I don't want to spend huge money on an engine upgrade ....what would be some decent upgrades you would do to a basic 327/275 engine ? I don't want a build up ( Like I saw in a previous thread ) to 400 hp ..

Thanks

Aftermarket heads (170-180cc intake port, 64cc chambers, either iron or alluminum) will give you a HUGE performance increase.

What Jim said along w/ a mild 268 to 272 cam and headers.

I personally like the solid lifter cams, The old CC 270S and Isky Z-20 as well as the little Crower and old Stock, Duntov, -097 too! Just install at least a cheap, like $25 or so set of Z-28, (-142), valve springs and go!

And a 600 cfm Holley on a 300-36 intake if it doesn't already have a good Q-Jet on it now.

pdq67

Not for everyone, but nitrous makes a fun, cheap toy. A 125 shot like the NOS Powershot system is very reliable if the directions are followed and it turns a mild street cruiser into a ground pounder. I did this to my Nova when I was a kid and I loved it.

Change the cam. The heads are fine for a 327 and so is the intake and carb.

I was suggested ... A change from the Rochester Carb to a Holley ..... A Good Cam and also rearend change to 4:10 ....what would be anybodys recommendations ? Where is a good place to look for these parts ...

Thanks -------- Just installed the Thorley Headers --- THY 380 ---Shorties ----They fit from the top no problem ...we had big problems with install over the last week as I stated in another thread ......and went with the newest pypes exaust with violator mufflers ....can't wait to hear it .

Personally I would stick with the Q-jet. You aren't going to get any big HP increase with a change to a Holley. And also, I wouldn't go with 4.10 gears unless you don't intend on cruising over 60 mph... What transmission does it have?

A cam change would be the biggest bang for the buck on that engine. Does it have double hump heads?

Mark

We have done quite a few 327's for street rod guys and have gone with the Vortec heads zero deck and we have always used a 275 ADV 226 @ .050n a 108 lobe sep. single pattern which seems to work great so far no complaints.

We also line honed, decked to zero, bored and plate honed.

Powerglide tranny and camel heads = yes

I said, if it didn't have a Q-Jet on it, then install a Holley 600 cfm on their 300-36 intake! Therefore Mark is in here too!

And oger is also right, the double-hump heads will do nicely, but JimM's right too b/c the slightly larger big valve aftermarket heads will produce more power than the old double-humps unless they also have big valves and are worked over, imho!

And DON'T over-cam the little jewel! A 268 to 272 cam will do NICELY!!

Now, you get her up to right at 11 to 1 CR., then an old Isky Z-30 solid lifter cam will really talk to you up to at least 8,000!!

pdq67

"really" the stock cam will be fine unless you really feel a need to rip everything apart.
I "hate" trying to do a cam swap "between the fenders", itsa pain in the *ss, and the front cover always leaks at the oil pan cause you can't get it clean enough to seal.

If you're gonna pull the motor, by all means, do heads and cam, as well as a "reseal" and "krylon rebuild" and clean up the engine compartment and wiring while your in there... uh oh, I sense a snowball! I started out to do that one winter ands ended up with a new paint job and a new interior too!

Heads are easy. 1 day with no beer and no "helper", a good weekend with both. No breakin to worry about. A "good" set of right size aftermarket heads will give you 40 HP easy out of an otherwise stock L30. Dart iron eagle 180's work well, edelbrock performer's do too, and so do vortec's, but those will need a bunch of other stuff to be compatible. Put a cheap set of 1.6 roller tips rockers on and call it good.

I have the 327/275hp engine and I have a mild comp cam, edelbrock performer manifold w/ 600 edelbrock carb, 3:31 posi and dont have the low end power I would really like to have. I also have the stock 194 camel hump heads. It was recommended to me to upgrade my heads and rear end gears to 3:55 or 3:73. Good luck, post any results.

What PDQ said but with 3.73 posi rear gears.

Powerglide tranny and camel heads = yes

Not exactly what you're asking, but from a performance perspective, I believe swapping out the Pglide for just a TH350 and a decent converter would be your best $ spent. This should help the car get out of it's way from a stop a LOT better...

Just food for thought.

We have done quite a few 327's for street rod guys and have gone with the Vortec heads zero deck and we have always used a 275 ADV 226 @ .050n a 108 lobe sep. single pattern which seems to work great so far no complaints.

We also line honed, decked to zero, bored and plate honed.


Carl,

You got dyno numbers for those builds?

Remember, the little old -929 type stock cam IF it isn't it, is very small!

Heck, at least move up to the Performer at 204/214 vs 195/202!!

And I figure that you will love this little-bitty Clevite solid lifter cam!!

Part #229-1998; spec's are -- 258/219/270/229, 114/110, .456"/.479" gross lift and need's .022" lash on both sides.

pdq67

Carl,

You got dyno numbers for those builds?

I believe that one of the 327 we built probably was dynoed about 8 years ago but most of the time the customers with the street rods won't spend the extra money for dyno time and this set up with the Vortec heads is pretty much standard for this application and has worked very well so far.

Most of the XE Comp cams have a wide lobe sep 110 or 112 which hurt dynamic compression and most and there cams have and exhaust lobe that is 10 to 12 degrees bigger then the intake which hurts dynamic compression but it will have a nasty idle but I don't feel it will have the torque of the cam we have been using

A single pattern cam will always make more torque then a dual pattern cam and a cam grond on a 108 lobe sep will make more torque over a cam that has a 112 lobe sep.

I have a customer that has two street rods one with a 350 and the Corvette heads and the other a 331 with the Vortec heads and the cam I spoke about and he says the 327 is the better performing engine over the two.

We build a lot of circle track engines and is some of the lower classes this has been a very popular cam as far as torque and power on the track and where they are limited to compression.

And this cam has a good choppy idly being ground 108 and seems to have plenty of grunt from the bottom up.

At our shop we don't buy shelf cams but have our cams ground to what we think will best for application and so far our customers have been happy with the results and what the dyno sheets have said.

Here is an interesting link on single pattern cam VS dual pattern cam.
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191657

I agree, switching to a TH 350 transmission will be a big help over the glide. You can pick one up fairly cheap these days and it's an easy swap.

Next question. What gears are in the rearend? I'm guessing 2.73's? They aren't going to give you much 'pep' either. Something in the 3.23-3.55 range would be good for the street. Anything lower (numerically higher) than that and you really need an overdrive tranny for any kind of highway use.

I'm sticking with the cam being the 'biggest bang for the buck'. It's a tougher job, but much cheaper than heads. Then, to get the full effect from a head swap you'll need a bigger cam anyway. ;) It's all about your budget. How much you got to spend? I'm sure we could spend it all, and then some for you. :D

Your heads should be fine for up to about 375 HP. Anything more than that and you'll need to step up to better flowing heads.

All that being said, I think the transmission and rearend gears are what's giving you the sluggish feel. My car had a glide with 2.73 gears when I bought it and you had to be on wet pavement, going uphill, to get the tire to spin...

Check your rear gear, if you don't already know what's in it. Put the transmission in neutral. Jack up one rear tire. Spin it around exactly two times and count the number of driveshaft revolutions. 2 3/4 revolutions is a 2.73 gear, a little over 3 revolutions would be a 3.08.

Jim's right. I see a definite snowball effect coming on. Transmission, converter, rearend gears, heads, cam... Enjoy!

Mark

Carl... what is the rpm range of that cam in a 327? Where is peak HP / peak Tq.

Carl... what is the rpm range of that cam in a 327? Where is peak HP / peak Tq.

Based on the 350-2 barrel engines with Vortec heads 11:01 we have seen 440 on the torque and in the 365 on the horse power and we usally start the pulls around 2800 and they are around 380 on the torque and peek torque is around 3800 but with these cams the torque seems to be really flat and about 4800 the is peak horse power but they don't seem to fall off very fast.

Hopefully this will give some idea how these cams work and form the engines on the street we have used these in the seem to pull hard from 1800 all the way up and from what we have seen the customer is always happier with more torque then anything.

From what we have seen in these engines I really am happy with the cam that we select and would not change any thing as these are just street rods not drag cars.

We have also done 307 engines with the same cam and agoin the customer has been happy with the results

Interesting. Looking at the specs, I would have thought 275/275 226/226 @ .050 duration on a 108 LSA in a 10:1 short stroke 327 would be a bit soggy down low, and really scream in the 4000-6000 range. Sounds like it acts a bit smaller than what I would have guessed.

Interesting. Looking at the specs, I would have thought 275/275 226/226 @ .050 duration on a 108 LSA in a 10:1 short stroke 327 would be a bit soggy down low, and really scream in the 4000-6000 range. Sounds like it acts a bit smaller than what I would have guessed.

John let me back up a little as the cam I misinformed you on its 276 adv. 226 @.050 and 135 @200 lift

What are you using for heads on this 327. The cam we use is not a big cam and seems to build a ton of low end torque and in the 350 street engines we use a little bigger cam and have great results with that cam.

Were not building drag engines for thse guys only a good street engine and if they want to lite the tires up there does not seem to be any problems doing that.

I would say there is a tunning problem some where or to big of intake runners, We run a Moroso dist. with the lightest springs so its fully advanced about 2000 to 2200 RPM and a short curve and this really helps then get of the line.

And there again these engines have been line honed, decked to zero and bored and plate honed plus they are all balanced and we use file fit rings and these engines seem to respond really well.

Carl... I've never run a cam like that in my 327 - I am not saying I KNOW how it would behave. Just 'seems' big to me. If you say it works well in the 1800-5500 range, then I have no reason to doubt it. You have built MANY, MANY more engines than me! :)

Just seems a little large based on what I would have thought would have worked in that range in a 327. I was expecting something more like 212-218 @ .050" lift - something more like a XE256, Isky 264, etc, etc.

These 327s & 307... were they 10:1 motors?

John let me back up a little as the cam I misinformed you on its 276 adv. 226 @.050 and 135 @200 lift

What are you using for heads on this 327. The cam we use is not a big cam and seems to build a ton of low end torque and in the 350 street engines we use a little bigger cam and have great results with that cam.

Were not building drag engines for thse guys only a good street engine and if they want to lite the tires up there does not seem to be any problems doing that.

I would say there is a tunning problem some where or to big of intake runners, We run a Moroso dist. with the lightest springs so its fully advanced about 2000 to 2200 RPM and a short curve and this really helps then get of the line.

And there again these engines have been line honed, decked to zero and bored and plate honed plus they are all balanced and we use file fit rings and these engines seem to respond really well.

That's why I posted the little Clevite solid lifter cam!

Should run smooth like stock except being a solid cam and pull like a horse up a LOT higher, imho!!

Note! Nothing fancy here at all..

Guy's, I get this crap from the little-bitty, stock solid lifter Stude engines we used to beat on back in highschool!! Couldn't hear them run except for a tad of "sewing machine" and they would rpm up until carb and exhaust limited no higher FINE!!

pdq67

Carl... I've never run a cam like that in my 327 - I am not saying I KNOW how it would behave. Just 'seems' big to me. If you say it works well in the 1800-5500 range, then I have no reason to doubt it. You have built MANY, MANY more engines than me! :)

Just seems a little large based on what I would have thought would have worked in that range in a 327. I was expecting something more like 212-218 @ .050" lift - something more like a XE256, Isky 264, etc, etc.

These 327s & 307... were they 10:1 motors?
Carl's cam sounds pretty awesome to me. I ran a comp 270 (224@.050, .5 lift w/1.6 rockers, 110/106) in my old 327 (still an in my 383 actually) and it was a great cam for the small engine. Idled at around 800 with plenty of vacuum, fabulous midrange, and rpm's well over 6k.

Carl's sounds like that, only better.

In the 383, the same cam is like driving a dump truck. Anyone got any stumps they want pulled?

Carl... is that cam a hyd FT, or a solid FT? Thanks.

Carl... is that cam a hyd FT, or a solid FT? Thanks.

Hyd. FT amd the other be factor here is the Vortec heads as we have found they respond better to duration then lift.