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smallest v8 engine? - READ ONLY

24 messages,  Last post on Oct 22, 1999 at 5:59 PM

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#15 of 24 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Sep 29, 1999 (3:28 am)

Nice thing about collecting old cars, you get to spend your chips before you even have a chance to cash in!


Oh, the use of aluminum engine blocks is as old as the hills, both in the U.S. and abroad, but most American companies in the 50s/60s did not have the experience necessary to do a good job of it. And yes, running the right coolant would have helped a lot. Somehow I think the engine just wasn't right back then, though...it needed more engineering, which the Brits finally gave it.

#16 of 24 Aluminum Buick V-8 by badgerpaul

Sep 29, 1999 (3:16 pm)

I remember talking to a guy who had worked at the local Buick dealer when these came out. He said that the first sub 20 degree day, after they first came out almost everyone they sold came back in on the hook with frosted spark plugs.

#17 of 24 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Sep 29, 1999 (5:30 pm)

Weird...what do you suppose that was all about?

#18 of 24 by carnut4

Oct 04, 1999 (7:14 pm)

OK-The original Ford Flathead in 1932 had 221 cubes-ironically the same as the '62 Fairlane. Later in the 30's [37 I believe] Ford offered it's "V8-60" with 136 CID and 60 horsepower. This engine had a 2.6x3.2 bore and stroke-and what I read says it was never very successful. At a recent Sprint Car race though, there were some old vintage "golden wheels" racers from the 50's and 60's that came to put on a show. One of these was a midget, running an old Ford V8-60, with rare old speed equipment [finned heads, etc] to make it work. Certainly a rare sight! [The smells of those old engines were great-a couple were the old Offy 4 bangers.}
About the 60's Hydramatic. 61-64 Oldsmobiles and Pontiac Catalina and Venturas used the Roto-Hydramatic. But the Pontiac Starchiefs and Bonnevilles used the older, [and better] 4-speed Hydramatics, as did Cadillac, until 65 when they all switched to the Turbo 400. In the summer of '62, I did my driver training in a Buick Special V6. Shared the dual control car with 2 non-driver females and the instructor, who had to overide their braking and throttle constantly. That Buick had the stiffest throttle spring I've seen. It was "accelerator-brake, accelerator-brake," up and down the Long Beach Freeway in So Cal. Let me out at Pierpoint Landing for a mile-long hot-dog!

#19 of 24 Porsche Aluminum V8 by gkelly3

Oct 08, 1999 (6:18 pm)

Did'nt Porsche use an aluminum V-8 in their early-80's cars?
If memory serves me, they used a design identical with the infamous Vega I4 engine-there were no steel cylinder sleeves-the block was cast out of a silicon-aluminum alloy, and after the cylinders were bored out, they were acid etched to expose the silicon grains. This is what the piston rings rode on. I always wondered how this worked out for Porsche-seeing as it was a complete disaster , in the case of the Vega.

#20 of 24 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 08, 1999 (8:50 pm)

I think Porsche engineers do their homework before they go out and play. They cast the block out of Reynolds 390 aluminum alloy, and as you say, with no cylinder liners. Each bank of cylinders had one overhead camshaft driven by a toothed belt.


Unlike the Vega engine (a hand grenade waiting to go off), the Porsche 928 V-8 was pretty darn sturdy. The car is problematic for other reasons and not a good car to own. Possibly the only problem I can think of related (indirectly) to the aluminum block was that you need to use a very good, anti-corrosive coolant and change it frquently, otherwise the head to block surfaces corrode, breaking the seal.

#21 of 24 Baby V8.. by wilcox

Oct 21, 1999 (2:11 pm)

   The Simca, I think that was how it was spelled, SIMCA had a very small flat head v8. An acquaintance had it back around '63. I know that it was a sedan and that the family didn't have it very long.
  Those people also had a menagerie of unique vehicles. The one that comes to mind was a three wheeler (2 in front, 1 in back) called the Messerschmidt (sp). My buddy nicknamed it the "Mess-of-xxit" LOL.
  Reckon fezo can drag up a picture of that bird??

#22 of 24 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 21, 1999 (9:04 pm)

Good memory, Wilcox....that Simca was called the Vedette, and the V-8 was only 143.5 CID (2350cc)...this engine is actually Simca's update of the old Ford flathead with its wheezy 85 hp, so it was no rocket by any means.

#23 of 24 Wheezy is good adjective.. by wilcox

Oct 22, 1999 (1:27 pm)

  it looked nice, all tucked under the hood and everything, but seemed to be a weakling. Vedette, what a name! Reckon Chevy borrowed off it?

#24 of 24 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 22, 1999 (5:59 pm)

Maybe INternational Harvester, because Vedette means "scout" in francais.

Messages Page 3 of 3

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