Inline 8

[AMCLOVER258]

Anyone else ever consider the Buick Inline 8 as a swap? Pros. Cons. Possible Hinders??

[jpgreen]

Hudson inline 8 would stay in the brand, doubt either would fit personally. Cool though. I like captspillanes 3.0 mercruiser 4cyl idea for an sx4. Had the pontiac iron duke in an s10, no high end, but awsome torque and throttle response low end.

[AMCLOVER258]

Agreed i think the fitment would be the most trouble some. Considering the 4.2 already runs to the back of the engine almost laying on the firewall and from the front to grill only about an extra cylinder would fit.... would be nice here the mighty roar of an inline 8 soaring down the trail!!

[jpgreen]

Never actually heard one, there is a hudson hornet a few miles down from me(dead in the weeds). The mechanic next door to work had a straight eight something (not buick, mercury maybe?) But I never heard it run. As for the iron duke I had my exhuast fall off and wrap around the rear axle, then it got a glasspack under the passenger seat with a turndown. Incredibly abnoxious but fun! 3.0 4cyl should be even better. So do they sound better than the 258? No matter what they never sound cool to me.

[AMCLOVER258]

Oh yeah they sound GOOD. That is if your a fan of inline tunes. I love the 4.2 and 4.0 tune and when I heard the inline 8... That did I said I'm eventuly buying one building it and try to fit it in. Not to mention the kind of torque one of those bad boys can put out if built right!

[eaglefreek]

I also don't see how a straight 8 would fit without major modification.  Back in the 80's there was a high performance engine shop across the alley from where I worked. They built engines mostly for circle track and offshore powerboat racing and would dyno engines quite often. One day I heard the weirdest and coolest sound coming from an engine on the dyno.  I went over to ask what it was and it was a 3.0L or 3.7L Mercruiser (I can't remember) they built for a swamp buggy racer.

[IowaEagle]

Way too heavy.  You would also upset the front/rear weight ratio.  With the I6 its nearly a perfect 50/50 which is what you want in a 4WD vehicle.

[carnuck]

Straight 8 is a low RPM, high torque VERY heavy motor that tended to snap cranks when you go past 4,000 RPM unless a billet crank is installed (due to torsional forces) Mercedes had one of the last straight 8s made for equipment.

[amcfool1]

sounds good, but not really a good idea. that motor is HUGE, and heavy, with minimal parts availability, and what trans can you use with it? Having said that, all power to ya! dream big! gz