Here’s the latest in the Hagerty’s excellent Redline Rebuild series of time-lapse engine overhauls: the mighty Buick Straight Eight.
If you’re a regular visitor here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, you know we frequently feature the Redline Rebuild series of vintage engine overhauls from the folks at Hagerty. As we see it, their video series is one of the best deals in gearhead media. Through the magic of time-lapse photography, we get to see many of the world’s great engines on the workbench, from the VW Beetle to the original Chrysler hemi, up close and personal, disassembled and in all their glory—and meanwhile, we’re not getting our hands dirty, smashing our knuckles, or draining our wallets. It’s sort of a miracle, really, and we are thankful to Hagerty for sharing the experience.
This episode has us especially geeked up, because it features one of our all-time favorite engines: the mighty Buick Fireball Straight 8. Introduced in 1931, the legendary valve-in-head mill powered Buick passenger cars through 1953 in utter smoothness and silence. If you follow the Hagerty crew on your own, you know this rebuild presented some special challenges, including damaged cylinder walls that required sleeves. But the operation was a complete succes, and here on video is the entertaining eight-minute recap. Watch this.
Thanks , MCG , for supplying this informative Hagerty rebuild video. The Buick Fireball Straight Eight was indeed one of the greatest in-line OHV engines of all time. My own personal experience with the power plant began with my father’s 1933 Model 50 sedan and continued with the 1948 Buick Flexible Combination hearse and ended with the 1950 Buick Roadmaster Riviera sedan of my grandfather. Only the hearse still survives but they were all great machines. My clearest memory was the fact that the engine and Dynaflow transmission on the 1950 Roadmaster emitted so much heat that the accelerator pedal was uncomfortably hot for the throttle foot, especially on long summer trips. The smooth silence of this engine was remarkable , as was the torque it generated. I am sure that some readers will recall that many busses of the era utilized the engine, mounted transversely at the rear of the chassis. Happy Holidays to Mac and all readers. Jack Richards in Missouri.
Buick Pioneered many innovations. To begin with, overhead valves, and later, eight cylinder engines when many other more expensive cars, though also eight cylinders, were still flatheads.
Cadillac, after having made the well known OHV V-8,V-12, and V-16 engines of the early ’30s, then took a seemingly backward step to flathead V8s in the latter ’30s.
In 1941 Buick catalogued several coach built, custom bodied models in their senior line, the Series 90, or Limited. However, GM didn’t allow Buick to offer them, because Cadillac complained. Cadillac offered nothing like them. Very interesting luxury car body styles they would have been…if indeed there was at that time a market for them.
Buick had another ace up their sleeve. Dual Compound Carburetion, which consisted of two, two barrel carburetors, and split exhaust manifolds, offered in both ’41 and ’42.
Cadillac was again unhappy. Caddy’s 346 c.i.d. flathead V8 was rated at 150 hp, while Buick’s 320 c.i.d. ohv straight 8, with the dual carb set up, was rated at 165 hp. WWII probably calmed any ill will when civilian automobile production halted.
After the war, in 1952, Buick introduced the four barrel carburetor, developed by a Buick engineer. By then, Cadillac’s 331 OHV V-8, introduced in 1949, was rated at 190 hp, while Buick’s final year of the 320 straight eight was rated at 170 hp.
As we now know, both overhead valves and four barrel carburetors became more common as the ’50s progressed. What some may not have known is that we have Buick to thank for those features.
I’m confused.
Eight cylinders, sixteen valves, but twelve ports? Were some of the ports siamesed inside the head?
Holy, moly. Great video, with thanks to Hagerty and MCG. The music …. AWESOME!!!!!!!