By Henry Wilson

After removing the cylinder heads from the engine I discovered that the cast iron sleeves in a couple of the cylinders had rusted. I immediately took the engine to a local engine shop to have them determine what the cylinders would bore to (.20 over, .30 over, .40 over, etc...).  I am still awaiting the news on that. Meanwhile I will share with you some of the web sites that I have found useful information on. I will limit this particular list to sites that deal with the engines.

The First site you you should visit and probably the best! (If you plan on attempting an MGB V8 engine swap)

The Rover V8 engine site - this site has an incredible amount of information about the Buick 215cid engine which is essentially the same motor as the rover 3.5, 3.9, 4.0, 4.2, and 4.6 V8 engines used by Land Rover inrecent years. Rover bought the design rights from Buick a  long tiem ago.

Another Rover V8 page- some good tuning and newer version vs. older version information.

Rover V8 information page

Some Buick/Rover Engine Specs

Buick/ Oldsmobile 215 V8 information

Buick/ Rover V8 history and background - can be helpful in understanding interchangeability of certain parts.

Buick.net - very useful factory specs and things like recommended torque settings for various engine bolts.

MGB V8 conversion site- A lot of good conversion information

Buick V8 in a motorcycle - Too strange and interesting not to list

V8 Buick.com - 'nuff said

BritishV8 newsletter site - These newsletters are great! They are made up of accounts of actual experiences people have had building their own british V8 cars as well as articles by some of the most knowledgeable guys on the planet on converting MGbs to V8 power.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!-+

Great Rover Parts source - Rimmer Bros.

Isky Cams - has several camshaft designs and valve train components to increase the power of your Buick 215/ Rover 3.5 engine. Go to the engine sub-menu and select the Buick 215.

December 2002

OK the shop says the block bored out to .040 over. I called Dan LaGrou at D&D Fabrications and ordered the pistons and rings. Meanwhile I am porting the heads myself. Something I would not recommend without a lot of studying on the subject. I did not remove much of the aluminum head material. Mainly I just matched the head openings for both intake and exhaust with the openings in the intake and exhause gaskets. On aluminum heads they say you should use a die grinder and coarse bits. On Cast Iron they recommend regular bits. They being hotrod magazine where I got this crazy idea that I could port my own heads in the first place. It seemed easy, I guess I'll see how much damage I have done when the engine is in the car and running.

I ordered 10.25 to 1 compression pistons. That, I am told, is about the maximum compression you can run if you want the car to run on the gas you can buy at any old gas station. If you go higher, you may have to use an octane booster additive or buy your gas at the airport (high octane airplane gas).

April 2003

The engine shop completed my engine. The engine currently consists of:

10.25 to 1 compression pistons
.0010 decked block
Ported heads (both the area beneath the valves and the intake and exhaust ports).
High volume oil pump
Stock Buick 4 barrel intake manifold
Stainless steel bolt kit
D&D starter nose (to rotate the solenoid around to hang directly beneath the starter and clear the side of the engine bay)
Clevite 77 crank bearings
lightened flywheel
Stainless steel swirl polished intake and exhaust valves
Isky 262 cam
Isky Cromoly push rods
Isky double valve springs
Pertronix electronic ignition (the one that fits inside the stock distributor).
Pertronix Flamethrower coil

I plan on using mild steel block hugger type headers with the Jet Hot coating on the interior and exterior. This seriously reduces the headers' ability to absorb heat. This should help keep the engine bay cooler and prolong the life of the headers too!

Here is a photo of the engine as it looks now (without alternator, water pump, carb, or crank pulley installed)

              

    Engine                                                                              Carter AFB 400CFM Carburetor that I will use.

Engiine with some components bolted on and the oil pan and valve covers powdercoated red.