When I bought my coupe project the guy included an engine that he said was a 1968 327. Well this weekend I took it all apart to inspect it and found that while the casting number shows it was used for many engines it has a 3.5 inch stroke, making it a 350. So from my understanding the 350 and 327 used a 4 inch bore and a 5.7 inch rod. So its just the crank thats different? Since its a large journal block I cant find a late 327 crank in any of the catalogs. What am I missing, is it more people just go with a 350 or is it just rare and no one makes it?
The large journal 327 crank was also used in the 307 engine, and it should not be too hard to find a used cast 307 crank. Steel large journal 327 cranks are hard to find. Why do you want a 327? if the magic number is what you're after, you could always leave it as a 350 and put a 327 emblem on the valve cover....
Everything I ever had was 350 powered... Any noticable driving difference between a warm 327 and a similar 350? How about visual? eg crank balancer differences???
Mainly I was just asking for the knowledge. Im not too concered with telling people its a 327 or 350 or any of that, I just didnt know.
The 327s (and 307s) had a smaller balancer, some guys will spot that but not many. If it's a mild street engine, and it needs to be rebuilt anyways, then it wouldn't be much trouble to get a 307 crank and 327 pistons and get it balanced and have a real 327.
Thats what I was thinking , I was going to use new internals any way, and since the block was used for several different engine configurations I thought why not, I really liked the 327 I had in another car. Then I saw that Scat and Eagle dont have cranks for the late 327. So I was curious why.
Early ( 62-67 ) 327 are small journals ( Bearing Surfaces) , while mid year 68-69 are large journal , the 307 crank should interchange , using 3.25 rods....also....dont worry about cast or forged...no difference in your application , I ran a cast crank 327(69) with 11.25 compression ,in my Vega bracket car for YEARS...no problem...make sure your surfaces are straight and clean , lube everything , and use GOOD, BRAND NAME , bearings, pistons , oil pump & gaskets.... stay away from the mail order junk....
Also there is a company that makes bearing spacers so you could use an early 327 and rods or as I was going to do, a 283 crank and make it a 302 with the right pistons, i was going to do it until i just found a late DZ302 crank for a good price The reason i didnt go a early 327 block is because they have a little weaker mains, and mine gt stolen and i had a deal on a good 350 block
casting codes are only a starting point. the basic casting can (theoretically) be used for anything. the actual applicaiton the engine was built for can be determined by looking up the engine code on the front of the block. reference www.nastyz28.com
yea, i was thinking about the 302. i have a 327 early small journal and a few 283's mainly because the like the early evap set-up.....and always looking for more cheap .
Not completely true. High HP 327's (and Z-28 302's) had the big 8" balancer. For the most part, most SBC balancers, regardless of diameter will interchange. Unless of course it's externally balanced, like the 400 small block