russell-t

I have a 1963 Cutlass F-85 with the roto-5 automatic transmission.

The trans has been rebuilt and works fine for what it is.....a 50 year old

automatic transmission. Does anybody out there know of a more modern

replacement that can be bolted to the existing 215 cu. V8? Or do I have

to do an engine and transmission conversion to gain a sense of reliability?

My fear is that this old roto-5 will surprise me one fine day by blowing its

internals out and leaving me searching for months for a replacement.

Is there an engine and trans option readily available that I can use to

replace my 215 V8 and roto-5?

This could be my upcoming winter project.

joe_padavano

Lots of folks have swapped other motors into the 61-63 cars. The problem is that the 215 only weighs 320 lbs. Any iron Olds motor is over twice that. Consider the Rover 4.6 motor. GM sold the 215 to Rover in 1968 and Rover built them in displacements from the stock 3.5 liter to 4.6 (actually, 5.0 in the TVR sports cars). The Rover 4.6 is externally identical to the GM 215 and bolts in place. As for transmissions, the 215 has a unique bolt pattern. Rover retained this bellhousing bolt pattern, but no modern automatic trans other than Rover bolts up. The other problem is that the tunnel in the 61-63 cars is extremely small and nothing fits without tunnel mods. D&D sells an adapter plate to mate any modern GM automatic. The other option is a T5 with the D&D bellhousing.

russell-t

Is there any other engine option...such as the Buick V6 or the V6's from

the Chevrolet family of fine cars? Thinking of s-10 V6 with auto trans.

or even the 5 cylinder inline with auto trans. The Buick seems to be the

closest engine to what I already have without too much additional weight.

The engine trans combo from the late 70's regal might be what I'm looking

for. Anyone have an opinion or experience with these engines in a 63

Cutlass?

Tedd Thompson

Just a thought, All the Roto 10's Ive had or been around ( no Roto 5's) although problematic and most gave trouble they always got me home though shifting poorly when they gave it up.I can only remember one that had a catastrophic failure and had to be towed.

The 4.6 Rover engine would excite that f85 up, don't be afraid of a so called foreign engine, it's an Old's in disguise....Tedd.

joe_padavano

The 215 is based on the same architecture as the Buick V6, in fact many parts interchange. The 61-63 Skylarks came with a 198 cu in version of the V6 as the base motor. I do not know if the motor mount locations on the later V6 blocks are in the same place as on the 198. In any case, a late model GM automatic will require tunnel mods to fit - and by "late model" I mean anything other than the RH5 or the equivalent Buick trans used in those cars.

I doubt any inline motor would fit due to the location of the heater core. The I4 used in the Tempest was a slant 4 - the right half of a Pontiac 326. The Atlas family I5/I6 motors are straight up.

What do you have against the aluminum V8 family? It's the lightest V8 GM ever made.

russell-t

I really don't have a beef against my Olds 215,it's running fine with over

500 miles on a complete professional rebuild. My concern is the rarity of the

entire power train,mainly the automatic transmission. The Olds version of

the 215 is rare enough as it is,and if I had to find another roto-5 it

would take months to locate a good one.

It seems to me that a more modern engine trans combination may be

more reliable and easier to find parts for. I just do not know what I would

have to do to replace this transmission in case of a severe failure.

I intend to keep running my stock engine/trans. setup until somthing

disastrous happens. But I don't want to be stuck for months searching

the countryside for replacement parts.

I want to thank all of you for your input.I could never solve all the

problems this car has thrown at me without your help.

joe_padavano

GM built 750,000 215s in the three years of production. About 1/3 of those were Olds versions. They aren't that rare. The only really unique parts are the heads and pistons (and block due to the extra bolt holes). Mechanical parts are readily available. Most of the Rover parts interchange, as do many Buick V6 parts.

How many Roto-5s do you want? I'm not a big fan of this trans. I've got a trans in the 62 Jetfire parts car. Never run it, no idea on condition, assume it's a core. You can have it for $25 plus shipping. I've got one in the 62 wagon that runs fine (well, as "fine" as any Roto-5 runs). You can have it for $100 as soon as I replace it with the T5. I've got a third one coming in the new 62 wagon as well. My friend Scott has the one he rebuilt for his 62 convertible then replaced it with a four speed. It's taking up space in his basement.

russell-t

Joe,

After reading your reply to my last post I'm beginning to think I'm becoming

a little obsessive about the trans reliablity thing. Also thinking about the

extra work involved to do the change overs I'm considering.

I would be interested in getting your roto-5 when you are ready to sell it.

A working back-up would be nice to have around. The engine info you

posted is a great help too. Helped finalize my decision to keep what I have.

Thanks