Puttin' Perfume on a Pig...307 Tech?!

@Flipper turns out we can tag people now. How'd it turn out?

 

It didn't. I went with a craigslist 5.3 Chevy for my daughters project. I think gen 1 chevys sound better and will probably use the 307 for the next project.

 

Cool man. I've been messing with mine and been happy with the results. Going to stick a bigger, hopefully better, cam in it this fall and I'll post what I think of the total combo

 

I have a fresh 307 sitting on a stand in my shop. 30 over with 85 iroc heads. Still needs a cam and lifters but I guess when I get ready to use it ill figure that out. When I started building this motor a few years back everyone said I was wasting my time but reading through this thread Id say they were wrong....

 

I've been running a 307 in my T-bucket since 1977.

 

@65nova Years ago we used a set of angle milled 441 heads and a Wiend XCELerator manfold and made 365 H.P on E98. I don't remember the cam specs.

 

Are you sure they weren't 305's?

 

...

 

I have a twin to your 307 in my 37 Plymouth I run a comp cams 268H it runs strong. I did clean up the ports the 307 loved it.

 

Well, I think I hurt the 350 in my flatbed. I am going to pull it and see what I did....and then probably freshen up the 307 if it is real bad.

 

Been watching this thread for years..... my '37 has a 307 with a 262XE cam. Currently running a set of junk smog heads - because they were fresh, free, and sitting on the floor when one of the stock ones cracked. I think it would run better with a set of 305 heads, but it runs good enough as-is that I'm not real motivated to find out.

 

I recently acquired a 307 with a burnt valve I am considering using set of 441 heads on it versus rebuilding the 185 heads would the compression be OK also would the valves interfere with cylinder wall

 

You'll have to angle mill them to get 9.5:1 outta them but if you bore it .030 the 1.94's should be okay.

 

I'm late to this discussion, but recently came in possession of a 307. I'm wanting to put it in my current project due to being the original engine. Everyone tells me not to waste my time. But I'm not looking to race or rattle windows. I want a nice fun and comfortable ride, with decent mpg. So I have decided to stay with the 307. Everything currently is stock on the engine. I'm in the process of opening it up for inspection. From previous posts it looks like the musts are cam, intake, carb, roller rockers and heads.

Im looking at Elderbrock 2703 Intake, Carb 600CFM (elder or holley)

For those of you that have completed this task what would be your suggestions on heads and Cam. Also how did your builds turn out.

 

Read the last five pages and it will answer all those questions... probably several times

 

Great thread wow its been going for 6 years!

 

Alright so @porknbeaner and I pulled my very flat cam out of the 307 and got it all back together this last couple weeks. Might need to adjust the carb but so far it's a world of difference.

1969 307
1956 power pack heads
Edelbrock perform es intake
Edelbrock 500 cfm manual choke carb
2.5 exit corvette ram horn exhaust
Comp cams 268H and lifters
Full single exhaust to the back.
Something like 2 1/4 diameter with 36" long smithy muffler.

Sounds pretty good even threw all that exhaust , performs well around town but have yet to get it over 60 for more than a block or two. I'll get some highway time after it drys out and stops raining.

Any bigger cam and I think we'd need to go to different valve springs and a looser convertor.

I'll get a video once I have time to dig out my camera that's not a phone.

 

Loosing the flat cam made more difference than anything we ever did with that old 283 wannabe. Me and @squirrel were just discussing that.

I cannot wait to get it out on the highway and wring it out.

 

My first post here!...
I'm interested to know what SCR builders have found when fitting 283 (896) casting # heads to the 307?
Cheers.

 

Well, after the hamb drags trip I can say that its got good highway manors. It seems to have a sweet spot around 65/70 that seems to just keep going after that. I'm curios where it runs out of steam but I've yet to have the occasion to find out.

I will say with a 3:00 gear in the car and an automatic that around town it would probably be happier with a 3:27 or such but it's so happy on the highway that I have just made use of my kickdown cable and keep it in a lower gear more often.

So far all smiles over here. Think Im going to add some headers in the next year or so and dual exhaust and see if it breaths a little better then.

 

307, Chevys first factory part "stroker". 302, Chevys first factory part "destroker". For all its worth, one of the worst and one of the best in some folks minds.

 

I'm running one in the '37. 262xe comp cam with a slightly worked over set of 882 heads (they were fresh and free). With 3.78 gears it runs down the road at 70 mph, 3200 rpm - no problem.

 

So you used stock springs with the 268h cam?

I have a new Comp 268h that has been sitting since the 90's that is supposed to be going in a 307 this weekend.

Does it still have a nice sound at idle with the single exhaust or should I go ahead and run duals?

 

The Comp Cams 268 is a sweet cam, had one in my 350 before more upgrades.
Duals for sure.

 

As far as I'm aware they are stock springs, I have single exhaust with a great big muffler and its got a pretty good tone/lump to it. Fairly quite though with my exhaust so a video doesn't generaly work to well to hear it accurately.

I'm going to upgrade to duals next summer as I feel like it would breath better so if your starting from scratch I'd run duals.

Edit: stock for these heads

 

Nice too see this post back, now if we just knew what happend to @Fat Hack. Re reading this thread it says the one and ONLY steel 327 crank that fits is casting#3914672. If a guy was to look for one of these crankshafts what would it be out of? I've looks at all the websites and found nothing. I've always been told large journal steel 327 cranks only come out of '68 Corvettes and C 60 or larger trucks.

 

Well, the 307 didn't get used.

I pulled the oil pan to check out the bottom end. There was so much play in the bottom end it is hard to believe. From what I have read, the 307 is supposed to be a large journal motor. This thing looked like it had large journal bearings on a small journal crank. I did not measure anything to confirm.

 

Yeah it should be large journal as all I've seen agrees with that statement as well.

 

What most people miss and FatHack certainly didn't know about when he plagiarized someone else's article is that GM put the slug too far down the hole on the 307. It was done in an effort to conform to DOT regs and for whatever reason the engineers didn't know that detuning a motor didn't make it better. LOL

The stroked 283 was a common hot rod trick way back when. TRW used to make stroker pistons for a 327 crank in a 283. I think if you knew the part number you could still get them, if not you could contact JE; their pistons are all machined from forged slugs and machining a custom piston is no biggy for them.

Aside from a cam that is not flattened that is the absolute best thing you could do for a 307, it tightens up your quench and adds static compression at the same time.

 

The crank jiggled in the mains and rods!!!! I have never seen anything like it.

The oil pan had a ton of silicone sealer on it, so somebody had been in there before.