Matt Silveira recommends
>that you *not* go with the 350 cu V-8 Buick. As said, the original,
>"Rover" V-8 was an aluminium small block Buick. These engines were
>"o.k." but not great - why do you think GM sold the thing to the
>Brits?
True that they didn't really work in the US in the sixties hauling two-ton
monsters when petrol was only two cents a gallon - after all, a BDA in my
Jensen would make a bad car.
GM, to its great credit, has tried a lot of innovations in the past, most of
which didn't work (remember copper-cooling, Corvair, Vega etc). Like the
215, they stopped making these.
The 215, however, was ideal for little European cars. It was actually
_lighter_ than the 1800 B-series, for twice the capacity.
Rover have also been developing the engine for 30 years, taking the capacity
from 3.5 to (?) 4.9 litres. Only the current fad for multiple camshafts is
killing it off. I don't think many people would agree that the Rover engine
is not a good one in the right environment.
Paul.
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