There were two major variants of the GM 215. They used essentially the
same block, but differed greatly in head design. Though the Olds design
is generaly thought to be superior, Rover went with the Buick design due
to having a Buick engineer on staff.
Almost all speed parts now available are for the Buick/Rover design, so
be careful in deciding to utilize an Olds version. (Of course, the Olds
version did have the first production turbocharger in Jetfire form in
1962... beating the Corvair by a month or so).
Both Olds and Buick had a low compression (2bbl) and high compression
(4bbl) version, the latter of course being prefered. Here's an early
Hotrod article put out in 1961 (before the hipo versions were released).
It's a big download, but dicusses some of the major difeerences in the
engine. http://home1.gte.net/oliverp/carz.html
LBC content: mine came sitting in a period-modified Bugeye Sprite.
Bill Elliott
Lake Barrington, IL
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