The Buick engineers were told to design a v8 that would fit inside the same frame that a straight 8 had been mounted in. They came up with a engine with the valves on the inside of the rocker arm shafts. The heads wereof a pent roof , or semi hemi design, and the exaust valve was necessarily smaller but not much smaller than the current engines of the day. So a Buick cam was ground a little hotter to compensate for it. So, Doug there You have it. I personally think the nailhead is the best production eng. ever designed . They are tough and when built right can hold thier own with most so called performance engines. Doc
I've often wondered that....they really aren't that much smaller. But if you look at the exhaust ports, they are small compared to the 455.:bglasses:
