiac engines had for distributor location.

Parts & "speed parts" are much more available for the 350 than for the 215, as are the engines themselves. I would find someone who just needs the 215 & make them a deal. That should pay for the 350.

Yes, the 350 is a tad bit heavier, but with it's power that should not be an issue.

I refuse to hide, so have at.
Click to expand...

The 198 and 215 do not use the usual BOP bell housing. I'm in Phill's camp too but it depends on what you want from the Jeep. A long stroke engine is hard to surpass in the rocks and for just drivability. A Buick 350 is a very under appreciated engine for a Jeep. Long stroke and relatively light. That said, I'm still a sbc junkie. A long stroke sbc junkie. The perfectly square 4.125 stroke version:
49641309182_a5853c478c_b.jpg


That one weighs 428 lbs fully dressed.
 
Well if the bell housing he has will not work with a Buick 350, I guess that a SBC would be a good fit. The main objection I have to using it is the distributor placement. I have helped with many SBC installations & two Buick installations. I much prefer the Buick 350.

If one can source a BOP bell housing, that is the way I would go.

I have nothing against a SBC they are great engines. However, IMHO, for our Willys' the Buick is a better fit. Of course, YMMV.
 
I like the road less travelled, the 215 very well could have been a swap chosen when my CJ5 was a few years old. And, it weighs 300lbs, leaves plenty of room in the bay. I have time to build it, would like to source Offenhauser goodies for it to make it more period.

I also may look for a CJ6 to install it in when all the dust settles from my current ongoing projects/chores.
 
cptlogger said:
I am kinda on Phil's side. The Buick V-6 is a great engine for these old Willys. I loved mine in my 1948 Willys pickup & my cousin loves hers in her 1950 Willys wagon. I had a Daunless odd fire 225, she has the even fire 231. We both had/have the 5.38 gear ratios.

Since you already have a BOP bell housing, I would get a Buick or Olds 350 small block. I like the Buick/Olds engines as the distributor is up front for ease of maintenance. It also does not hit the fire wall. I do not know what the Pontiac engines had for distributor location.

Parts & "speed parts" are much more available for the 350 than for the 215, as are the engines themselves. I would find someone who just needs the 215 & make them a deal. That should pay for the 350.

Yes, the 350 is a tad bit heavier, but with it's power that should not be an issue.

I refuse to hide, so have at.
Click to expand...
The Olds 1949 to early 60's V8 304-324-371-394-, And Later 1964 up 330-350-400-425 & 455 all had rear distributors. Buick/Olds 215 and their Rover cousins used the front timing cover mounted distributor. up till the crank trigger was introduced. Buick 300's were the first light weight Buick cast iron blocks and share bore centers, crankshaft and head bolt pattern and exhaust manifold bolt pattern with the 215 & Buick 340 which was the last of the design and a very good engine. Olds 215 used 6 head bolts per cylinder since they Turbo Charged them and were one of the first American V8's to reach the Holy Grail of One Horse Power per cubic inch. where the Buick 215 only used 5 head bolts, and later Rover went to 4 head bolts like a SBC. The 225 -231 V6, 215,300,340,350 and up to 455 V8 Buicks all used the front distributor, But only the V6's and the 300-455 V8's used the BOP bell housing pattern which has the same dowel positions and lower 4 bolts pattern as Chevy. They require a thin adapter plate to mate up with the top bell housing bolts to adapt either way. BOP bell housing to Chevy engine, or BOP engine to Chevy Bell housing..
I don't have any Rocks on my property. But maybe some in my head.
As to whether or not the 215 was any good?
See www.aluminumv8.com

Technical

D&D Fabrications is the Aluminum V8 Specialists Worldwide. Featuring Buick & Olds 215 CI and Rover 3.5, 3.9, 4.0, 4.2 and 4.6 liter engines.
www.aluminumv8.com
And Repco Oldsmobile World F1 champion 1966.
dec5a3047d1179b55f07af19d6b294d7.jpg

primotipo.com

‘RB620’ V8: Building The 1966 World F1 Champion Engine…by Rodway Wolfe and Mark Bisset

In this Repco article we start with a summary of the events leading to Repco’s involvement in Grand Prix Racing, then identify key team members, the equipment used to build the engines and f…
primotipo.com primotipo.com

Enough Said, maybe they didn't have too many problems to fix.
 
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Maybe just one more thing. The Buick-Olds 215 engines weighed 350LBS, Rover is heavier at 375 LBS. And a Fox Body Mustang 5.0L that I put in my CJ5 is 411LBS. For an extra 36LBS, I'll run the SBF which is cheaper to work on and parts are available at every corner Auto Parts store.

But I still have an Aluminum Rover version 4.6L 4 bolt main engine in my 1962 Olds Cutlass Sport Coupe.
index.php

The Official Engine swap info and picture thread - please contribute!

My BIL has a couple of Land Rovers with those V-8s, and the engines have been relatively trouble-free, and the drivetrains just fine. The interiors, on the other hand, are made of materials so fragile and UV-sensitive that they crumble to dust, and the electrical systems are......designed by...
www.oldwillysforum.com www.oldwillysforum.com
 
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rocket said:
Maybe just one more thing. The Buick-Olds 215 engines weighed 350LBS, Rover is heavier at 375 LBS. And a Fox Body Mustang 5.0L that I put in my CJ5 is 411LBS. For an extra 36LBS, I'll run the SBF which is cheaper to work on and parts are available at every corner Auto Parts store.

But I still have and Aluminum Rover version 4.6L 4 bolt main engine in my 1962 Olds Cutlass Sport Coupe.
index.php

The Official Engine swap info and picture thread - please contribute!

My BIL has a couple of Land Rovers with those V-8s, and the engines have been relatively trouble-free, and the drivetrains just fine. The interiors, on the other hand, are made of materials so fragile and UV-sensitive that they crumble to dust, and the electrical systems are......designed by...
www.oldwillysforum.com www.oldwillysforum.com
Click to expand...

My data shows 215 at 310 lbs without accessories? I don't have a big enough scale to weigh it and no truck scales close by.
 
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