BritishV8 Forum

Wow there are a lot of people with connections to Slidell. How odd is not that, since it is a small town.

Robbie: No I am sort of a purist and would like to make it look "factory made" with the possibility to convert it back to original condition. The car itself is, besides being in pieces, fairly rare to the point everything is matching, except the transmission. I have the M41 instead which is 4+OD, and it works much better with the rear end that has a 4.56 ratio, than the 4 speed it came with originally. Funny part is; it has lived major part of its life in the same state as the car pictured in your post, only difference is, it is heavier and has more doors and a cargo area you actually can sleep in, and no race factor.
My plan was in the beginning to make it into a look-a-like factory racing team service car, with a hotter B18B, similar to what they had when they raced backed then and won the -64 championship in rally. Something like this
http://gaz_v8.users.photofile.ru/photo/gaz_v8/96107023/xlarge/109250827.jpg it originates from this thread http://amazon.forum.bilia.se/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8716 which is the Swedish Volvo Amazon Club's forum.

Now we are very far from the topic... how to shorten a BOPR to 24".

Love to see some pictures of a 215 shortened. I have mine in a my 1970 Porsche 914. My problem is the water pump sticks forward to far. I'd like to shorten the front a few inches if possible. Was going to go with a remote electric pump. If I can keep it belt driven I would that. How much differance does the FWD v6 front make? Pics of your setups please

I'd like to see that too. Thanks in advance, Bjorn.

I am not there yet and this project will rest until I am done with rebuilding my house after last fall's flood. What I am pondering on is to modify a later cover without the distributor and a shortened cam, so a slightly modified water pump could work as belt driven. I do not know if the idea is feasible or not, but I need to shave off 3 - 3 1/2 inches to make it fit, or all parts gets recycled on the net and I have to settle with a 1.8 liter.

Something remarkable is that some of you guys use Volvo rockers for your applications and to take into consideration back in the days Buick pistons were used in the Volvo B18 to make it into a 2 liter. It is like there is a connection. I once had an engine built by Elleman-Jacobsen to this configuration, with at hotter cam and ported head with modified valves from Volvo's PV831 (I think it was), balanced, and with a tuned header. It could idle at really low rpm and still never miss a fire, actually it sounded like an old North Sea fishing boat and would respond like it had double DCOE when given throttle. It was impressive.

Since Volvo's rockers are used by some I wonder if anyone have considered the roller rockers that are available for B18/B20. I know there is now an updated shaft too that is wayyyy beefier than the original one (if anyone uses Volvo's shaft use B18 as it has thicker goods), and it might be able to get it "unmodified" from the supplier so it can be configured to BOPR's rocker stands. Just a thought, chime in please.
Source is http://www.kgtrimning.com/

I've got a Buick front cover I've been carving on with the portaband saw, I can post some photos for you guys:







Now aside from the fact that there's a hole that needs welded shut and some other welding and finish work is needed, this is the fast track to a short engine, using a remote water pump and electric fan.

Jim

The front cover does hang WAY off the front. I suppose we could mill that whole flange down flat and put a plate across the water pump housing mount. You could shave like 1/2" from the flange and another 4" by removing the pump. Then add an inch for a couple inlet ports... Well I suppose you could just weld a bung off each side of the front cover where the water inlet goes and make a crossover to feed each side.

That is what I was thinking. Of course, with a concentric pump and crank trigger it could be cut all the way back to the timing chain, gaining maybe 6" overall except for down at the crank, and a side driven external pump would be about the same. Still need the accessory drives of course.

Jim