Folks,
All this talk about the Morgan 215...My second ever "Hot rod"
attempt in 1962 was a 1961 Buick 215 with and Olds 215 flywheel and transmission
in a Nash Metropolitan. Used the stock 4.88 rear end and blew out
the spider gears while showing off to my frinds. That was OK as the
MG Miget or Austen Heally Sprite had identical rears at a junk yard
price of around $50. With tiny tires, low weight and the 4.88 gears
I could accelerate like a bat out of hell. Top speed, RPM limited was
around 90. Had an excellent race for about 50 miles with a new Mercadies
across the Rocky mountains. Had terrible vibration. Do not know if the
drive shaft or the flywheel was wrong. Vibration caused my header-tailpipe
coupling to come loose, the starter to come loose and eventually
(as I was driving from California to Oklahoma) the bell housing to crack into.
I replaced the bell housing and left the Nash at my father's house as I
proceeded to Viet Nam. My Father "sold" the car to an Army guy at Fort
Sill, Oklahoma with a promise to "pay". The $#@!& Army guy never payed.
Never saw the car again. So if you try a 215 (in an Alpine) be sure you balance
the flywheel to the motor. Neat little motor.
Later bought a 215 Buick Special after Nam. The auto transmission
crapped out and AMCCO "fixed It". Drove 10 blocks and had gears on the road.
Second AMCCO "lifetime" repair was unable to repair it. Two other
transmission shops
also unable to repair. (DO NOT USE A 215 BUICK AUTO TRANS FOR A CONVERSION.)
Towed it to a local Ford dealer and traded it in on my 1967
Tiger II in 1969. Still driving that Tiger II, now slightly " Hot Rodded".
At 04:44 PM 10/1/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>I apologize for the blank reply.. hit the button too fast..
>
>I must agree with the numbers below... cast aluminum vs. cast Iron...We
>Don't need Mr. Layfman's Rocket Science to see the obvious here.. Let alone
>the fact that when I was in high school and purchased a 63 Buick 215
>complete engine with out a tranny or bellhousing. I carried it complete with
>iron exhaust manifolds on my shoulder in to my auto shop class, and set it
>down on my bench. Granted I was a burly kid at 6'4 and 280 lbs...There's no
>way I could have carried a 260-302 that way. By the way, the 215's 4sp
>bellhousing only weighs about 6-10lbs.. it's very light, and Aluminum.. I
>always wanted to use the Muncie M21 aluminum gear box for the ALL ALUMINUM
>drive train.. In 63 the 4bbl version of the Buick 215 with 10:1 compression
>was rated at 200 horse power in block stock form.. Wasn't the 260 rated at
>160? and the 289 at 175? In other words......It would have been a great
>Tiger Engine. just my opinion..With the weight reduction they may not have
>had to do the fire wall mods they did.....Who knows.. It's still something
>I want to do someday. once I get another Alpine, and win the lotto... It's
>interesting too, that by the time the Tiger was being seriously considered,
>British Leyland owned the 215, and all of it's tooling. They bought the
>whole thing from GM. and that same basic engine with some updates, and
>larger displacement is still being produced today for the Morgan +8, and
>Range Rover. I love to Dream...
>
>Rich
>
>
>
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: <sosnaenergyconsulting@home.com>
>> To: <MWood24020@aol.com>
>> Cc: <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>; <oharajem@free.midcoast.com>;
>> <sfordrb@aol.com>; <aka.gumby@gte.net>; <colin.mills@bluewin.ch>;
>> <tigers@autox.team.net>
>> Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 3:41 PM
>> Subject: Re: Tiger vs Morgan +8
>>
>>
>> > There's a guy named Dave Williams who collected a bunch of engine weight
>> > data. Can't vouch for the accuracy of the following info, but I talked
>> > with Dave by e-mail once and he seems a VERY savvy guy.
>> > Anyway, the BOP 215 motor (presumably without ancillaries) is quoted at
>> > 324 lbs and the Ford 289-302 (again, presumably without ancillaries) is
>> > quoted at 460 lbs.
>> > It's been a while since I downloaded his info, but the site was:
>> > http://home1.gte.net/42/engfyi.htm.
>> >
>> > Regards
>> >
>> > David Sosna
>> > 65 S4 GT 2.8 V6 (still for sale)
>> > 66 Tiguar (closer to getting on the road)
>> >
>> >
>> > MWood24020@aol.com wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Interesting comment re: front end weight. If I'm not mistaken, a B-O-P
>> 215 V8 w/ bellhousing and trans weighs a significant amount MORE than a
>> small block Windsor w/ bellhousing and top loader...why bother with a
>motor
>> that has less displacement, potential and parts availability?
>> > > I, personally, like Tom Hall's solution which is now owned by the
>> Guerras: 13b rotary and direct top Mazda sourced 5 speed. The whole
>shooting
>> match is about as big as a beer keg and fits behind the front crossmember!
>> 200+ hp just makes it better, although you do have to watch what gear you
>> are in...
>> > > Mike
>
James Barrett Tiger II 351C and others
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