Don't cut the little 215 short as they CAN be made to produce the power I believe your looking for. One supplier is Wildcat Performance in the U.K. They, I believe, are the premier supplier of the little 215. The Land Rover bought all the rights from Buick/GM sometime in the 60's. Buick of course wished today they didn't do that. Imagine paying 50K-70K for a vehicle that has an engine in it that was starting the design process in 1959. The 3.5L was available until 2004 as has been mentioned. Wildcat has worked them up to 6.6L. I know you can swap in a 300 V-8 crank to gain some cubes, but Wildcat would be much more knowledgeable than I. They used these engines in NASCAR I believe in the formula series under the guidance of Mickey Thompson. They performed admirably. So they CAN be made to produce the performance you may be looking for.
Looking at the engine compartment it is very, very small. The transmission tunnel even smaller. And, you must remember this is a uni-body car. It has NO FRAME!!! Too much power & the car will simply twist it self apart, Unless of course you build a frame under the car.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I would hate to see you cut up a fairly original/rare car to only find out it's a HUGE PROJECT you will be taking on & maybe not finishing. Now you have a pile of steel that's not worth anything to anybody & you have to end up scrapping it. I know someone in Ct. that put a 401 in an early Skylark with a 4spd. & there was alot of hacking done.
Most of ALL, HAVE FUN!!!!
Tom T.
Tom Telesco
Classic and Muscle Automotive
12 Cook St.
Norwalk, CT 06853-1601
Day Phone 203-324-6045 ET
NailHead Mini-Starters '53-'66
Adjustable Roller Tip Rocker Arms - All NailHeads
Custom forged pistons
Front & rear neoprene seals
Many other "Nail" parts
"If I can't get it, you don't need it!"
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