Buick & Rover Small Block V8 215, 300, 340, 350 parts Interchange discussion and food for thought.

In this episode of Mister Rodder's Neighborhood, I'm still looking for cutoff wheels to finish the windage tray.... So, I improvise and I cover the differences and interchangeability of parts throughout the Small Block Buick Family, including the V6... which is a weird cousin!

[@robertkinney9925]

I bought Land Rover valve covers and used them on '64 Skylark 300. Perfect fit and much improved look, to my eye. I think the finned cast aluminum looks great on my car and keeps people guessing as to what kind of engine it is. Also the front timing cover is from an unknown buick engine. Original was removed with a sawsall! The bolts thru the aluminum into iron block were sezed to the point that destroying the cover was the only option. The motor mounts are also a make-do unknown part. Car runs great and make lots of car shows.

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Great minds think alike! I have a set of those also! They look nostalgic and great!

[@robertkinney1480]

What year of land Rover? Is the Rover a 300?

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

@@robertkinney14803.5 liter rover v8

[@trebormcfarland8708]

I can actually shed just a little light on the 340, it's lust a 300 with a 0.45 inch longer piston throw, so theoretically the only differences should be crank, cam, rod length and probably piston skirt size, I'm actually doing research for a 340 resto on a 66 right now and happened acrossed bore and stroke length before anything else

[@ivanarrache5154]

I've been looking for a video like this for a long time, I love Buick Small Blocks more than any other engine out there. Thank you very much for uploading it.

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Glad You Liked It! There will be more in the future. Stay tuned.

[@ivanarrache5154]

@@mr.roddersneighborhood2740 I see you from Puerto Rico, and I would like to see a video one day on how to make a Buick Small Block with multiport, perhaps using the intake manifold of a more modern Land Rover and a spacer. Plus a direct ignition system, maybe using the newer 3800 V6s as a base, or Chevrolet's V8s.

[@VinnyMartello]

I run the 350 in my pickup truck. Great torque and tolerable gas mileage.

[@philipleeson671]

Love your show. I'm an auto mechanic. Also a GM car lover especially the older ones. Buick is my #1. I have learnt over the years that Buick 340 has different heads than the 350 n I once put a 350 hei distributor on a 340 n had to grind down the front of the intake a little for it to fit. I love all the Buick engines though. They are all good

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

That 340 is an oddity, but makes the steam just like the 350. The small blocks are my favorite too!

[@jeffreyhaarsager3287]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the classic Buick engines. Im working on a 62 Special with the 198 V6. It has had a lifter tick for a while and really low oil pressure at idle, when I pulled it out of the garage this summer it had no oil pressure at all. I tried to prime the oil pump with a drill but had no luck. I called melling to see if I could get a rebuild kit for the oil pump, Brian in tech said they don't have one listed in any of their books for the 198 V6 but said the 215 kit might work. I could really use some advice or options. My wife inherited the car from her mom after she passed and really need to get it back on the road for her

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

The 215 kit will work and is actually the same kit used for all of the Buick small block and v6.

[@323gtx88]

Sweet

[@fsj197811]

I've got the oddball 64 Skylark 300 and appreciate the swap info. I had to convert to 65 mounts since from what I found there are no 64 mounts to be found.

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

64 was the odd ball for sure. one off frame mounts and engine mounts. Good call on changing them over to the later version.

[@philipleeson671]

I put a 350 Buick with a turbo 350 short tail in my 1967 GMC half ton pickup n it was an easy swap. I then pressed my luck n shoehorned a Buick 350 into a 1986 GMC vandura 3/4 ton van. I couldn't get a long tail 350 trans for it with bop bell housing so I made my own from a Chevy long tail and a Buick short tail. Lot of headaches but the end result was beautiful

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Buicks in Trucks is how it should have been... Best engines for a tow rig ever!

[@VinnyMartello]

I daily drive a 66 Chevy pickup with a 350 Buick. They make wonderful truck engines.

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

It's the perfect Truck Engine!

[@Cstoreri]

Dallas!……thanks.

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

No Problem! Your Welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@perripierre9295]

Front cover compatibility?

[@tombrown879]

Great info. How about the heads? will 215 heads physically fit on a 350 and vise versa?I know the intake spacing would be different and there may be problems with the combustion chamber to bore. but would the water jackets line up? Keep em coming Dallas. We are still here. :)

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Yes it does, the extra bolt holes on the 215 heads will not work but the regular 4 bolt holes around each cylinder in the head will work on the 350 block. I'll do an episode on the head interchangeability of the 215-350 engines. I have already found the 350 head fits the 300, so the rest of them should interchange, minus the lifter bores being in a different location due to the heads having a different valve arrangement, but I believe it will still work just fine with some homework and a few custom parts.

[@robroyce6845]

the buick odd/even fire v6 engines are indeed weird cousins of Buicks small block v8s ; some buick v8 circles say that buick 300-340 v8 heads will bolt onto a buick rover v8...but these are very rare finds in decent condition...imo ...would like to know if a buick 340 v8 crankshaft would fit a buick rover/tvr late model v8 without major main journal turning??

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Yes, they will bolt right in the earlier Rover V8's with the shorter crank snouts.

[@robgeach8073]

Great info thanks. I have a question Rover bought the 215/300 Block rights from Buick and mated it to a ZF transmission can you tell me did they keep the BOP Transmission bell housing pattern and if so a buick 350 or v6 would bolt right up to theZF automatic???

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Rob, that’s a good question and I like your train of thought. The ZF is a good gear box… but Rover only bought the 215 design. Since that is the case, the 215 does not have a BOP bellhousing pattern. It actually has its own bell housing pattern only for the 215 V8, making it a huge pain to adapt that ZF gear box onto anything else. D&D at www.aluminumV8.com has a manual bellhousing to bolt almost any GM manual trans to the 215.

[@robgeach8073]

Thanks for the info

[@robgeach8073]

So with that info I need to hunt down an American made 215 so I can crap box this 4.0 rover junk with sliding sleeves lol. Any 215s out there?

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

@@robgeach8073 don't throw that 4.0 Rover out... it's the exact same engine as a 215... with improvements over the original design including cross bolted mains. The 4.0 is the go between engine from the original 215 design to the later stage 2 Buick V6 and LS engine design.... the missing link.

[@bldontmatter5319]

I might be getting a 300 Buick in a 1964 skylark Buick, and I can't find anything on these particular engines... It's pretty obscure. It runs and drives and has the 2 speed... I'm pretty scared what I'm gonna find, but id like to rebuild the engine and put in a 4 speed manual. What do you think? This will be a weekend car for fun. I don't want an engine swap (too expensive) but havent done engine work yet

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

The 300 is a good engine, check out the Breaking the Mule Video! That's a 300 Buick.

[@PCMenten]

Crankshaft interchange? Heads?

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Paul, I'll do a video on it really soon. I've been working on that for a while with a ton of good notes. Just need some more homework to make things a little better by providing some answers to the questions.

[@robroyce6845]

good question...especially Buick 340 crankshaft into a late model rover v8...; )

[@allankwiatkowski9086]

go to the parts store and ask what the number of the 40 water pump is and compare it to a 350/300

[@mr.roddersneighborhood2740]

Sounds like an interesting idea, but I cannot understand what you mean. Can you please explain?

[@allankwiatkowski9086]

@@mr.roddersneighborhood2740 ya go to the parts store,ask for a 340 water pump,and what is its part number,then ask if that water pump part number matches any other buick engine or a pontiac or olds engine.i have also seen that there is a book out there that lists what manufacturers parts will fit other manufacturers engines.ie will a ford head fit an amc engine,

[@jasonwilliams4197]

340 is more like 300 have one