is dad full of BS?

[jeepsterboy17]

yes!... lol
ok but my dad was telling me that since my 69 is running the sweet little buick 225 dauntless v6, that it is the v8 with 2 cylinders chopped off, makinging it an oddfire. buick back then made a stock turboed v8, the name of what car it was i think was a national. so my question is, could i find one of these turbos from the national and turbo my commando?
Thanks
Spencer

[Trickpatrick]

The short answer is no.
earlycj5.com
Has the answers you need.
It would serve you well to readup on your motor there.

It evolved into the 231 which I believe had 350 buick pistons.
Then it became a even fire motor around 77.
which would be about when your turbo idea could be done... But..
turbos make power or torque higher in the rpm band than is needed for a jeep.

A commando in general is more like a tractor, all grunt.
And the 225 you have is perfect for this, perfect.
Compare your motors torque # with any other jeep motor then compare the motor wieght, you will be suprised.

The Chevy 4.3 v6 vortec is a small block with 2 cylinders missing.
Which may be what your Dad is refering to.

The 225 was a really good choice for a jeep light and powerful, also short.
It runs cooler and it has that heavy flywheel.
Yes they seem odd, fuel injection is hard to adapt, and the 4 bbl dosent get you much where you need it.
A mild cam , hei from a newer 231 oodfire,and a good rebuild will be best.
This is not suposed to be a hotrod.
But with dual exaughst it sounds like one.
But if you want to impress your buds in the woods this is a great rig.

We live in a world of bigger is better, and HP #'s rule.
But a real Hotrodder know's Torque rules.
I had a 68 Camaro with a built 455 old bigblock in it.
It was done after 4500 rpm and I dont know what the horsepower was but it had more torque than you could belive I could chirp the tires next to a mustage on the freeway at 75 mph.
It didnt matter how fast it could go it sounded, felt and looked like it could beat anybody.
On the street torque rules.
And in the woods or out in a field, and in the rocks.
Mud and the race track rpm rules.

I am sure someone can take something I have said and find fault but this is in general how it works.

IMHO

[RRich]

The 225 was developed from a V8 - Buick had a small aluminum V8 that they chopped off 2 cylinders. They did not change the "V" angle from 90 to 60 degrees like other V6's, so they made it fire unevenly and used a heavy flywheel - and changed the breathing. That way they could use lots of the tooling they had for the old V8. It was an economical move on Buick's part, but great for us!

It made an engine with very good low end torque - and with mods, decent high end power too.

Don't sell the oddfire's short. One still holds it's class land speed record at Bonneville after many years.
The odd-fires were also run at Indy several times - no famous First's, but were in the top 10 many times. They were competing with the unbeatable Offy's. Offenhouser was sponsoring and backing the Offy users, where the Buick racers were on their own with no factory help. Races are won with $$$!

But in a Jeep you want the super low end torque that the 225 has. Because the cylinders fire "back to back" it lets it pull at slow R's when others can't even stay running. That helps you avoid needing to go to things that reduce the RPM - like low gears in the diffs and T-case.

But it's up to you - if you want a strip or street racer - get something that will do the job, and put a 'glass Jeep body on it to fool everyone.

Maybe you can see that I love the 225.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by jeepsterboy17

that it is the v8 with 2 cylinders chopped off,

The Buick 225 V-6 does share the same bore and stroke as the Buick 300 V-8 that was produced from 1964-1966.

Originally Posted by jeepsterboy17

makinging it an oddfire.

Chopping off two cylinders does not make it an odd-fire. Buick decided that the V-6 should be odd-fire rather than even-fire, so the throw of the crank was designed to make it odd. It wasn't until late '77 that Buick decided to make the V-6, (231 by this time), even-fire as a rough running engine in a Buick wasn't acceptable.

Originally Posted by jeepsterboy17

buick back then made a stock turboed v8

To my knowledge, Buick never made a Turbo V-8.

Originally Posted by jeepsterboy17

the name of what car it was i think was a national.

Buick did produce a couple versions of Turbo 231 V-6's. The tamer of the two went into the "T-Type" Regals, Centurys and Rivieras from 1978-1987 and the other higher performance version went into the Grand National from 1984-1987.

Originally Posted by jeepsterboy17

so my question is, could i find one of these turbos from the national and turbo my commando?
Thanks
Spencer

Depends on how deep your pockets are. The few people that have converted to a Turbo V-6 have replaced the 225 with the complete turbo 231 engine and accessories. The turbo 231 has a stronger crank designed to handle the additional stress, while the 225 does not, but with enough money, time and patience, anything is possible.

[RRich]

Deep pockets is right!

Recently there was a turbo V6 from a Grand National - complete, computer and all, runable, still in the car - advertised here locally. The ad did not have a price.

When I called as soon as I saw the paper, the guy said he sold it moments after the paper came out - for $5,000! He said they guys had already came and took the whole car! He said he regretted not asking $7,000 for it - he was sure they would have paid it.

When I'd called, I was expecting it to be $400--500.

Deep pockets is right!

[jeepsterboy17]

dont get me wrong i love my 225, i just thought it would be sweet to have it turboed. but looks like that is not going to happen

[RRich]

Helicopters don't need to!
Out here the cops are riding good dirt bikes - outclassing the idiots that think they can outrun them. And still, it's pretty hard to outrun a .40 cal or Motorola radio.

You might try calling some of the makers of superchargers - they may be able to help. Supercharging eliminates the "spool up" delay that turbos have.

But neither help at low R's.