Projects 66 AMC 327's

I am actually a wooden boat nut and in a hunt for a motor I found an old 66 31' Trojan boat with twin 327's in it. Both motors meters say just over 1000 hours. I here they can be rare and before sticking one in a 24 foot boat that may never have tons of value I though I would stop here to get some input. Obviously one of these is probably turning backwards but what do car guys really think of these dinosaurs???

 

Few think of them at all. However, Donnie Johansen (Howard's son) tried to sell me a couple of billet cams for one of these a few years ago. He thought they were for a Packard. I'll bet he still has them and is willing to deal.

 

Hey, KJLAKE;

AMC 327, & its' two smaller siblings, are very good mills. IIRC, thick cylinder-walled-high-nickle blocks/heads, forged crank n rods, etc. Strong, w/decent combustion chambers, ports aren't bad, & will put out decent power. Limited aftermarket support, but stuff is available via thoughtful cross-adapting. Can take super/turbo charging well. Somewhere I have a book on them, detailing some hop-up techniques, & what to watch out for. (*Every* engine has something). Unfortunately, said book is out of production. Some may turn up on ebay. If you want, I can dig it out for the title. Was written by Dick Datson. HotRod did some reporting on them in the 60's, in at least one HR Annual, & was favorable.

& you sure won't see yourself at every boat dock, or corner if you get both, one for a hot rod. .

Marcus...

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443539

 

Not knowing where Albion is...if there's a chance that they were salt water cooled they could be eten up with rust from the inside. If fresh water running or closed cooling system they could be a good candidate.

 

Had two of them in mid 60's Resorters and they ran quite well with 4bbl's.Side drafts had a lot of torque but lacked on top end.

 

I have a few Car/Jeep Versions.
Pics:
http://cherrypickerscarclub.shutterfly.com/pictures/592

Jeff

 

The AMC 327"s are strong and durable. We rebuild one occasionally for boats such as yours. There's nothing especially difficult, but parts are expensive.

Bottom line - if you want a period-correct boat, build it with the AMCs. If cheap motive power is the goal, then swap in a pair of 350" SBCs. We can build them for half the cost of the AMCs and they'll make more power.

jack vines