Technical The dreaded what's a 327 worth thread...

My neighbor has what's supposed to be a 300hp '65 327 Chevy. It's from a stalled project he wants gone. He's offering it to me at $500. I like the guy, and don't want to screw him but that feels a little high to me. It's pretty, with fresh orange paint, but that doesn't mean much. He says it was rebuilt in the 70's and he just put a new timing set in it. It may need a new intake manifold (weird?) and oil pan.
I haven't check the numbers on this thing yet because it's in a tarped car under snow but I will before I buy it. It was a running car before it became a project. I saw it last summer and it has camel hump heads. I'd tear it down and do a cam and gasket set at the very least, and anything else that was needed. This would go in my '35 3 window with a t-10. I want a vintage SBC, so please don't tell me a flathead would be cooler. I'm already mocked up with a 283 but that needs head work and this is 300hp....

Is he on point at $500?
Would I be out of place offering $400 or less?

 

Flash 200.00
Do you trust each and EVERY part that is in there?
There is a LOT of excessive DRQQL on the formatible 327,
lets see the last one i picked up was FREE , just ran into a
another one , the guy wants/ wanted the BIG dream MONEY
I picked it up for 50bucks .
There out there and unless its a hear it run engine it ain't worth the DRQQL.

 

What was done when it was rebuilt?

I don't know if it's any help but I've been actively looking for an engine for a project and a 327 is one I'd consider using. I see a few sitting in the classifieds anywhere from $500 for a bare block to $500 for a core (long block) and there's another for a grand sitting in a running, driving vehicle. None of them have anything decent for heads. They have all been online a while.

I think $400 is fair, considering what I've seen.

 

does it turn? moisture gets inside, condenses on the iron parts, and causes rust...

If you have $500 to gamble, it could be worth it, or it could be a waste of money. We can't see the engine, so it's hard to say.

 

I just sold a bone stock 1962 (small journal) 327 complete from carb to pan for $600 on Craigslist if that helps. It ran but smoked a little. It needed a rebuild for sure but it still ran without any major problems.

 

$300

 

Having been outside would cause concern. Was it ever turned over? Is there coolant in it? Why is the intake bad? Most importantly, is he a car guy? If not, can you trust what he is saying.

Either way, $500.00 is pretty steep. Take him $250 and a 30 pack

 

If it's tarped under snow right now, the first thing I'd check is for antifreeze in the radiator.

 

It's a belly button, every guy has got one !!! Try to get it as cheap as you can just in case it needs a ton of work, which it very well may need. With a bit of "old school" tweaking, the 327 can be a very nasty little mill, I would trade the 350 in my sedan for a hot 283-327 in a HEART BREAT ,,, no shit. No harm in starting low for the sake of the haggle.

 

I bought a 327 block with steel crank. Block only as I will use newer heads. $200.

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I'd probably go for $300 tops....ya' just never know what it is going to need, and what is entailed on something like this....I bought a used and so-called ''good'' 327 engine for $400 about 5 years ago....and it was awful....ended up junking it....when I confronted the guy about it, he said "well it ran fine when I had it!".... It's a hit-or-miss gamble on engines like this...especially if it was rebuilt in the 70's....I'd be leery and try to get it maybe for $200 if you can....you can haggle for a bit more if you care too....but then again, it is a gamble....it's been sittin' outside for a year or two?.........just sayin'!

 

I can get wordy so I tried to keep the story short, but here are more details. This motor is coming out of a what was complete '65 Impala 2dr. He tore the whole car down with his dad, and his dad went though the chassis, replaced all the bushings and joints and painted everything, did the brakes, and cleaned up the engine. His dad felt that the motor was good as it sat so he just did a timing set and paint. They got the body back on the frame when my neighbor had a kid and bought a finished C20. They stalled out at bodywork time. He's over the car. It sat at his dad's, then it was in his car port, and now its at his father in laws. This was a running car maybe 3 years ago. The engine was rebuilt in 1978 so..... He's got another kid on the way and its time to simplify. He's not a car guy, per say, just a guy that likes old cars. I'll have a good look at it and do a compression check before money changes hands. I can probably do anything short of tearing it down.

There's a torn down '67 327 with camel humps for sale locally for $300. There's also a torn down '64 for $500, but its already been bored .060 and it's incomplete.

Maybe I'll offer him less and help him sell the '65. I could also offer my 283 to put in the car to sell. The appeal to me is complete a engine, and the heads. Every time I look at an small block, I still look for that damn camel hump casting mark. I they don't make the most power, but they look old school cool.

 

Man, really I try to stay positive in life. It helps.
However, any ''rebuilt'' engine is total bullshit unless proven otherwise. Period.
One dollar per cubic inch, top price. Start at half what he's asking. You can always raise your offer.
Best wishes

 

Hopefully it has proper antifreeze first thing. Tote a battery with you & fire that mutha up. That'll tell the tale. If you can't hear it run, $200 & he aught to be happy to get it.

 

any engine can be fired up. even one setting on the ground. Don't buy if you cant hear it run. Now as to price. I wouldn't pay $500 for a running 300 hp 327. but I will not sell any that I have for $500. Now I have a good 350 out of a 71 truck that you can hear run I will sell for $500

 

small journal 327 and the crank out of your 283................

 

love 327's paid $200 for last one--was complete 300 HP-just an old stocker. We pulled the heads and pan to ck.

 

Man you guys are killing me. They are getting really scarce here and not just 327's either. I couldn't find a decent SBC to build a couple years back when I was building my '40 coupe. Sure you can find some of the so called "fresh built" motors on Craigslist that I wouldn't trust for more than a core, but good usable unmolested (carbed Gen I's) are tough to find here. I have a buddy that works at a salvage yard that said they rarely see them anymore and said the last one they sold for 750.00 was a 350 2BBL out of a big 4 door. They turn up occasionally, but it sure isn't like it used to be

 

Like my wife says, "willing to pay a buck an inch". That means you gotta pay $327, and she owes me $10.

 

* 6.25 dollars..


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UWISH

 

I charge $12, but I keep the lights out and hide all the rulers. Maybe I'll offer the guy $327 and see how it goes as soon as we thaw a little more and can uncover the car. Thanks for the input. Thanks for turning my thread into dick jokes. I like it here.

 

like Russco said they are getting hard to find and the last small journal 327 was in 66 if it was in a impala and was orig to car probably 250 horse BUT that is no big deal. see if you can get it started, since he put a timing chain in it doubtful it was rebuilt recently. but at least run the nos to see if a 65 327 then go from there a sat afternoon ought to tell if it worth the effort. as for as price it worth what you and the seller agree on same as anything else just .02 Tom

 

I bought a complete 67 327 for $250, had the forged crank and 462 heads that the date codes were 1 day apart. Needed rebuild and was in front of an automatic. Happy for the purchase

 

Last one I bought (2006) I paid $700 for. It was a '66 300hp 327, and it came with a th350 with a B+M shift kit. The engine was never rebuilt, and complete from carb to the oil pan. The engine was in a '70 Camaro and the owner was swapping it out for a 400sbc and a 4 speed. I installed it in a '62 Studebaker Lark and it ran great! Used no oil and gave me no problems. Last car I put it in was an OT '68 Triumph Spitfire which became a 1500lb fire breathing beast! The only modifications I did was to add an Edelbrock carb and intake, hei, and headers. Traded it this past fall for my current ride, my '50 Dodge. (The Spitfire scared me- I guess I'm getting old!)

I do miss my little 327...

 

Couple years ago I paid 400 for a complete (minus carb) 327. Standard claim "it was rebuilt a few hundred miles ago" and responded with my standard "fire it up or pull a head and let's see?"
He didn't want to.. after I got it I wanted to swap heads and I'll be damned if that thing isn't actually a fresh rebuild.
I know that "we" love the 327, but the new school rodders are into 5.3, etc so those guys aren't competition for us buying them anymore.


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1967, Gospel

 

Chasing one right now--65 small journal. Was rebuilt by a very reputable shop-all receipts present-not cheap. Guy put it in a Nova and drove it 600 miles. Took it out and put in a new LS crate motor. Two years ago a friend found one in the back of a Napa shop in Lodi. Customer Had brought it for a rebuild and never came back. It was a tired 62 250HP but std bore and crank-$200-told him to get it!! Rebuilt with 461's and a L79 cam-etc. Lives in a 40 now in Monterrey.Another one we found is also in a 40 -it is a 65 and has a 65 Rochester FI unit-was built right and runs strong. Same friend had a 55 and had Panella built him a very high dollar 327-Bullet roller setup,dual 4's,461's with extensive work,etc-dynoed 420HP +. Still running great and he drove it everywhere with 4:11's at highway speeds-was hard on gas though, 8-9 miles per gallon max.

 

Just a little more info on 327.. mine was made in Tonawanda on April 2, I'd code, T042JR. Or 1964 300hp. Worth couple of hundred I thought.

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The ??? is how much money you want to put in it after the fact
MPO
1-is i would start it first
2- If it was redone in the 70's chances are there are no hardened valve seat in the heads
which they will need for today's gas
3- Depending on how long it has been sitting all bearings should be replaced
4- So it's up to you how much you want to invest in it, if parting it out the crank and the heads are worth around 300 each to the right person but you could have close to 3G in it to make perfect the way you would probably like it

Tinkirk/Terry