im a young guy, and my first car(and the first car i ever dove at the age of 12) was an 89 rs w/ a 3.1. i inherited it, but now im interested in building my own f-body. im wanting a 91 body style with a 327, but dont really know where to start and what would be most cost effective. i check the forums for related topics to my poject, so i want to ask, what would be best, getting one with a 350 and stroking down, or trying to find a 302 and stroke it out? will i have to rewire it? any help you can give me would be much appreciated as this is my first real project, and my experience is lacking.

 

First thing, you should build a 350. You will make more power with a 350. A 327 is just a 350 with a 3.25" stroke instead of 3.48". Don't get caught up in the "my so and so's uncle had a 327 and it revved to 9000 rpm". BS. Build your 350 strong (it will cost less, as a good 3.48" is cheaper), as you would anything else, and it will handle as many RPMs as your valve train and bottom end stability will allow. The shorter stroke alone doesn't mean it revs higher. That is more a function of cylinder head, intake, and camshaft selection.

 

Being an old guy, I've built 327s and 350s. Unless you are building it to race in a certain displacement class there is no reason to build a 327. The cost to build both engines is the same. The 327 won't get any noticable better gas mileage, so why build fewer cubes for the same money?
The 350 is essentially a "stroked" 327. It makes more torque and has a wider useable power band with all things being equal.
It's like the never ending argument about why build a 305; same block as a 350 but smaller holes. The parts to build both cost the same. Start with a 350 block instead.
Oh, you want to be able to tell your friends it's got a 327 in it, like exotic old-school power? No problem...
Build a 350 and tell everyone it's a 327. It's impossible for them to find out otherwise and they will be amazed at the power.

 

You could build a 406 and tell them it's a 305 also. Use an internally balanced crank and there's no way they could tell the difference. I could tell people that my 540 is a 396 and they couldn't tell the difference.

As mentioned above, unless you need a 327 for a specific class of racing, there's no reason to build a smaller engine. 327 engines were popular when they first came out because they were replacing the 283's. When 350's became available, the 327 wasn't as popular.

Build a 350 or stroke the 350 to a 383.

 

the smaller journals of the 327 also help with main oiling to allow high rpms. but i agree the 350 was used from 1968 until 2002(isuzu) much more abundant

 

thanks guys, youve all been a real help.

 

i am pretty set on the 327 tho, i love the sound it makes, and not many people have them.

 

a similar built 327 and 350, or even a 305 for that matter will sound the same. the compression, cam, valve timing ect is where the sound comes form.

 

This. The displacement doesnt have much to do with the sound. Sound comes from the top end, not the bottom.

To the thread starter, can you tell the difference between a 305, a 350, and a 383 just on the sound? If they all had proportionally equivalent top ends you wouldnt be able to. I would be willing to put money on the fact that no one could consistently tell a 302 from a 327 from a 350 from a 383 based on sound alone, and all of those use the same block.

More displacement may be a little more loud, but other than that...

Put a big bumpy cam in a 383 and it will sound just as good as big lumpy cam in a 327. But the problem is that same big lumpy cam in a 327 is going to make less power and be less streetable.

But if you're content on getting less power for your money and ignoring a bunch of good advice, that's fine. We couldn't give two hoots what you build. We're just saying that if it were our money, given what we know about it, we wouldn't do it, and I think you should pay attention to that. If being different is more important than being faster and more practical, then by all means, go ahead and be different. But there will be absolutely no way to tell that your sbc is a 327 instead of any other kind of sbc out there from the outside or sound except for what you tell people. And all of those people are just going to wonder why you didnt just build a bigger motor to begin with.

Leave the 327's for people trying to restore cars that originally had 327's.

 

so..... will a 327 really be less streetable? if the sounds are the same, ok, but i am conserned about how it drives day to day, bc this will be a car for my enjoyment and might not ever see a track. thanks for everyones advice btw. ive been to more of this forum and a few others and belive you all are right. thank you all for your help and drive safe everyone.

 

Here's the way it works.

The cam shaft and heads (the top end, basically) determine how much air and fuel the car gets and how efficient it is as burning the air and fuel at given RPMs. A bigger displacement engine will make more torque and horsepower at a lower RPM than a smaller displacement engine with the same cam and equivalent (Assuming flow and compression ratio are the same) cylinder heads.

You can put a 240/240 duration cam into a 302, and it's going to sound wicked and be barely streetable probably. If you put that same cam into a 400 cubic inch motor, it's going to sound a bit less wicked, but make far more torque at low RPMs, and you will hit your peak torque/hp lower in the RPM range. To get a 302 with that cam to peak power you might have to rev it to 7000 RPM. To hit peak power with a 400 you might have to take it to the high 5000's. I may be a little off as I am pulling these numbers out of my ***, but the logic behind it is entirely correct.

You cant put the same cam that was in a 350 into 305 and expect it to behave as well.

Look at it this way, streetability is just a way of saying how much power it makes at lower RPMs, where you drive it everyday. A larger displacement motor will make more torque and compensate for a bigger camshaft's inefficiency at low RPM's, making the car more pleasant to drive.

So you can either have a 327 and make the same power as a 383 but be less streetable. Or you can have that same impractical cam that was in the 327 put into a 383 and it will have much better street manners. You get more power, more torque, and a better power curve at teh same time.

There is a replacement for displacement, it's called DOHC and variable valve timing. But this is still a small block chevy we're talking about, and old rules still apply, and this is one case where that's entirely true. The bigger your motor the wilder you can go with it and it still be practical, or the more practical you can make a certain power level depending on your point of view.

Plus the other thing is that building a 327 costs a little more money than building a 350 because the parts are less common. If you want to pay more for a special crankshaft and pistons, you're much better off building a 383. If you're smart about building a 383, it may not even cost more than the 327. It may cost less even.

If you go 383, I suggest you get a 1 pc RMS roller cam block and make sure you get an internal balance crank for the sake of simplicity. You'll thank us for it later.

 

Agreed with above. I'll add that building a 327 is going to cost you MORE money than a 350 as well. 327s were small journal small blocks and there isn't much of that stuff around any more. Piston choice is also more limited than for 350s.

If you want a rev-happy engine it's just as easy to do it starting with a modern 350 than an old 327. Properly chosen heads, cam and intake are where it's at for building power in the upper RPMs, not a 1/4" difference in stroke. The extra torque you build along the way comes no-charge with the extra cubes.

 

Or, an old 350 for that matter! My 350 is from a 69 Camaro. And - the REAL truth is ... it's a 327. BUT - it's a large journal 327 that's been rebuilt with 350 crank, rods, pistons - so for all intensive purposes its a 350 - I just ended up with a strange unit - but it works. There were a few large journal 327's out in the world, and I happened to get one only because it was for sale and I had the cash.

And by the way - no need for ALOT of money to be thrown at it either - I paid $600 for mine - from carb to pan, complete and ready to drop in. And that's why most say the 350 is cheaper and easier - where else can you get a drop in motor for $600? The SBC 350 is the only one ever that cheap, and still today remaining that cheap. There's ALWAYS parts available for it - there's ALWAYS gonna be 350 blocks out there, and it's ALWAYS gonna be cheap!

The best thing the General ever did was make, and keep making, the SBC 350!

 

thanks guys, you have me convinced. ill be going with the 350. hope to get pics up in the next year or so.

 

Man, I was hoping you followed your dream and completed the project with the 327. It sounds like you caved. So where are the pictures?