Buick Eight vs. Cadillac Eight

[Art Woody]

Olds did not supply any engines for GMC in the fifties, however someone did mention Buick nailheads. Most likely nailheads would have been found in larger trucks 1 1/2 ton & 2 ton up. Seems like I ran across a nailhead at a  junkyard in a 2 ton GMC years ago. (I build, buy, sell, trade 55-59 Chev.-GMC trucks for a hobby). All light GMC trucks (1/2 ton - 1 ton) used Pontiac for their V-8's. GMC was always a step ahead of Chevrolet as far as cubers and clutches, also load capacity the same way Cadillac led the GM fleet of automobiles, even in their straight six engines. Art Woody

[Guidematic]

I have never heard of GMC using Olds engines. They used Pontiac engines primarily in the light duty trucks from 1955-1959. The V-6 superceded them as well.

Mike

[TonyZappone #2624]

I thought the 6 cylinder in the GMC was an overhead 6 of Buick ancestry, probably the 6 cylinder from 1930 and back.  The Pontiac V-8 was definitely in the GMC pickups in the late fifties, and probably early sixties.   After that it became nothing but a Chevrolet with a different name.

[homeonprunehill]

I  don't recall  how   many CID's it had         but  the     Boing  co. in 1963  built a special trator,usuing two blocks A  V12  W/1-4bal carb.     It would  go down hill (LOADED) like a raped ape,
if you  applied the brakes all you would get was smoke!  AND up hill was  as bad as going down-hjill,
in 1st gear "ballls to the wall" all of three mph(If I might be excused for using  an old pilot term.

I was just play around with the BROWSE ,If I  posted a pic. of   my 38 LAS I will be surprised   

[Jim Stamper]

    I think the GMC 6 cylinder of the thirties was their own engine, possibly more closely related to the Chevy "stove bolt six" but whatever it was it was a popular engine to hot rod and was popular for dirt trackers and other racing venues. The 270 Gimmy was a very popular place to start. GMC was often sold in Buick dealerships so perhaps there is a connection there.

     Quite a few years ago a town here in NH was selling a 57 Chevy I thought but perhaps it was a GMC, with a Buick nailhead V-8 engine. All of 7,000 miles and no rust for $1500. A tanker. The first nailhead I had heard of in a truck, but maybe it was a common application from what has been written in this forum.

[Guidematic]

A good friend of mine, who was a mechanic at a GM dealer in the 50's, recalls a story about a GMC dump truck with a Buick 322. The trials and tribulations of how this thing was serviced and repaired.

Mike

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

One of the posters mentioned that he thought that the 1941 big (320 cu in) Buick straight eight with compound carburetion actually developed 151 horsepower instead of 165.  Buick advertised 141 on the big engine with single carb in 1940 and 165 in 1941 and 1942 with the compound carb set-up (the only way the big engine was available those two years).  That put Buick 15 horsepower ahead of Cadillac for '41 and '42.  After the war, all Buicks were again equipped with a single carburetor, but they somehow found an extra 9 horsepower, bringing it up to 150.

[Steve Passmore]

I stand corrected Rusty on the bhp of the 41 Buick's 320 cu engine,  it was as you so rightly state 165 bhp (a senior moment ) but if you read page 246 of "The Buick, A Complete History" by Terry B Dunham and Lawrence R Gustin you will see that Buick's 320 cu engine for 1946/7 only produced 144 bhp after dropping the compound carbs , only 3 hp more than 1940.
My point being that they dropped back again in the bhp race after dropping the complicated carb system and that Cadillac need not have worried.

[Art Woody]

 Cadillac still won the torque battle against the big Buick with 283 ft lbs. vs. 278 in the pre-war stats. Torque will get the masses moving out of its tracks faster every time. Anyone want to line 'em up for pink slips and settle this?