327sleeper88

So i am build a 327 for my brothers 86 T/A. Before anyone starts bashing and telling me that i should make it a 383, i have already weighed all the options. i got the block and crank from my step-dad. he wasn't going to use it, so i figured id use it for good. i haven't been able to sell it for the past year.

Its a large journal 327 forged crank, a 2 bolt block with arp studs, and a .060" overbore.

he also gave me the stud kit, so that was just a little extra insurance.

We also got lucky with this build anyway... we got some OLIVER billet connecting rods for $250. they are normally $1000 rods. they are also 6.25" C-C, vs the stock 5.7". they are also the same weight if not lighter!

the pistons are ICON 2618 premium forged piston with a small 1.125" c/d. they have a 6.3cc dome to get our CR in the 11:1+ range. they weigh 130grams less than the old speedpro forged 327 stock replacement pistons.

We mocked up the rotating assembly, and the piston skirt doesn't even come out of the bore! there is about .25" of space @ BDC. i forgot to take pictures...

327sleeper88

We are going to build this into a 7000rpm+ motor, but it is no big deal with the light rotating assembly. I was turning the old combo to 7200rpm on a regular basis with the heavy pistons and the stock 2 bolts. no cap walk at all.

he is more into road racing rather than drag racing, so this will make a nice endurance motor. the R/L to stroke ratio is 1.92:1, and the only way to take advantage of the high ratio is to spin the motor over 6000. there will be very little side loading on the piston, so cylinder wear won't be as much.

We are going to use a relatively aggressive solid FT cam with HOWARDS direct lube extreme duty lifters. they have a small hole drilled on the bottom of the lifter to feed pressurized oil to the cam lobes.

We will use either some AFR 195 eliminators or some Brodix IK 200's

since this is a somewhat *small* motor, we will only be using the headman 68460 1-5/8" LT headers. they are only $200 vs the hooker ones that are $500.

we are trying to stay at about $3000 for everything except the bottom end, which he is buying from me for only $1200.

I figure we can make an honest 450+ HP N/A plus a 100 shot.

327sleeper88

I gots a question;

while mocking up the rotating assembly, i noticed that the pistons are ABOVE the deck. both side came out to .031" above the deck.

would it be better to get some steel shim gasket and stack a few, or just to get some extra thing copper head gaskets? i am looking for a .040" quench, so ill need a minimum .071" total gasket thickness.

what would you do?