Hello all,

I would like to build a 327 for my 67 GMC stepside with 3 on the tree.
I know a lot of folks are going to say go with a 350, 383, etc.
I want a 327, so...
Is it possible to build one out of a 350 block with a one piece rear main seal? If yes, what would I need to do to achieve it, what are you guys opinions on crank/rods/pistons?
If not, I know 327 blocks are scarce usually, and I'd rather have a 4 bolt main block so the 350 two piece rear would be my second choice if possible. Again, what are you guys opinions on crank/rods/pistons?

Would it be cheaper/better to just go get a short block?

 

For 1-piece RMS, you'll have to get a custom 3.25" stroke crank made. I don't see anything off-the-shelf in that stroke in 1-piece.

2-piece is a piece of cake with 4-bolt 350 block and 3.25" crank. Summit will sell you a forged Eagle 4340 crank for only $629.95 (plus shipping and order fees).

It would probably be cheaper to get a shortblock off of eBay and rebuild it. Although it won't be 4-bolt if you do that. Should be able to find a 307 or 327 crank, though.

 

The original 327 blocks are getting scarce. Fortunately, a 350 is just the same block as the large journal 327 with a longer stroke crank. The 327 had a 3.25" stroke while the 350 got a 3.48" stroke. the block is still the same 9.025" deck height. While adding stroke is the recipe of the day, there are still 3.25 stroke cranks available. I just found one from Lunati and another from Eagle specialties. The shorter stroke allows more room for a longer connecting rod which I prefer. As far as a one piece rear main seal version, I don't know where you would find that since Chevy never made the 327 this way. You could certainly get one made but the cost would be very high.

 

Hello five7kid, thanks for the info. I'll go the 2 piece 4 bolt 350 route, since a short stroke crank for the one piece design would be too costly.

Any particular head be best for a 327? or can I just use vortecs?

Kindest regards

 

Why?

You take a 350 block; and downgrade its power output by deliberately crippling it; and spend extra money to do so.

Think of it like this:

You go to the grocery store, and you have $10 in your pocket. You walk up to the meat counter. Steak is $5 a pound. Got the picture?

OK so you walk over to the butcher and say, "I've got $10 to spend, but you know, I'm 'special', so I don't want to do what all those common ordinary people do and buy a pound of steak for $5. So I tell you what: your steak is $5 a pound, but instead of a pound for $5, gimme 14 oz, and charge me $10. And don't try to tell me that I'll get more for my money if I pay $5 for a pound; my dinner plate was made in 1963, so that's just what I want. Don't try to tell me it's a bad idea because I'm determined to pay $10 for 14 oz of $5 a lb steak".

Now put yourself in the shoes of the butcher, or anybody else standing nearby. They're all going to be, yeah, he's "special" all right, I just hope he gets out of the way quick and doesn't do anything further that might embarrass the rest of us.

Whenever I see this kind of thing posted on this board, that's basically what goes through my head.

A small block Chevy looks the same no matter how many CID it is. 262.5, 265, 267, 283, 302, 305, 307, 327, 350, or 400. You go stick a 1986-up 1-pc RMS block in some older car, you have ALREADY destroyed any hope of possibly fooling somebody that knows what they're looking at (me) into thinking that it's an original motor of any sort. Given that, don't take your money and use it as the weapon to shoot yourself in the shorts with. You'll have plenty of opportunity to do that BY MISTAKE in a project of this sort, without DELIBERATELY setting out to do it ON PURPOSE right from the get-go.

 

figures... another you're crazy for wanting to do this post...with no positive input at all.
not trying to fool anyone into thinking it is an original motor, i think i found a fool already... i can have whatever cubic inch sbc i want. i want a 327 cause I like them. If i want to feel special i'll get in my 86 C10 Silverado with the Olds 455 that makes 550+ ft lbs of torque from off idle to 3000, and think about being foolish.

what a waste of typing

sorry to ruin your day, then again, well maybe not...

 

if you do put a 327 in the '67 stepside,i think it would be cool if you kept it as '60s authentic as possible: original chevy script rocker covers,intake manifold with the breather/oil fill tube on the front,early rochester 4 barrel, ETC.-just make sure heads have hardened seats for unleaded gas

 

i too think that you may be off your rocker naphtali5725 for doing so...however....you didn't ask my opinion so pay me no regard...i would however slap a solid roller cam it that bad boy and let her eat with the big dogs!!! Find a set of double humping type heads for it...why the hell not!!!

 

Cylinder head choice will be as much a matter of what power level/rpm range you're aiming for. The same heads that fit the 350 will fit the 327. The shorter stroke will reduce compression ratio a little but actual assembled deck height of the pistons and head gasket thickness will be the final deciding factor for this. Be sure to run a compression ratio calculator and talk with your machinist to get things where they should be.

 

hahahahah reminded me of the scene from tommy boy, nice rant, but havent you ever considered being different without standing out? me i stand out naturally so im used to it, lol i try n blend in.

 

not sure why folks would think i'm off my rocker for wanting a 327, i'm not looking for extreme power or anything, that's what my 455 is for. if i ever got tired of it, i could just replace the crank with a 350 one...

 

exactly, just a nostalgic 327, no need for anyone thinking i'm crazy for it...

 

Explain what's "nostalgic about spending extra money to downgrade a readily-available thing by around 8%.

Funny thing about that "nostalgia"... I get the feeling I'm a good bit older than you, and yet somehow I don't feel like going out of my way to spend MORE for the specific purpose of making sure that I could get LESS, is any part of any universe I ever lived in; or that if it was, that I'd want to go back.

 

hey man, i'm sorry if i'm pissing you off or something. just came here to find some tech info. i'm 47, been to combat 3 times. just want a 327, that's all.
sorry i offended in any way

 

Hey that's OK, young people like you pretty much don't **** me off with their inexperienced ideas. No offense.

I just want to laugh at people that want to pay $10 for 14 oz of $5/lb steak.

I'm trying to get you to figure out what "327" is all about; what it is, why nobody builds em any more, about the concept of a pile of cash now and a motor later and how you want the most motor for the least cash, and simple commonsense stuff like that. I hate to see people make stupid preventable mistakes like that, that they'll regret EVERY SINGLE TIME they look at the result. There's no need in putting yourself through that... few things in life hurt as bad as putting all manner of personal pride and whatnot into a project, and getting a asswhuppin from somebody that spent half as much.

Once you figure out that there's NO DIFFERENCE in "nostalgia" between a 350 built out of a late-model block and a 327 built out of the same block that costs ALOT more and produces less Fun, you'll come around. Few more years of maturity under your belt and you'll see.

 

welcome to the internet, it has evolved a bit, and in doing so some rare cases of the internet troll has found its way into the tips of newbs and know it alls alike dont let it get to ya instead of a 350 how bout some one say maybe a sb 427? maybe it will cost the same as a 327 maybea lil bit more definitley more than a 350 but alot more bang too plus the sound awesome but no all you get is throw a 350 in it.. btw a troll would be someone intentionaly disagreeing with you to get under your skin just ignore those posts and eventually some one will guide you im on here to learn or i would help lol

 

Good idea; if you're going to spend more on a small block than what it would cost to build a 350, a 427 (or more likely 434 after it's been bored out the first time, yes I've built em) would be AHELLUVALOT better than a 327. Kinda like, the difference between a DOWNgrade and an UPgrade.

 

yep, glad i have my 455... drowns out lot's of noise.
anyway thanks for the riot act there sofakingdom, so let's hear your thoughts on a big block chevy, maybe I should build one of those instead since I like big blocks anyway

 

Big block Chevys are cool too. I have a couple of old convertibles with em.

However I don't advise buying a 454 and turning it into a 427, even if it seems "nostalgic" that Vettes came with em, for the same reason as the 350/327 thing. Turn a 454 into a 496, sure: that's an UPGRADE. Not the other way.

A big block would fit your truck OK, given that they were available with one.

But with that Saginaw 3-speed, (yes I've tore up a few of those in 60s vehicles, in the 3-on-the-tree configuration, but none since the mid 70s) it's probably best not to go quite that far into it. Unless you wanted to change to a Turbo 400 or something.

 

sofakingdom,

The reason I want a 327 is nostalgia - (a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations), and I'll tell you why.

It reminds me of my father and his 71 powder blue Chevy C10 SWB truck. He had a straight six in it, 3 on the tree, and blew it up one night driving back from the beach after too much drinking Well we knew some moonshiners way back in the boonies, and they had wrecked one of their shine cars running from johnny law dog. Yep, it had a pretty well built 327 in it. So we put the 327 in Dad's pickup and it was badass... at least to me since i was 12 years old at the time. I remember many a day of him blasting thru the gears and cruising at 100+ mph coming back from the beach where my grandparents lived.
I don't want to race it, that's what my 86 Silverado with the Olds 455 is for. I want the 327 so my Dad and I can talk about the old days when we hang out and he'll remember how cool that truck was

Since I like big blocks the most, what is the best foundation for a BBC build in your opinion? I can get my hands on a later model 454 for a couple of hundred running.

 

an authentic '60s era "nostalgia" hop-up and dress up job on a 327 would be fun and easy; a set of "3-2s" would be very mid-60s-don't know how easy it would be to get all the parts for that setup though.After their early-mid '60s heyday the 327 became the 2 barrel base v8 in many ~1968-69 chevys.

 

It is called the voice of experience passing on knowledge to prevent newbies going down the path of "educated " hearsay they got at the local burger bar.
The my buddy's uncle's friend's workmate sort of info that becomes gospel

In some cases like here , the OP has a genuine reason for wanting something ( would have helped if he explained that reason better 1st up ) ;
More commonly it is just some misguided guy working on a whim that needs the facts of life explained to them

 

Generally, the most cubic inches that is practical and within budget, with the best-flowing heads possible except matched to the operating RPM range the motor will be used in. (no rectangle port heads on street motors for example) These days I'd be looking for a Gen 6 one with the factory roller apparatus, to avoid that enormous expense as much as possible.

The whole "nostalgia" concept misses a critical point: the cubic inches themselves aren't "nostalgic". What's "nostalgic" is stuff like the old low-lift long-duration solid cams we all used to have to run because there WERE NO valve springs besides stock that any of use could afford, the lovingly hand-worked stock head castings that we poured hundreds of hours into because there WERE NO aftermarket CNC castings, the overly complicated multi-carb setups we were forced to run because there WERE NO Holley 1000HPs or that sort of thing, the total lack of any emissions-related equipment whatsoever, the total lack of concern about fuel consumption because gas was only 30¢ a gallon (even though we only made about $1.50/hr), and so on. You don't need "327" to get any of that. Spending extra cash to take out cubes won't give you any of that. It comes from someplace else, and can just as easily be applied to a motor that's (a) cheaper to build, and (b) makes more power, and (c) is easier to find appropriate parts for in 2013. If you want help building a "nostalgic" motor, that's one thing; building a 327, is something completely else.

 

Oh man.How many times have we been dragged down THIS ROAD BY YOU??.After you posted your STORIES/SUGGESTIONS,be done with it.If that is what this O/P wants,it's HIS CAR AND MONEY.


You either get on board with his goals or stop posting-Eh??.

 

I should also add a few other factors to remember, to help replicate the "experience" of the time period in question:

There WERE NO roads with speed limits above 55 by the time you would have become old enough to have a memory of this hobby, so we were all taking the 4.11 gears out and putting 4.56 and 4.88 in; there WERE NO "performance" automatic transmissions or torque converters, so we all ran close-ratio 4-speeds; there WAS (or had been, until fairly recently at that time) 100-octane gas available at every corner gas station, so compression ratios above 11:1 were fairly commonplace; tires were on 14" x 7" wheels for the most part, unless you bought aftermarket wheels which were usually wider but rarely if ever larger diameter (consider the effect on final drive ratio); there WERE NO overdrive transmissions, either auto or manual; there WERE NO "performance" street radial tires, so "handling" was pretty much not an option, especially by modern standards; disc brakes had JUST begun appearing on production cars, so most hot-rod type cars had very poor 4-wheel-drum systems, and a lot of the "hot rods" of the day still had single master cylinders; and the list could go on.

In other words, to replicate the experience you had with your dad when you were a kid, "327" was a negligible part of the total package. If you sat down and made a list of all those things that DIDN'T EXIST YET in those memories you have, and all the things that DON'T EXIST ANY MORE, and added up their effect on what you would like to re-create, those other things are far more influential.

So if you want a car that "drives" like, "sounds" like, and otherwise "acts" like a hot rod from the mid 70s (about the time you were in elementary school), THOSE are the things that will make that happen; NOT "327". Obviously you can't duplicate all of them, but keeping in mind what life was like back then, will help guide you.

4-speed w lower than 2.5x 1st gear (2.21 was king)
4.56 gears
no OD
no aftermarket heads
no hydraulic rollers
"Z28" valve springs
largest possible solid cam compatible with above (the old "30-30" is a good choice)
no traction
no fuel injection
...

But not "327". "327" by itself won't make a car like cars were back then. You can build a 327 today that's totally indistinguishable in any way from any other SBC, except that it will make more power than a 305 but less than a 350; or, you can build a motor of some other size, that's totally indistinguishable in any way from a late 60s 327, except will make more power and cost less.

And in the end, that's a big part of what this hobby is all about; spend the least you have to, but get the most you can. Build something you can be proud of because it exceeds the norm, not something you have to apologize for because it fails to do so on account of some fundamentally crippling choice you made early in the project and can't go back and undo.

 

I appreciate all that. but i'm not going to apologize for building a 327 or my 330 Olds either, it was because they are fun to drive, and I can. i guess you're one of the old guys that call young people whipper snappers. take care, and your posts haven't had any influence on my decisions, and I like to be polite, so have a nice day.

you're right on 1gary...

 

You could always just use a cammed 5.3 LS right outta the junkyard. By sofa's "logic", in the year 2013 building ANY pump gas old school small block is fundamentally crippling right from the start. Plus, 5.3 ~=326 cubes...dang close!

 

sofa shouls be running a full out max effort Hemi, he'd prolly be happy then.

i'll probably get a real cheap 350 block, and a 307 crank, some cheap speed pro 327 replacement pistons, get it balanced. then i'll find me some aluminum heads for it somewhere cheap. i'm sure I can find a solid lifter cam from one of my Olds buddies and call it a day.

 

Pulling a big truck around ,the extra cubes of a 350 would sure help. Engine would probably last longer too.

 

back in the day those 327's lasted many many thousands of miles!
I'm just going to be daily driving my old 67, no drag racing, or any thing like that. Sure i'll get on it from time to time on the interstate, but a good motor with todays parts, balanced etc. will last me 15+ years, just like they are still running today.

 

I just sold a 1969 C10 I built. Had a mild 350 with a little cam, it was very fun on the street with a wide ratio muncie behind it.

I used a factory numbers matching q jet, rams horn manifolds, and a tiny balancer. It looked just like a 327.

Even got 16mpg with 3.73 gears.

 

yeah, my 67 with the 3 spd manual will be good to tool around in with the 327, nothing fancy.

 

Yeah, mine had a 3 on the tree, got tired of it getting stuck in second.

Munice was a direct swap, only had to change shifter.

 

i want a muncie, but i can't find one that isn't ridiculously priced. everyone on ebay/CL want's too much for me. I'll have to keep looking around

 

I hear ya, The M-20's are sometimes found reasonable. Thats what I had.

I did a lot to the suspension on my truck, it handled very well. The 17" steelies kept with the nostalgic look, a 77 year old man drove 350 miles one way to buy it in December.

 

That's a sweet truck, looks like my stepside. I can't wait to get it back together. it's down to the frame since I'm doing a frame off, and lowering it 2.5" in the front, and 4-5" in the back.
My 86 is down to the frame as well for a frame off... just got thru spraying the frame with epoxy primer, and have the front cross members, and suspension back in. working on putting the rear back in, and my hood/fenders, and underside of the cab i sanded to bare metal and epoxy primed them too. another week of rain expected here, so i'll have to wait for any more body work/priming

wish i had a camaro too

 

Thanks. I did a complete tear down as well.

Do you get on 67-72chevytrucks.com?

 

yeah my 86 build thread is on there...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=515829

my 67 build is on hold for the moment...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=525576

 

I used to post on there as OJ1988