Dan88IrocZ

When my original 305 blew up, I picked up a running 327.

I paid $200 bucks for it, and I REALLY REALLY hate myself for dumping this motor to someone for $300 bucks......

Could you guys give me some insight on what a 327 is capable of? I heard it's a really good high-revving motor so far...

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Oh, man, let's not start this again!

It's good for about 93% of whatever a similarly prepped 350 would put out.

Dan88IrocZ

???

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Do a search on "327" in title only, all forums, and you'll get a bunch of hits. The premise is always the same: "I hear 327s rev like mad, so it should be quicker than a 350 or 383, right?"

Truth is, how a 327 or 350 revs is based on the combination - cam, heads, valves, valve springs, induction, exhaust, etc. Put the same cam/heads/valves/valve springs/induction/exhaust in/on a 327 and a 350, and the 350 will make 107% of the power the 327 makes - every time. Pushing the same weight around, the 350 will get there first - every time.

How well either will take the revs is a simple matter of the quality of the parts used - rods, rod bolts, pistons, bearings, oil pump, etc.

Do the search, you'll see what I mean.

Dan88IrocZ

I did do the search before I made this topic. Turned up random garbage with a few mentions of 327 in some threads.


I didn't want to know the complete run down of a 327 either, I just wanted to know what it would of been capable of with a decent rebuild...

RB83L69

five7 pretty much summed it up.... it's a perfectly good motor, except it's only about 93% as good as a 350. It offers no advantages whatsoever over the 350. We all quit building them the minute 350s became widely, cheaply available, because anything you can do to a 327, you can do to a 350 just as well; but if you do it to a 350 instead, you get..... more. A dollar spent on a 350 gets about 7% more than the same dollar spent on a 327 does.

It's capable of basically 93% of what a 350 is, but costs 100% as much to work on. Personally I look for situations where the ratio goes the other way.

If I had an existing one that was perfectly ready to run, and required no adaptation (dipstick, flywheel, etc.) to get to work in my car, and I could live with slightly less power, I might run it. I would not spend one red cent on putting one into my car; if I'm going to spend money I'm going to make sure I get as much as possible for my $$$$$, which to me means a 350 at least, or a 400 if I can swing it.

Dan88IrocZ

True, I just kick myself for selling that thing for $200 just to break even. I wish I kept it and put it in my car Iroc.

Guest

If you already had one, I dont see anything wrong with building it. I dont see much wrong with getting one real cheap either and doing that. However if you are starting from scratch, no sense in not just picking up a 350 instead.

Dan88IrocZ

I had the whole thing for $200 bucks. Just I came across a good 305 built by a reputable guy locally and said screw it. I got my motor for $800 bucks out of a wrecked z28 cop car that had 6,000 miles on it.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

327's came in a bunch of different varieties. If pre-'68, though, it wouldn't have the accessory mount holes on the ends of the heads that you need. If post-'68, they were econo-V8's without much performance potential (both assuming factory heads, by the way). A good running 305 will outrun a '68/'69 327 in factory trim.

The 327's that I had personal experience with were: a 275-horse '66 Impala SS (ran decent after dual exhaust were put on - this was my brother's car); and a '68 truck short-block that I put under my original 283 heads in the '57. More power than the 283, but not as much as my current 305.

You may be better off with what you've got. But, a $200 327 with $800 heads and $100 cam would definately run circles around your 305 (or mine, for that matter). Assuming exhaust is up to snuff, of course...

ede

i had a L79 in a 66 duce, not a ss, something like one of 350 build that year. near 6000 total L79s and all went into SS cars except for 350 or so. damn that car would haul ***. my first car too, way back when. i have a 335 in my 68 now.

Dan88IrocZ

The old lady I bought the 327 from (it was in a malibu) said it came out of her husbands 67 Camaro when he crashed it. He wasn't alive at the time I bought the motor so she really had no clue about the $$ she could of gotten from it.

iroc22

I've had a chance to drive L76 and L84 Vettes (365hp and 375hp fuelie) and they were definitely powerful motors. The L76 was in a 65 roadster and it ran 13.2@110 at sea level, that's pretty much par with the new LS1 Vette's. I always wondered how it would perform if the low-lift Duntov cam was swapped for something with a little more lift. My Dad's got a 327 in his 68 Chevy II which he currently owns; only runs 14 flat in the 1/4 though, nothin too special.

Hey ede, my Dad had a chance to run his 66 L79 at the track. I'll ask him what he ran, cause his was bone stock.

fast89RS

Dan, what you've heard is true. Due to the smaller stroke of the 327, it can achieve higher rpms safer. Granted, if you put high performance parts in a 350, you can make it rev higher safely, however, the natural rev ability of a 327 is better than a 350. I've always wanted to build a 400 with a 327 crank.

Night rider327

iTrader: (13)

I seen this and had to say something. I'm a hardcore on big bore short stroke engine. Some of what yall are saying is ture but from a dyno, drag strip proven test about 80% of what are saying is very wrong.. here's the whats and whys.

This is for the small journal engines pre 68
less turning mass, the smaller journal size does two things

1) being they are smaller its less drag, same gains you would see switching to a elec. fan and water pump.

2) they are smaller which means the crank with respond better to throttle, letting it rev faster. If same parts is used in a small journal 327 and a large journal 350 and say with dual return springs on the carb, the throttle opened with 1 lbs. of force the 327 will out rev the 350 by aleast 200 rpm with that light throttle


Then you have to look at the rod/stroke ratio. With stock size parts (5.7'' rods, 3.25'' stroke for 327, 3.48 stroke for 350) The rod ratio is much greater/better on the 327 and that does a few things

1) less side loading on cyl. bore, rings, pistons

2) cause less side loading of pistons you freed more drag from your engine, this again lets engine rev faster and make more hp due to the fact of the force the engine has to use to turn the crank and push the rods/pistons up and down


The shorter stroke really don't hurt hp if built right it can help it over like a 350 and heres why

.The stroke changes torque. The 327 WILL have less torque, but the torque peek will be higher and we all know hp = tq x rpm/5252.. Make torque at a higher rpm and you make more peek hp

Now this would'nt be the best for a street car, but a true street/strip, and drag car heck yeah get the torque to peak above 5,500 rpm and you'll have a beast, then use gearing and stall to get the torque down low needed for good 60' times
Ok next look at max rpm...

I don't care what parts you got in the engine... the best parts thats not ture hardcore race parts is limited to about 4,000 fpm MAX piston speed before you blow the engine to hell and back... The stroke changes the piston speed alot

With a 3.00'' stroke 4,000 fpm piston speed is reached at 8,000 rpm (this is a 302 chevy)

With a 3.25'' stroke 4,000 fpm piston speed is reached at 7,385 rpm (this is a 327)

With a 3.48'' stroke 4,000 fpm piston speed is reached at 6,897 rpm (this is a 350)

With a 3.75'' stroke 4,000 fpm piston speed is reached at 6,400 rpm (this is a 400 or 383 stroker)

So as you can see from the above if a 327's valve train is set up not to hit valve float till say 7500 rpm, and the engine is built right with the right clearance it can be reved 500 rpm more.. This comes into play with the higher peak torque/hp rpm.. Now you can reach that 7000 rpm peek number for shifts...

Another thing is traction, because of the less torque you will get alot better traction with a 327, as long as you cam aint too wild or your gears too high, or stall too low you'll fly out of the hole w/o alot of traction loss, then as rpm's gain so does the VE% and hp

I have a 62 327 .030'' over, 450 hp in my 73 chevy truck (4700 lbs) Its not the best for a car this heavy, I really need torque to get me going, but with a high *** 3.08 gear, th-400 trans, 2800 stall. I have ran a best of 15.18, with a 1.96 60' time.. It hooked good with dot cheater slicks but bogged cause of the high gear. Has no prob spinning and pulling through 6700 rpm with stock forged crank, stock forged rods with arp bolts, and big end resized, trw forged flattops, and a 272/284 cam with .484''/.512'' lift

I'm building a 550 hp 327 for my 78 trans am drag car (will see some street time and run on pump fuel while the N20 aint on), with a 150 shot of N20 i'll have 700 hp. I'm cutting alot of weight out, will be running a 4.56 gear, 30'' tires, 4000 stall and my goal is high 9's, low 10's in the 1/4 mile. This engine has a HP peek of 7500 rpm, I will be shifting at 7800 rpm and crossing traps at around 7200-7300 rpm depending converter slip.. Now on this engine I will be building for high rpm with a man. flat tappet cam, afr 190 heads, JE dome pistons, etc


If the builder knows how to build the short stroke engines(327) and set the car up for one, then they will make MORE hp than a 350 and out run it on the strip by a good .5 sec-.75 sec with out the 327 being any wilder than the 350


Look at some of the pro stock trucks that are class limited to I think 358 cid.. NON of them run a 3.48'' crank... they run a BIG bore bigger than a 400 sbc, and a stroke the size of 327's some the size of 302 chevys, with journal sizes of a honda... and make over 1,000 hp...

I use to have the specs to them engines but cant find it now

Thanks for yall time. I just had to post the ture facts on the stroke long vs. short.. and let yall know what can and cant be done with a 327
John

jharms

Isn't this TRUE though for a 350 also? IF the builder knows to build the 350 properly and set's the car up for one then it will be faster? I find it hard to believe that a car running the same parts, and a smaller size will ever be .5-.75 seconds faster in the quarter mile, if all things are even like weight, suspension, etc.

RB83L69

The 327 will never make more HP than an otherwise identical 350. That's why nobody runs them any more. Don't fall for that line of hogwash.

It's true that a 350 short block composed of a large bore and short stroke will have a higher capability to produce power at high RPMs; but it's even more true that more cubic inches make more power, especially at real-world street car RPMs.

Go to the strip, or even the round track, and look around you. What motors are the really fast cars running? 327s? I think not! If all that hooey was for real, you'd still be seeing a whole lot more of them than you do now; but you don't, because they don't win. Like I said before, we all quit building 327s in the 70s, because they got beat by 350s, every time, no questions asked, no possibility for any other outcome. The laws of physics haven't been repealed or re-written since then, that I'm aware of anyway.

Guest

I'm not even going to grace the garbage above with a response, except that there is not a single professional racing team on the face of the planet that gives up any cubic inches to run a... whatever you want to call it. Not one.