Mystery 248

[Jyrki]

About a year ago I purchased an engine that was supposed to be a 320. When it finally arrived after two months of sea freight, it turned out to be a 248. Needless to say I was pissed. Now I'm trying to figure out what it is. It's got flattop pistons! Engine ID 1290710-2. Did the early 248's have flattop pistons?

The cylinder head looks like it didn't originally belong to that block. It looks a lot like the "mystery head" that Janderson found a couple of years ago, the intake valves having a funny array or three small holes, and the spark plug thread being larger. The head looks like it didn't originally belong to that block. Head ID #1289261. Only the port and valve dimensions match the 248 specs, and the intake ports have a sharp "T" like all the others, unlike what Janderson found in his mystery head. Maybe someone had already worked on Janderson's head?

 

[njlimbaugh]

I have motor manuals covering everything built in the USA from 1935 thru 1950. There is no Buick engine serial number listed that begins with '1' (one) for any of the years listed. Maybe that engine came from a Canadian Buick or an export model?

 

[pmuller9]

Did you measure both the bore and stroke?

The 233 and 278 share the same bore and the 273 is close.

 

[Jyrki]

233

Yes, it's a 233, made between 1934-36, I guess. 3-3/32 x 3-7/8. Flattop aluminum pistons, huge chambers = no compression at all

 

[CNC-Dude]

Can you post some pics of it?

 

[Jyrki]

233

Here are a couple of pics of the block

 

[Jyrki]

233 Valve Lifter

Here's the 233 lifter and a '46 320 lifter, side by side. The 320 lifter is blank, while the 233 lifter features oil bleed holes. It also looks to have a thicker wall, but only the upper end is reinforced, otherwise it' the same wall thickness. Actually, without the bleed holes, you'd think the weight of oil makes the valvetrain much heavier, but actually I think most of it gets splashed away. Then again, the "later" blank lifters are always full of coked oil.