I bought a 350 dirt cheap a couple weeks ago, but ended up selling it for quite a tidy profit instead of swapping it in. I'm now looking at a 327 sbc from a '66 or '67 3-ton. I haven't been to see the engine yet, but he tells me it's complete with intake, exhaust, distributor etc.
He's not sure of much about the engine, only what size it is and that it had 87k miles when it was pulled. He wants $400.

I'm having a lot of trouble getting cost estimates to do the swap due to my living in Canada, and I'm also looking for general feedback on the 327 swap.

My assumtion is it's a 4-bolt main, being out of a 3-ton, and I'm hoping it's got the 1.93 or 2.02 heads on it. *Sidenote, I also heard the older heads don't work with unleaded gasoline unless the valves and seats have been hardened?*

My current setup is the 2.8L MPFI with the T-5 manual trans. I want to keep it a stick shift, but I'm pretty sure my tranny isn't going to work (it needs a rebuild anyhow).
There are also 3 third gens at my local pick'n'pull, which are all automatic V8 cars.

Thanks in advance.

 

Your correct on the tranny. You'll need a V8 T-5, or a V8 bellhousing, and V8 input shaft to make the current T-5 work.

 

That's WAY too much for that engine, regardless of how bad you want it.

4-bolt mains are irrelevant. Doesn't do a damn bit of good. Don't even bother including that as any kind of "value". Which it probably doesn't have ANYWAY, being a small-journal block.

The heads won't have the bolt holes in the ends, meaning, you can't put your accessories on them.

Altogether not a good candidate for this swap. Keep looking.

For the same price, OR LESS, you can get a motor out of a later-model truck.

Sounds like none of the 3rd gens at your local pick & pull are of any value to you. You need a V8 5-speed one. Keep looking, they're out there. You don't want ANY of those motors unless one of them happens to be a L98.

 

I wasn't thinking of pulling a motor from the wreckers, cause I know nothing about the condition of it, or why it's there anyways, plus they're half gone by the time I see them anyways.
I have no intention of putting in accessories; I did an AC and cruise delete on my car, which were the only options that it came with. Unless you mean the alternator ect are in different spots?

The other main candidate that I'm looking at is a mystery 350 that the owner really knows nothing about. He wants $300 for the long block.

Are there any sites that will ship a V8 T5 to canada, or would I be looking at horrendous prices for that anyways?

 

Yes, I mean alternator and power steering pump.

That other doesn't sound any better. Keep looking.

Go to the junkyard and get a 350 out of a late-model truck. Try in particular to find one from 96-2000. There's no advantage to getting one out of an early model truck, that doesn't fit your car; no advantage to a 87-95 TBI one; no advantage to a 70s or 80s one; and no advantage to a "rebuilt" "mystery" motor. Just find a late-model truck.

The usual reason a vehicle is in the junkyard was because it was RUNNING and DRIVING, and as it was tooling on down the road NORMALLY one unfortunate day, its human did something stupid like texting or something and got in a WRECK. Therefore one can be fairly sure that the motor was at least WORKING at the time.

Go find yourself a junkyard that specializes in TRUCKS. You've got em up there, same as here, blee dat; farmers and construction companies need trucks same up there as in the US. Screw a bunch of retail consumer "pick & pull" type places, that's just THE COMPLETELY WRONG place to buy a major component. Some interior goodie, sure; a spare tire, yeah; a piece of glass, even. Maybe even a rear end. But NOT a motor, front cap, or transmission.

YOu don't want to ship a motor. That's boneheaded. They're all around you for the taking, all you gotta do is get up off your keyboard and GO TO places that have junked TRUCKS. You won't have any trouble at all once you quit with the "sites" and "pick & pull"s and do that instead.

 

There's nothing wrong with getting a Vortec 350 from a u-pull-it. They don't turn up there very often, and usually the good Vortec heads are gone within a week, but this is often the only way to get a Vortec 350 for under $200. Those truck-only yards typically ask close to $1000 for the same thing, and any used Vortec 350 isn't worth that.
Because for under $800, you can get any used '87-up 350, and put a new pair of Vortec heads on it.
I scored my Vortec heads from a u-pull-it for $100 / pair, then later scored a '95 short-block assembly for another $150. Not the best possible cost, but when I got the heads, I wasn't driving a pickup, so I couldn't take the complete engine.

 

I don't think the alternator and power steering pump are going to be an issue, as they come bolted to the 327, which just makes a little wiring and hose running: simple stuff.
I'm going to check what heads he has, as well as which block it is. The seller says it was never rebuilt, so I don't expect to see anything unusual after it's pulled apart.

I've also gone to some of the smaller scrap yards around to check pricing, and most of them are charging upwards of $800 CAD for the short block. There's also not many yards where I'm able to pull the engine myself, so there's also removal cost (except for 1, which includes removal in the $1000 charge for the short block)
Cost is a fairly large factor for me, which is why I'm quite turned off of those prices.

 

Penny wise, hundreds of dollars foolish.

You'll see. You'll discover, like everybody else did during their first engine swap, that the "core" - the big thing you buy up front - is just a tiny fraction of the total cost; and that all that other stuff you have to do all around it, is where the money goes. Meaning, the closer your core already starts out being to PERFECT for your situation, the less it will cost in the end. Which also means, "the cheeeeeepest" core UP FRONT, almost always ends up costing THE MOST by the time the car is back down off of cinder blocks again.

 

I have built several engines as well as did my own 2.8 to V8 swap.... My general rule of thumb is to figure out what you think youre going to spend and double it. I dont know why, it just always seems to work out that way. So, the better the core you can find on the front side of the project the cheaper and better it will be in the long run.... TRUST ME... BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!

 

That 327 is going to need new, hardened exhaust seats installed in the heads. And being from a truck, it probably has the tiny 1.72" intake valves. Better to just find a good pair of #416 heads from an LG4.
I'd rather have that than the 2.8

 

'89 Bird, where are you? I generally see vortec long blocks on kijiji for sale for ~$500 in Calgary/Edmonton regularly (every week?). Along with some junky mid '70s block (only) for $100-$150. Given the choice, i'd buy a vortec long block (or even short block if I had plans for aftermarket heads). They have a roller cam setup, 1pc RMS, etc. As discussed, the block is a small part of the overall cost of the engine. I spent >$3000 building a mid '70's 350, with my 305 heads. I had originally budgeted about $1000 for the engine, somehow $3000++ later I was able to drive the car...

 

I'm in Calgary.
You mean the vortec's have stock roller cams etc, or they're more readily convertible?
I'm not familiar with those engines, but I'm willing to take your word and go for one if it's really that much better...

 

I agree that the '96-up Vortecs are worth the extra cost. You get the roller lifters, you get the 1-piece rear main seal, you get the powdered metal rods, and you get the highly coveted heads.

 

I'd skip the old 327.. My '89 came with one (truck 327 with 882 truck heads, mild cam, longtubes, RPM intake, 600 carb with a TH350 trans).. It was gutless. I pulled it out and gave it back to the seller.


Vortec 350 would be an excellent base for a build.