Long time lurker here. I have been wanting to build a prewar special type machine, inspired by the Miller 91 and other Indy cars/dirt track racers of the time. In researching relatively contemporary motors, I came across a $20 Pontiac straight 8 and a couple of $500 Buick 8s. Are the motors worth hot rodding? I havent found much on them. The end goal would be a cool 250-300 reliable hp, either with or without FI.
You are asking us???
The answer is almost always yes, and when it's not it's actually double yes
Buick straight eights are pretty much the motor to use in certain Bonneville racing vintage classes, being one of the few motors the class allows with a good-flowing overhead valve cylinder head.
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
I assume one does not acquire parts from the JEGS catalogue. Where would I go for (say) a cam, full valvetrain upgrades, and better pistons/rods?
I agree, about the only straight 8 used in any sort of competition these days is the Buick, and then only by a few people. Parts are all going to be custom. Try searching for Bonneville racers using them, they must be posting on a forum somewhere about their engine builds. I just did a google search on 'buick straight 8 performance' and got a few hits. Also try an image search on the same terms and you'll find more.
Vintage photo:
Beware, if you buy a Buick 8 that had a Dynflow transmission behind it, the crank isn't drilled for a pilot bearing.
If you want to put manual transmission behind it, you'll have to pull the crank and have it machined.
In reply to ShawnG :
That is very good to know! I expect to be doing a lot of machining to run the car, as painful as it is I suppose I will have to do that as well. Any motor I buy will have sat for a while and likely need an extensive rebuild.
In reply to stuart in mn :
That photo is gold. Its interesting to see what people were doing back then. Six carbs must have been a pain to adjust but I bet such a motor was a beast all through the revs.
Edit: With your search terms, found this link: https://forums.aaca.org/topic/277721-hi-performance-straight-eights/ , which is rich with all the right knowledge.
$20 straight 8 weighs? Why didn't the dude scrap it to make more money?
Actually I'm against scrapping it but $20?
In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :
Here it is for anyone who might be interested. its 20 obo so he must REALLY want it gone. Its probably just a pain to move.
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