My Dad had an Olds Jetfire that his father bought him new the first year they
were out. He later traded it for a Jag 140MC coupe. If what I remember him
telling me is correct, they only built a small handful of those Jetfires that
year. He told me that there was a resovoire under the hood that you would pour
this liquid called "Rocket Fuel" into. When a switch was turned it would throw
flames from the exhaust. Is this true or has my dad been pulling my leg? The
sad part of the story is, the guy that ended up with the Jetfire wrapped it
around a tree within a year of owning it.
>>> Jan Eyerman <jan.eyerman@usa.net> 08/02/01 01:33PM >>>
The "Rover" V-8 was introduced in 1961 in the Buick Special- an aluminum 215
cubic inch V-8. Oldsmobile used a variation of it with more head bolts. With
a 2 barrel carb and 8.5:1 CR it developed 155 HP. With a 4 barrel and 10.25:1
CR it got 185. This was increased to 10.5:1 and 200 HP at Buick while Olds
added the first "mass produced" turbo-charged version in 1962 and 1963 (in the
"Jetfire") producing a very modest 215 HP.
The machinery to build these engines was sold to Rover in 1963-64. The reason
GM dropped the engine was because the horsepower race was heating up and these
engines could not be stretched much beyond 215 cubic inches and cost way too
much to build.
They were very popular "back yard" swaps into various sports cars of the era
but the Buick/Olds 215 engine was too wide to fit into the narrower engine
bays. The Ford 221/260/289/302/351 was/is an amazingly narrow engine and thus
will fit into many, many different bodies. The Ford engine was a "thin wall"
casting, allowing Ford to build a cast iron engine that was almost as light as
an aluminum one. The engine was first introduced in 1962 as an optional V-8
in the Fairlane-it was a 2 barrel 221 cubic engine developing (I believe) 145
HP.
It was this combination of light weight and narrowness that allowed Shelby to
drop one into an Alpine and create the Tiger.
The Buick/Rover 215/3.5 was an "exotic" engine at the time as it was aluminum.
There were also a number of aluminum in line sixes- AMC/Rambler had one of
about 232 Cubic inches and the Chrysler "slant six" was also available in 225
cubic inches in aluminum. The Chrysler was available with a four barrel and
all sorts of high performance goodies in the Dodge Lancer (what the Dart was
initially called) and dominated "compact car" racing in the 1961-62 era.
Jan Eyerman
1959 Hillman Minx Series III DeLuxe
1973 Hillman Avenger DL
(ex Board of Directors member of the Society of Automotive Historians)
sosnaenergyconsulting@home.com wrote:
Hi, Cole:
Congrats! The rover has that nifty aluminum V-8, doesn't it? I do wish
there had been some way to shoehorn it into a sunbeam.
Sorry, I don't know a source for parts, but I just thought I'd offer my
congratulations anyway.
Is the Mercedes 2.8 going into a Mercedes, or something else?
Regards
David Sosna
Harvey, Cole E wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Boy oh boy, it has been a busy past few days. I got a new toy, a 1969
Rover
> 3500S. The car is rust free and is the first car I have ever bought with
> shiny paint (British racing green). And last night I picked up a Mercedes
> 2.8 liter engine for $60. Actually it was $120 engine (Budget
rent-a-Ranger
> $30, dinner for the wife $30), but a bargain either way.
>
> So, to my questions, does anyone on the list own a Rover, and where do I
get
> parts?
>
> Cole
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