As far as I know all the small journal 327's were forged. I have a good Buddy that tells me "all that stuff will be at the garage sale you won't be attending"!
I do have a small journal 327 with the same pistons as this engine. Don't remember if it has a forged crank or not. I have a 69 327 I reringed and installed all new bearings timing chain and oil pump . A 30-30 cam a set of 57 powerpack heads and a C4 B edelbrock intake its a cast crank. Was intending to install it in the 55 in my avatar. However the old 283 hasn't blew up yet. I now think I possibly will install it in a 56 more door I have If I sell the 235 that's in it.
In that case, the offset would be one way (on the thrust side) on one bank , and the opposite way on the other. Yes? The engine wouldn't know whether it wanted to be noisy at idle , or at high RPM. Yes? You reckon they'd cancel each other out, or be noisy all the time?
No with the notch to the rear on the opposite bank the offset will be the exact same. Do this hang a rod backward on any piston the install it in the bore with the notch at the rear. the offset will be correct.
OK, all this talk about notches, and I've just got to post this. E-Bay item # 264656425679; a set of forged, 327 pistons with .125 domes, hung on stock, small journal rods. Looked good, initially. Someone decided to use a file or angle grinder to put "notches" in the rod beams to ID the cylinder they belong in. Nothing like creating stress rizers!!! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Yes , they will be the same..both at the top, near the lifter valley, but not where you want them. The engine only turns one way. Both banks will see the major thrust on the power stroke dictated by the direction of rotation. Therefore, the off set must match that direction. This is why they use 4 eyebrow pistons on a street engine . All piston off set is in the same direction as all eight pistons are identical. One side use one set of eyebrows and the opposite side uses the other. In your case, I'd think they'd have to be zero offset.
I was thinking what Mr. Yacavone said better than I. I want to see if the pistons truly are forged. I'm guessing they'll have steel struts in them. We'll see. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
I have run propane engines, and the neat thing about running one on propane is that you could use a 12:1 CR with no problem. The disadvantage of propane, is that the fuel has 10% less energy, so lower mileage. The last one I ran on propane, was a 454 in my C65 dump truck. The things I liked about propane the most, was that they run really clean, and you could leave it sit for months, and it would fire up just as if you drove it yesterday. Bob
I converted my other forklift to propane after noticing the oil never got dark, always looked clean as new.
Yes I have a couple of Lp tractors. They never get sludged up and hardly ever wear out. I have a M farmall that has a increased bore kit went from 3 &7/8 to 4 inches the upped the cubes from 248 to 264 and it has domed pistons. Been running for 50 years and just now starting to smoke at idle. the valve guides are worn.
If they are the same then why does a 350 pick up almost 20 hp. when you install the pistons backwards with the notch's to the rear ? Rattles when cold but quiets down when warmed up . old pure stock dirt track trick that's been proven on the dyno. A 360 Mopar picks up almost 30 hp by putting them in backwards. Not my words. Circle Track magazine did an article back in the 80's.
That might work with 4 relief pistons. The two relief ones must be zero offset so they would have to have the notches facing different on the two banks.
That's true . We were required run 4 eye brow pistons in our round track cars. I got protested one night after running under the track record for lap time for our class. The tech man said after I pulled the head that somebody don't even know how to put the piston's in right. After he saw all the notch's pointing to the rear. It took him 3 days to figure out my stock eliminator drag race cam was wrong. It had the right lift and that's what the rule book said .390-.410 . They never mentioned duration so I took advantage.
Its finally stopped raining and warmed up. its 80 and the sun is shining. Maybe I will get a chance to pull a couple of the pistons.
This post was exactly what I was looking for. I have a 1967 327 from a C20 Camper Special that has the piston notches facing rear on the passenger side. This truck has a CE code and is the factory engine, I have the Build Sheet. When I pulled the engine to put in new bearings and rings and lap the valves I was wondering why the notches were facing the rear on the passenger side because all I had ever read was that all notches had to face the front of the engine. This was the first time I had taken and engine apart this far including taking the crank out. I put the engine back together the way it all came out and it runs very well. But it was always on my mind about those reversed notches being wrong. So when I came across this post I was relieved that some one else also had these types of engines and had seen more of them. I am still curious as to why they did this.
Old Wolf thanks for the post. I have been a mechanic for 30 plus years and this one left me scratching my head and other things. I guess good old GM decided to save a few dollars back in the day. For those who asked the wrist pin appears to be centered. I didn't mike it but did put a tape on it. My pistons were cast and the is no other way to get the VR up other than put the notch to the rear. This also put the rod in the correct orientation. This was a virgin engine. It still had GM bearings in it and did not appear to have ever been torn down. Thanks for teaching an old dog a new trick. I thought that I had lost my mind.
My 68 327 (From a 68 C20 With a HD 4-Sp trans) had the same Pistons and a Steel Crank as well (More info on my engine is on a different post on the HAMB with pics of my 1968 Steel 327 LG crank). Back around 1968 GM had a Five year Powertrain Warranty and the PO must of had engine problems and the Five year Warranty covered a new "Short Block". The original engine was replaced with a "CE" 3970010 2-bolt main block (The warranty work was done around 1970-71.) I remember seeing the "Oddball Pistons" and thinking they where very cool looking and different with just the two eyebrows on top. I had new pistons the .030 over flat tops wth/4 eyebrows hung on the reworked rods. (Sadly the machine shop did not give me back the cool old Oddball Pistons like all the other junk old used part's so who knows what happened to them?) It would have been great to have the original 1968-327 block like your's (bcuz I want to keep my valve covers clean as well and it would have been very easy to drill out a hole in the back where the draft tube was at one time and put a PCV valve in it) I'm sure my original block would have been identical to your 68 327 engine in every way. I still have the two barrel carb, intake manifold, oil pan and the "032" 68 cc heads with the small 1.84/150 valve's the cam was flat so it went to the scrap heap. I always wondered why the pistons looked different in color it's most likely bcuz they were Forged as you said. "It must of been one Torquay engine back in it's day." I think I made a good deal when I swapped some other SB Chevy parts for the 68 327 especially when I discovered it had a LG 327 Steel Crank hidden inside. It was supposed to be a 1968 350 according to the man I picked it up from. He hasn't been happy with himself every since I told him it was a 68 LG 327 with a Steel Crank. Thanks for sharing the story about your "Oddball 327" I'd say it's a Way Cool 327 find. 1Nimrod
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