This is not Corvette related but what the heck, I figure you guys are pretty knowledgeable! I have a 1937 Ford 5 window coupe with a 327 out of a 68 Caprice (275 hp) backed by a saginaw 4 speed. The engine is all stock, my father dropped it in 20 some odd years ago without so much as cracking a valve cover. I'm tearing the car apart this winter to put in a Fatman front suspension system, I'm having the frame boxed, and so on and so forth. The body and interior are mint, just the way my dad did it so I am leaving it alone. So here's my dilemma...

I would like to rebuild the engine that is in there, and I do not care if it is cheaper to buy a crate motor and call it a day, thats not the point. My father was very adamant about having a 327 for some strange reason, and for that same reason I am very adamant about rebuilding this one even if it costs twice as much as a new crate motor. I want to disassemble it, have it hot tanked and magnafluxed, put new cam bearings and freeze plugs in it, etc. I hope to be able to get away with just honing the cylinders, if I could reuse the stock pistons and rods I would be a happy camper, I already know I would need new rings. The engine only has 50K miles on it and doesn't smoke a bit, so I think I can get away with a hone and a re-ring. I would like to put a set of budget aluminum heads on the car, and add a small cam with some lope to it. It has the factory intake manifold on it, and a Q-jet, and I would like to put something like a performer intake on there with a new carb. I am not looking to make a 500 horsepower machine, I will be perfectly happy with 300 horsepower, this is a cruiser not a racer. I know that since this is a 68 it's not a roller cam, can I put one in this block? I was thinking of going with something like the GM hotcam kit and buying some new lifters and pushrods to go with it. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm an LS1 guy and I haven't messed with this old Gen 1 sbc stuff in at least 10 years... thanks guys.

Oh yes, picture:

 

You can start here, some good opinions and info.
The C2 guys should be quite knowledgeable as well

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1793124

 

Theres all kinds of retrofit roller hydraulic cams to choose from, but if
300 to 350hp is your goal you really don't need roller cams
or alumunum heads to acomplish it. Any modern 180 runner
steel or alumunum head will breath plenty for a 327. Brodix
180IK head is very good, reasonable price. $1050.00
www.brodix.com www.summitracing.com, you would want the
64cc chamber version 180IK.

 

Just freshen it up,a little head work and valve train upgrades with a modern flat tappet cam will give you an easy 300ish HP,just remember you have to spin that little motor a bit faster to enjoy it.

 

3.73's

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!

 

A 37 ford should be pretty light, you have a 4 speed, 3.73
gearing, all kinds of hood clearance, why not use the
performer RPM Q-Jet #7104 high rise manifold?? You can
use the Q-jet on it or a square bore carb.

 

Yeah I agree with mouse. Make use of that hood clearance for some HP gain. 327's are great motors. I have one in a 67 Camaro that was my 1st car 23 years ago and it is the most responsive, snappy reving motor I have ever had. Conversely I have a high dollar stroker crate motor in my vette that runs good on odd days or when the planets are lined up just right, or something?? Get a good set of 2.02 heads and a 268 to 272 duration hydraulic cam and the RPM intake mouse mentioned and you will be pleased with that 327. If it were me and I was going to the trouble of tearing the motor down & rebuilding it I would put a set of forged pistons in it. I would also have the entire rotating assembly (crank, rods, & pistons) balanced by a reputable machine shop or engine builder. Or you can buy a balanced assembly (crank , rods, pistons.)
If you can find a set of the angle plug chevy Iron heads they are a good bang for the buck still I think. Heads, carb, cam & intake matched to the rear ratio you have will make you smile at that 327. Your dad wanted a 327 because they were bad *** in his day and he had good experiances with them I bet.
You will too. Strokers are great and produce allot of torque. But there aint nothin wrong with a snappy 327. They growl at ya when you hit the gas..

 

If Dad's not around to answer, (you don't say in your text) then no matter what you do to the car, you must always ask yourself.. "What would Dad do?"

To keep something so substantial as this, built by your father, your fathers (predominantly) is ... well, I don't know what the words are.. but you are a good son.

You have earned my respect and admiration with one posting

 

Your Dad is old school for sure.

There is a retro-fit GM hot cam setup you could use to retro fit the GM HOT cam into your old 327 but it is rather pricey at $1000 or so. You do get a lot of parts for the money but still that is just a little too much for this appication IMHO.

You could go with a classic old school 327/350 HP setup. They work well with what you have. You will want small chamber 64cc heads to make enough compression. Since you are replacing the intake as well you might consider the GM Vortec heads and intake as a package. That will save you some cash and work well.

If you stick with the early style heads you can go with Edelbrock Performer heads and a Performer RPM intake. This will cost a little more and I think the Vortec setup would work just as well for less $$$ in this situation.

A true old school gearhead would want double hump fuelie heads but that is just a nostalgia thing. The Vortecs will out perform them and the Vortecs will stilll be less money by the time you get the fuelie heads ready to install.

JMO.

-Mark.

 

I am from the old school and remember when the 327 was THE hot motor to have.
The double hump heads are out there and can be had for between 100 and 150 bucks. Sure, there are new heads that out flow them ect.ect.,but that aint old school. The double hump heads flow good,espically for a 350HP or less ,street engine.
The old 30-30 cam,fuelie cam,whatever, will give you that good lope and are reproduced by many companies.
I do agree to the fact to the suggestion of "up gradeing" of the parts that cant be seen...such as the cam,pistons ect.
Your doing your dad proud.

 

Good idea! I have a RIDICULOUS amount of hood clearance with this car! There's seriously a good 14-16 inches from the top of the carb now to the top of the hood. I'd LOOVE to throw a little roots blower on there but there isn't the depth.

If I'm going to do this I'm going to do it right, but I think forged pistons are overkill on a NA motor that will never see a blower or nitrous. To quote someone from LS1tech... "Putting forged pistons in an NA motor for safety is like putting seatbelts on your living room couch" However, if I do end up replacing the rods and pistons I will probably get forged, as they are not much more than a set of hypereucraptics.I also took a look at the Crane 268H cam, someone else recommended it to me, is that a very lopey cam? 218/218 .454/.454 on a 110... THATS TINY!!! Will that little thing make decent power? Please remember I'm an LS1 guy and anything under .600 lift to me is a peanut cam


Thank you for the kind words, and yes He's still around It's kind of a funny story with this car, he bought it when he was around my age (26) and for the first 20 or so of the almost 40 years he owned it he worked on it alot. Then my sisters and I were born and he was kinda forced to stop working on it to spend time with us. I can remember being a little kid and my dad setting up a playpen type thing in the garage and putting me in it, with him working on the car and of course paying attention to me at the same time, then when I got older I would hand him tools. I also remember spending alot of time crawling through junk yards with him to find stupid stuff like a mounting bracket off of this, a pulley off of that, an exhaust manifold off of this, and so on. Then my sisters were born and everything went to hell, he was too busy with them (and I completely understand) to spend any time workin on the car. Fast forward 23 years, and my youngest sister is ready to graduate college. But sadly, even though Dad has the time and the finances aren't tied up by his children being in school, the interest is gone. The car has sat in the garage for the last so many years, he would go out and putz with little things once in awhile but there were periods of several years where it would just collect dust, shoved in the corner of the garage. He mentioned wanting to sell it and I about lost it. I know just what will fix that though... ME. There's a few things done to the car that need some improvement. The exhaust system is TERRIBLE, that poor 327 can't breathe. It rides on the stock front suspension, and even though old dad put GM spindles and disc brakes off a 2nd gen Camaro on it, it stops like crap. It's got plenty of squeaks and rattles, the trunk isn't finished, etc. It has the original flathead radiator that has been welded up with GM hose necks, and, well, its 70 years old sometimes it leaks a little. I figure some quality time with his son and getting the car right so its more fun to drive is just what dad needs. And in the end if he still wants to sell it, then I will buy it off of him, even if I have to sell my Corvette to do it. So the boxes from Summit and Jegs shall start showing up at his house, and it's on! It's kinda like my own version of Overhaulin, only I'm keeping him in the loop, and hoping that this will rekindle an old flame.


HA... I'm not spending $1000 on a cam when SBC cams are a dime a dozen and I can get something better or comparable for 1/10th the price! I do like the idea of using the Vortec heads, but I would really like to put some aluminum ones on there. They are alot lighter and look much nicer too. My options are completely open at this point, and if a set of iron vortecs are my best choice then that's what I will do!

Again, thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna post some more pictures this afternoon so you can see what I have to work with!

 

When you get a general idea of the parts you are going to use you can contact forum member billa and he can run his simulated dyno software to give you a general idea of what you can expect from the 327

 

What do you guys think of these heads:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PRO-C...QQcmdZViewItem

I have a friend who puts pro comp heads on alot of 302's (Ford) and he seems to like them, he has had several sets and keeps buying more. I think it looks pretty good for a budget head.

I think I would like to match it with this cam and lifter set:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...2&autoview=sku

Can I use the stock 327 rockers? This isn't a race motor its a cruiser so I don't need to blow $300 on roller rockers.

 

Looks like a lot of head for the money. Even so, I would still stick with the GM quality Vortecs. This application is perfect for them and the machine work and flow is not questionable. The cam is definately a good no brainer choice.

The Comp Magnum roller tips are about $145 bucks. I have 2 engines with them now and will use them again.

-Mark.

 

Sounds like you want to keep it kinda old school, kinda new. Why not do the heads and intake the way your talking, but add the Duntov 30-30 solid flat tappet cam? granted, there are newer cams that will make more power, but I love it for street motors. It makes real usable power, you can run stock rods and rockers with no problem, and it sounds awesome! It does require screw-in studs and good springs.

Hans

 

They're cheaper than the Vortecs, and they're aluminum! Granted I could pick up some used Vortecs for cheap but I'm really liking the $640 aluminum heads!

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1600095

Speaking of Aluminum Corvette heads, here's a set of Edelbrock #6085's with a #3706 Q-jet intake manifold that goes with them. Selling for $850, check out the link for more specs and info.

Waiting on one CF member's response otherwise they're ready to ship.

Later.

 

sigh, there goes old school.

 

How so?

 

I Think procomp is a chinese set of heads, you can't be old school
with chinese heads. I know $1050.00 for brodix is not as cheap,
but Brodix has been making aluminum heads since the 70s they are
first rate and very reasonable fo the money. A good set of used
Edelbrocks would be good, or the 58cc chamber aluminum vette
heads. Henery Ford is already upset with the chevy engine, and now
your going chinese on him.