Captainlance Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 I have a Buick/GMC 221 6 cylinder engine in a 1933 0-14 taxicab, made by General Motors Tuck division. The engine, I'm told, has its origin in 1929-30 Bick "standard" series cars. I am in need of any technical material that may be out there, including, the firing order, (I'm told it is NOT the conventional 154362 of a 6 cylinder). Also need to know where the timing mark is, I do not have a hole in the bell housing, nor do I see any mark on the crank pulley. Whatever you may know, or have will help my restoration greatly Thanks lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Welcome. You are correct about having a unique firing order. That is because the distributor spins backwards to the conventional firing order. 1-4-2-6-3-5 Hopefully you can find the flywheel mark or put one somewhere. Your car is also set up with the advance lever at "full advance" and there is a 15 or 17 degree BTDC mark on the flywheel. Is there a cover on the bottom that you could use to find the flywheel marks? Hugh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainlance Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 Thanks for the info, but my engine has a centrifugal distributor, there is NO advance lever. The firing order is helpful, do you have any later GMC data? mine is made in 1933. Thanks! Lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 (edited) I don't really have much to help with, but thank you for posting pics of the engine. It is generally understood that when Buick stopped making 6 cylinders, the tooling went to GMC, and that early GMC OHV sixes are very similar to Buick. A few months ago, pictures were circulating of a cab similar or possibly exactly like yours, looking for identification. It was in rather poor condition, having been outside for a long time. It was allegedly a 1932, though there was not much material with which to identify it. Someone on the HAMB bought it, and I am not sure what happened to it after that. I think it was located in Arkansas. In the quest for identification of that cab a picture of a restored one was posted. Possibly yours? As far as I know, only those two have surfaced. If the restored cab was not yours, then that makes 3 instead of 2. I have reposted all the pictures I have here: https://imgur.com/a/LQxZYkV GMC engines get a little murky. In an ad that shows the cab among a bunch of trucks, they list engines of 221, 257, 331, 400. 468, 525, 616, and 707 cubic inches. All appear to be OHV. They can't all be the Buick, but I'll bet the 221 is. The funny thing is, If they had this whole line of engines in production, why, just a couple years later were they using Oldsmobile (and in one or two cases Pontiac) flathead sixes in their trucks? It is also unclear, to me anyway, if the "modern" GMC OHV 6 of the late 40s and early 50s owes anything to the old Buick design. Anyway, I hope you get better, more helpful responses than mine. I suspect you will as there are folks around here who have restored 6 cylinder Buicks. Edited July 3, 2019 by Bloo (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Do you have a serial number for the engine. That would help with the identification. My 1925 Buick 6 has mechanical advance weights and a manual advance lever on the steering. Vacuum advance was the replacement for the manual advance. Do you have a photo of the distributor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainlance Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 Yes, distributor # is Delco 4106 Main engine block # 066760 cylinder section # 066626 dated 03-15 I assume the 15th week of 1933. Engine serial # in one of the photos below. Thanks lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainlance Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 21 hours ago, Bloo said: I don't really have much to help with, but thank you for posting pics of the engine. It is generally understood that when Buick stopped making 6 cylinders, the tooling went to GMC, and that early GMC OHV sixes are very similar to Buick. A few months ago, pictures were circulating of a cab similar or possibly exactly like yours, looking for identification. It was in rather poor condition, having been outside for a long time. It was allegedly a 1932, though there was not much material with which to identify it. Someone on the HAMB bought it, and I am not sure what happened to it after that. I think it was located in Arkansas. In the quest for identification of that cab a picture of a restored one was posted. Possibly yours? As far as I know, only those two have surfaced. If the restored cab was not yours, then that makes 3 instead of 2. I have reposted all the pictures I have here: https://imgur.com/a/LQxZYkV GMC engines get a little murky. In an ad that shows the cab among a bunch of trucks, they list engines of 221, 257, 331, 400. 468, 525, 616, and 707 cubic inches. All appear to be OHV. They can't all be the Buick, but I'll bet the 221 is. The funny thing is, If they had this whole line of engines in production, why, just a couple years later were they using Oldsmobile (and in one or two cases Pontiac) flathead sixes in their trucks? It is also unclear, to me anyway, if the "modern" GMC OHV 6 of the late 40s and early 50s owes anything to the old Buick design. Anyway, I hope you get better, more helpful responses than mine. I suspect you will as there are folks around here who have restored 6 cylinder Buicks. YES, the "good car" is mine. I only know of 3 Generals in total that still exist in complete form. The gentleman you refer to bought a car that parts were scavenged off of for mine back in the late 80's. There were 2 of them on a farm in St Joseph, Missouri. I got the good one that was in a barn, the other was in a field rotting away.PS, the other 2 complete cars belong to museums, one in the USA one in Alberta, Canada. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Most likely the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta then. They’ve got a very interesting collection. http://reynoldsmuseum.ca/ It’s been a number of years since I’ve been there, so it’s high time I went back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 (edited) You can download, for free, a 1929 Buick manual here ----> http://oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Buick/1929/Reference Book/index.htm May be of interest, as your engine is probably very similar Another link---> http://oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/Buick/1929/Specifications/index.htm Edited July 4, 2019 by 1939_Buick (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainlance Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 Thanks everyone, NOW, I find that I need the control rod and end that goes between the valve on the exhaust, to the side of the carburetor, it controls the heat to the intake. Also, need the "funnel" that directs air into the oil fill/breather assembly. Also could use the dash mounted heat/.choke panel and rods that go to the carburetor. These parts fit 28, 29 "standard" series, 6 cylinder engines. Would also consider buying the entire carburetor, heat valve, air tubes assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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