mpneroz Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Found a really neat and complete Olds F - 85 convertible (I believe 1962) in a local yard with a small V8 and a 4bbl. It said high compression on the red air cleaner and I believe it is an aluminum 215 built by Buick? Also, looked inside on the back seat and another intake (aluminum) was laying there. It looks good visually and also has the gooseneck. Help with this one would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest starfire Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 It should be an aluminum V-8 built by Oldsmobile, unless the engine has been swapped out. That is the Oldsmobile Rockette engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 What help are you looking for? Information? If so, what?The 215 was a Buick-designed motor used in the 1961-63 Skylark, Olds F-85, and Pontiac Tempest. Pontiac used the Buick version. Olds changed the design slightly, using unique-to-Olds heads, pistons, block, valvetrain, and valve covers. Of course Olds also had the optional turbocharged Jetfire version. GM sold the rights to this motor to Rover in 1966, and Rover built it through 2006 in various displacements up to 4.6 liters (the original 215 is 3.5 liters). To give you an idea of the differences in production scale, GM built more of these aluminum V8s (about 750,000) in three years of production than Rover did in nearly four decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Pontiac did not use the 215 in 1963. New for the Tempest in 1963 was a REAL Pontiac V-8 badged as a 326, the engine for that one year was really a 336 ( 3.78 X 3.75 ). For 1964 it would be a true 326 ( 3.72 X 3.75 ). I understand GM had some issues with the engine. Friends of my family had a 63 Turbo Jetfire and had heater and radiator problems. I did pick out this from a article on the engine." The engine had an abnormally high scrap ratio due to hidden block-casting porosity problems, which caused serious oil leaks. Another problem was clogged radiators from antifreeze mixtures incompatible with aluminum. It was said that one of the major problems was because the factory had to make extensive use of air gauging to check for casting leaks during the manufacturing process and was unable to detect leaks on blocks that were as much as 95% complete. This raised the cost of complete engines to more than that of a comparable all cast-iron engine. Casting-sealing technology was not advanced enough at that time to prevent the high scrap rates."Pontiac used the Buick engine from 1961-1962 only and of that only 2% of Pontiac Tempest were built with that engine. Pontiac's reasoning was why would someone buy a compact economy car and want a V-8. Besides the 195.5 Tempest four ( the rt. bank of the 389 engine) and it's four barrel version made nearly the same horsepower as the Buick V-8. In 1961 The Tempest 4 cylinder 4bbl. made 155hp and the Buick made 155hp. In 1962 The four got a better intake for 166 hp and the Buick was 185hp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Olds actually issued a TSB advising against use of Peak antifreeze formulas in the 215, due to corrosion and plugging issues that traced back to its use.All Oldsmobile would have had to do was drop the Jetfire's CR down to something the turbo could manage, and I think the early turbo cars would have been accepted better. Something about forced induction and 10.25:1 CR was just a little incompatible. Yeah, it would scoot, but when the owner ran the methanol tank empty and the turbo shut down...It took years for GM to get as adventurous again as they were in the early 60s, and I still don't believe they've reached that level again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Olds actually issued a TSB advising against use of Peak antifreeze formulas in the 215, due to corrosion and plugging issues that traced back to its use.All Oldsmobile would have had to do was drop the Jetfire's CR down to something the turbo could manage, and I think the early turbo cars would have been accepted better. Something about forced induction and 10.25:1 CR was just a little incompatible. Yeah, it would scoot, but when the owner ran the methanol tank empty and the turbo shut down...It took years for GM to get as adventurous again as they were in the early 60s, and I still don't believe they've reached that level again. In 1966 Pontiac got adventurous with the OHC six, and Olds with Toronado. Bunkie Knudsen General manager of Pontiac would only take the top job at Chevrolet ( mid term 1962 model year ) Nov. 1961 if he could change Corvair, so by 65 model year Corvair gets double jointed transaxle same as Vette.Years later ( 1970's ) adventurousness goes sour with the Vega engine, V-8-6-4 Cadillac, HT 4100 Cadillac, Oldsmobile 350 Diesel. THM 200 and some THM 200R4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Most of those inventions were forced by fuel economy standards instead of sheer engineering joy like the 60s stuff was. Time was stuff like those engine management systems would never have gone out the door on anything without being tested 100% foolproof, much less on a Cadillac. Give it to GM- they developed the cylinder cut-out technology but the Japanese perfected it. Now such engine management systems are commonplace. Still complex though.Newest issue of Hemmings Classic Car has a great article on Yenko-prepped Corvairs including a Goodyear tire testing mule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) Most of those inventions were forced by fuel economy standards instead of sheer engineering joy like the 60s stuff was. Time was stuff like those engine management systems would never have gone out the door on anything without being tested 100% foolproof, much less on a Cadillac. Give it to GM- they developed the cylinder cut-out technology but the Japanese perfected it. Now such engine management systems are commonplace. Still complex though.Newest issue of Hemmings Classic Car has a great article on Yenko-prepped Corvairs including a Goodyear tire testing mule. Yes, Hemmings came in the mail yesterday, I'm glad they are devoting some time to Corvair. I guess the Corsa is the one to collect these days. Have you ever seen the Electrovair 2 ? All electric battery powered concept Corvair made by GM in 1966?http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxu1UZBSV_ZJkK5Fjoo_0KBIkgPs8_foAXc4c4hx2ujksSRT4IIf I had the choice of being able to start a car collection over again I would collect all the out of the box cars. 63 Tempest with V-8, 2nd generation Corvair Corsa, 1963 Olds F-85 Jetfire, Toronado, C 2 Corvette, 1957 Pontiac Fuel Injected Bonneville, 1949 Coupe de Ville. 1949 Olds, 1955 Pontiac Safari, 1933 Pontiac coupe w/ rumble seat, 1940 Olds with Hydramatic. etc. Edited March 15, 2013 by helfen (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Kinda drove this thread well off the road and into the weeds, didn't we... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Kinda drove this thread well off the road and into the weeds, didn't we...Doesn't really matter though, everyone else is asleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpneroz Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 This has really brought out a lot of information and also been one of the most interesting topics I have been part of in a while. Originally, I only wanted to know what interchanged with Buick 215 and what was specific to the Olds version. I knew that the 215 was part of the family of engines that led eventually to the 300 4V (cast iron) in my 1965 LeSabre (Wildcat 355.) That is a nice durable old engine with surprising get up and go with the 4bbl version. I guess thank God I have the cast iron version. Think about it though....Aluminum V8 was neat technology in 1961. I knew that the aluminum engines had problems with the period antifreeze. Just think if coolant of today was available back then. Those light little engines would have kept on going who knows to what degree.Some of the lemons you guys mentioned in the thread I can still vividly remember! Heck, on a quiet day you could hear a Vega rust! I checked the tail lights, car appears to be a 1961. I looked it over again on Saturday when I was there. The car is a time capsule under the hood. Everything is there air cleaner to tailshaft. If anyone needs anything let me know. The car will soon be scrapped along with all the other cars in that yard, owner is retiring and has started to crush the cars in waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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