Like the title says, I’ve decided I am going to turn my ‘83 into a drag car and will be using a 327/Powerglide combo I got for pretty cheap. 3892657 block, which looks to be a 1967 2 bolt main. I plan on having the powerglide built by a local shop I’ve used previously.

Now I’m no stranger to doing mechanical work, but I’ve yet to build up a motor and am excited to learn - however, I’m unsure of where to start parts wise... This will be a strip build only, as I am in California and won’t be passing smog

My goal for the car is to get into the tens and have it done by the end of summer on a 3-5k ish budget... What would everyone recommend parts wise? Looking to go all motor, no power adders if I can help it.

 

Start with a much newer, 4-bolt-mains 350 block. It's just not practical to pour a bunch of machine work (read, $$$) into a 50-year-old 2-bolt block; casting methods and materials have come a long way since then.



Good luck.

 

Advice? Don't build a 327.

 

327, heluva little motor. read your post headline and thought someone was turning a 305 into a 327 ha ha.... airflow, compression, fuel delivery, and correct cam setup is what its all about. and the parts to handle something that can get down the drag strip in 10 seconds without blowing off your motor.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/eng...62-horsepower/

 

Another one? Really?

 

he aint wrong in a sense...it be easier and cheaper to go 10’s with a 383 vs 327. The short stroke will need rpm and that ups the cost of valvetrain

but a 327 can do it

 

Go with a modern block they money you save not doing a roller conversion will be better spent on newer iron.

 

A 327 is better than a flat tappet 305. Not sure if its much better than a roller 305. I mean they are ok for streetcars but not 10 sec drag cars. Don't shoot yourself in the foot and WAY overspend to make the 327 run 10s. Geta 350, see what others have done to get in the 10s and follow suit.

 

It isnt that he's wrong. Its just that he goes in all these under 350 cube rebuilds idea threads and says the same old crap. Ya we get it. Yes we know cubes make more power same price or cheaper. Give it a rest.Thing is I have yet to see a personal build attributed to himself.

Anyho. This is how I look at it. If a 327 build that works and turns to 8000 and makes good power great. That's awesome. But if it doesnt work out and blows up or subpar power,that will just be a lesson learned for the future.In all honesty can this board take another 355 or 383 tpi build? Or another ls swap thread? This is different. I like that kind of stuff.

 

This is a drag only build. It will not be a tpi by a long shot and not recommending it lol. This will be a single plane carb type build. This is also not a time for a learning experience unless you got deep pockets. Most dont. A sub 350” na 10 sec build is not something you just throw together, but it can and has been done. How deep in the 10’s and how light you make the car will determine what needs done

I like a high winding motor tho, definitely fun. Just requires more attention to valvetrain details

 

I should make a note that I don’t expect to put the motor together in a month and go straight to running deep 10s. I’m more looking for what parts other people are running in their 327s and continuously tweaking the car and the motor as I learn. I know the 327 may not be the most suitable platform for a race only build, but I got a great deal on the long block locally, and I’ve always been partial to a high-winding motor.

I plan on fully stripping the car down - after all, it will be track only. If I could even start in the 12s and work my way gradually, I’d be pretty happy.

 

I can remember years back at Reids machine shop seeing a 327 on the dyno. It was a 9000+ rpm motor. Couldn't believe the pricetag...30 grand. Nope! If it was specifically a drag car for fun but not in a specific class I would just go as big as you can. 406 is a good starting point. Nitrous is always an option. I just touched on learning exp because if it's an expensive mistake it wont be replicated. I'm just interested in the outcome. I dont think it's been done much before. This thing on cubes can snowball fast. Why 355 when you can go 383. Then for a bit more 406. Oh but why stop there put a stroker crank in it 434. Then get a tall deck 450. I just think the OP knows the consensus that more cubes is easy power for same price or a bit more It's the most basic rule. But to have the same heckler from the cheap seats saying what everyone already knows over and over and over in everybody's sub 350 thread. Ya we know. We get it..like what have you built again?

 

You're going to spend more money on this than on going to the buzzard nest and picking up a late model 350. So don't say I didn't warn you when you get your butt kicked by somebody that has half the money in their motor than you have in yours, and theirs is streetable (or nearly so) while yours is completely impossible to run on the street.

Here ya go, from back about 45 yrs ago, when the last few 327 diehards (like me) were hallucinating that they could keep from getting waxed by 350s:

• Best heads you can get your hands on - the LOWEST stock heads I would suggest is 186 but that will require some SERIOUS port work by someone that KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING, not Cletus & BillyBob "hog em out"... I don't think Vortecs are a good choice here... modern GOOD aftermarket ones (NOT S2s for example) would obviously give you an advantage over ANYTHING stock
• Comp 286TLS-6 or similar: 259/266 @ .050, .550"/.570" lift
• Edge-orifice (NOT piddle valve) lifters
• Springs https://www.texas-speed.com/p-6432-p...pac-1211x.aspx
• Comp 787 retainers
• Machine work to set those springs up PERFECTLY on your heads at 1.800" - if you don't know what I'm talking about and don't have the tools and haven't done it before, pay somebody else to do it for you and then a bit extra to let you watch
• Good push rods
• Crower stainless (NOT ANY aluminum) rockers https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cro-73600-16 you don't need 1.6s on a 327
• Better crank & rods than the stock small-journal stuff - sky's the limit here, all depends on how much risk you're willing to take of ventilating your block
• Forged pistons to give 11:1 CR with iron heads or 11¾:1 with aluminum - MINIMUM
• GOOD block machine work, correcting all the factory sloppiness from the 60s
• Single-plane intake, small Holley Dominator or other race series (not an Edlebrock, not a 3310, not a 1850); I'd shoot for 750 - 800 CFM
• Custom (NOT off the shelf, NOT catalog, NOT NOT NOT NOT… have one made to your application of car weight, CID, cam, gears, etc.) torque converter from somebody GOOD (NOT B&M or other street-stroke vendor)
• Racing Powerglide (NOT some junkyard core)
• Scattershield (DO NOT run this combo without it)
• 4.56 gears

Ain't happening for $5k for the entire car. That's FANTASY LAND. You might be able to get close to that with a 383 made out of a roller block since you won't have to do as much prep.

A MUCH better idea would be to throw all that old trash in the trash and go get yourself a LS7 or LS3 or Erod or something. Probably cost less in the long run. Then you'd even be able to keep your AC and run pump gas.

A 327 in anything resembling competitive racing in anything but a "bone stock nostalgia" class is a recipe for LOSING ALOT of races. Especially anything resembling heads-up. Might be OK in brackets but not "low ET". Getting a steel-bodied non-tube car into the 10s with such a motor is not for the faint of heart, and even if you do, you'll STILL get your butt handed to you regularly by people with a fraction of the amount invested in theirs, that won't have to live with the constraints you'll have to.

 

you wont beable to use that long block for this. It will need new crank rods and pistons. Well at the very least rods and pistons. Comp needs to go up. Light pistons and long rods with small ring package. Fresh bore and hone. I dont know if i would trust a stock crank to 8000 rpm

thats about where you will need to be. This is like a super stocker type deal except you can actually put good heads and intake on it so it wont be as difficult but still rather pricey

 

https://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/s...t=232546&amp=1

 

People obviously DON'T "get it" because they still go buy a clapped out 327 to build a drag car. It's kind like "I'm gonna run the Boston Marathon next year, so I borrowed a pistol from my cousin, and shot myself in the foot!". It's doing things the least efficient way because we want to be different, or because someone convinced us that this was the coolest **** back in the day!

You get that some people have to brag up their **** non-stop, and share everything, and other people do things on the down low, or don't care much for the spotlight, right?

I guess maybe my opinion might carry more weight if I ever did anything... You know, if I ever rebuilt a 1978 4 bolt main 350 with HO heads and a Summit cam, SLP headers, and ran it under a slightly ported TPI.




Or maybe if I'd crammed a bunch of nitrous into my 3.1L beater bird.



Or if I'd ripped an 80hp 1bbl carbed 2.3 out of a Mustang, and rebuilt a 1989 Merkur XR4Ti EFI turbocharged 2.3 for it...



Yep, you're right, I've never turned a wrench on anything. You got me.

 

Nice, but ..

So basically you made my point. Thank you for that. You did things from the norm. Nitrous on a 3.1 and instead of putting a v8 in a mustang you put a Merkur turbo motor in it. If you post stuff it's not bragging if people learn something and form ideas from what you accomplished. Or just get entertained from reading it.Post the stuff you do, it's interesting. I'm actually interested what happened to the 3.1,lol.But you wont see me posting in your mustang swap thread asking why you wasted your time instead of a V8, which is basically what you are doing. Fair?

Shooting yourself in the foot for a marathon?? Ok let's get back on topic. Really not making sense now and your starting to swear which means your getting angry, so take a step back.

Let's get back on topic. Dont know if nitrous is on the table here. Could OP chime in if this is all motor and if open to power adder?

 

It's your $$$, but if you insist on starting with that ancient block, at least have your machine shop magnaflux and sonic-check it before doing any machine work to it. Of course, any responsible racing shop should automatically do this to every block that comes in before any other work proceeds.

As an aside, while it's 'possible' to build a high-RPM small block using a small-journal crankshaft in a 2-bolt block that lives, everything has to be perfect.

 

I’ve always preferred all-motor builds, just my taste, but would consider nitrous if I needed the boost in power..

 

Before buying any parts I do plan on dropping the block off at a machine shop to have them run through it for me. I know 2 bolts are “less desirable”, but I’ve always heard they are good to about 600 horse, no?

 

Do a splayed 4 bolt cap conversion on the center 3 mains

 

On a 50-year-old, 2-bolt block with a small-journal crank?

I don't think so.






Good luck. I'm out.

 

Hated filling the bottle and the limited use before "Player 1 Insert Quarter to Continue". 125hp shot was enough to turn the 3.1 with high miles into a 5.0 Mustang eater.

I went from the 3.1 + spray to the 4cyl turbo because I wanted always-on power on tap. Easier to stay out of boost than to justify filling the bottle every Friday, and trying to resist the temptation to open the bottle. The 2.3T was a known quantity, and I traded a 91 305 TBI engine for the entire donor car. Made financial sense.

Trouble with the 327 isn't so much that it's not a 350 cube engine. It's the age. Just making it fit and function in a thirdgen can be a pain. Same with the Powerglide. It's not a direct bolt in. It would save money and headaches to build an engine with a passenger's side dipstick, roller cam provisions, a modern cast block and modern machining. There's literally no advantage beyond it was cheap or free or I've already got it. It'll cost more to rebuild than a better engine. Unless there's a really good logical reason, I don't see why a person wouldn't start with something more appropriate.

If a person wanted to have a "327" they could do it with a modern block, without any parts from an older engine, and it wouldn't cost a penny more than reconditioning a drivetrain from 1967.

 

for a build like this, if i had to be 327”, that is how i would do it. Modern block as in dart shp or try to make an oem roller block work. It would have aftermarket bottom end parts because you need 550-600 hp to go 10’s in a lighter car and to do that na with a short stroke you need over 7000 rpm and that needs good parts.

But if i bought a dart shp i would go 400-415” and run 10’s on pump gas lol mild n easy

 

I still wouldn't do it, but a person could hypothetically get a 4.3L L99 V8 (LT1 based) crank from a mid 90's Caprice, stuff it in a 96'ish Vortec block, with decent 90s GM stuff and have a modern "327". Upgrade the individual parts in the rotating assembly to support the RPM as necessary, and off you go with more money and time than a more common build, and probably less performance, but it'd be "unique". There just isn't any good reason to do it. Like building a smallblock with bore/stroke to add up to 396 cu in, it'd sound cool to anyone that cares, but no one cares. Might as well get the most performance for the least amount of work and expense, no one will care that you took a shortcut instead of doing something unique.

Sorry to steer too far off topic.

 

That must have been fun. My very first Camaro was a 2.8. Lol. You just dream of putting stuff like that when your 16. You actually did it. Must have been fun. That's the stuff I'm talking about. Why didnt you ever post this?

The OP needs to rebuild in steps. Turn the crank, recondition the rods, and just hone if you can get by with that. Decent set of heads and cam and run it like that. It would come out cheaper only because you have all the rotating assembly and just have to buy pistons. Even if you find a new 1 piece block you would have to machine the block, then buy all new or reconditioned bottom end. Scat or eagle or rpm. If your set on a 327 and your block and such checks out then just do it. Is it financially smarter than the obvious? No. Is it better to just build a 355 or 383 for close to the same money? Yes.Is it what you want to do? Only you can decide this. But in all honesty there is no financial sense in all this stuff we do is there really?This is a hobby. Hobbys are supposed to be enjoyable by you and those around you. Bsing, bench racing, working on the car, hanging out with friends and driving your car. Maybe when your old as dirt your close friend can elbow you and say" Hey, remember that 327 you built? What were you thinking"

 

L99 engine has a 3.00" stroke crank. You would end up building a cast crank 302 SBC. I wouldn't want to try spinning that to 8000+ rpm!

 

Here are some 327s for you.
https://www.cnc-motorsports.com/perf...hevy/chevy-327

 

302. 327. Same difference. Always get those two confused. 8000+ would be a stretch but it'd be a something something other or unique odd displacement thingamajigg.


I did, but it was 2003'ish, and that part about no one cared? Yup. I came into a NOS dry kit missing a couple pieces (solenoids). Two nitrous solenoids cost more than a nitrous and a fuel solenoid so I set it up with a fogger nozzle throwing fuel and nitrous into the aircleaner ahead of the TB bellows. Put it on my Formula and promptly figured out there was NO WAY to get traction with nitrous + TPI torque off-idle. It made massive ridiculous tire smoke filled burnouts, but wasn't especially the boost in drag strip performance I was looking for. By virtue of being a universal kit, it fit right on the V6 Firebird. I don't remember the exact numbers, started small like a 75hp or 100hp shot, think that lasted a couple pulls. Bumped it up to 125 and 150hp, and it was great. The 3.1 didn't mind a bit. After I took the nitrous stuff back off the car, I sold it to a kid in town and he drove the car every day for 4 or 5 years, eventually it turned up in the junkyard with "bad trans" written on the windshield. So it stands to reason a few bottles of nitrous didn't hurt a thing. Still got that setup, plus all the stuff to put it on a TPI car with a plate. Might end up on my current project at some point, but I'd still have trouble keeping the bottle filled. Can't imagine what it'd cost to fill, or where I could get it filled around here... Plus the bottle needs re-certification, and no place local wants anything to do with sending it in for hydrostatic testing. Probably cheaper just to get a new bottle at this point.

 

Eric weingartner who does cylinder heads has a 355 at 12:1 comp drag only deal with a set of ported brodix dragonslayers at 242 cc i think makes 670 at 7800 rpm. I’d copy something like that for a small cube deal