I have a 68 327-210hp/PG with 2.73:1(guess) 10-bolt rear end with 60,000 miles on the car now. I wanted to replace the top end with some upgraded parts. I have the opportunity to get a complete L31 vortec motor. The heads are 906's and the block is an 880. Would it be better to try to use these heads or trade them for an original set of camel humps. Right now I am just looking into the top end.

The L31 is complete from pan to throttle body. I do not know the condition of it prior to now. It has not run for at least 2 or 3 years. Would it be a good idea to hold on to the block for maybe a later complete engine swap?

I know these are very vague questions, but I am looking for people with experience upgrading the orginal motor and using the new stuff to comment on this.

Murph

I would personally re-ring the new engine, stab a better cam in it, change to a Perf. RPM intake, and stuff it in the car. Keep the original 327 and put it away for a while.
Those 906 heads don't flow quite as well as the other Vortec castings, due to the valve seats. This can be changed, however, and have as much potential as any other Vortec head.
The Vortec heads with a roller cam will be a screamer. I'd actually stroke it to a 383 while it's out.

------------------
Matt Jones
1969 Base Camaro
Vortec 355, Perf. RPM, Demon Carb., TH-400
All sheetmetal is NOS GM
See my UPDATED webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/compuboy007/ (Updated: 1/13/03)

I'd agree w/ the above post
if budget allows a stroker is nice
contact Speed Inc in Schaumburg for parts and all dat, knowledgable bunch up there
matter o'fact the MFBA is having a meeting sat. 25th there 11-2, open house for their new facility afterwards

------------------
'68 Camaro (Baby) - 333, 200-4R, custom interior and paint, 12bolt/4.10s
'94 Z28 (Pepe) - stock heads/cam and 3.23 gears - 12.44 @ 106+ 1.68 sixty, all motor
(Jan '03 GM High Tech Peformance cover car)
a few other toys
fast's page (http://fastz28.cz28.com)
Midwest F-Body Association (http://www.mfba.org)
LT1Tech (http://www.lt1tech.com)

Loose the glide and put in a 350 turbo before you do anything. You won't believe the difference. The 327 can be made to run better. A head change to raise the compression and a better cam will help but just don't get too carried away.



[This message has been edited by oger (edited 01-20-2003).]

oger,

What do you mean "don't get too carried away"?

Murph

Murph,

I also have the 327/210hp engine with PG trans. and a 2.?? something rear gears. Currently, I'm in the process of swapping out my Powerglide for a new TH350 trans. From what others on this board have said, it makes a big difference in performance.

I also am looking into the Vortec heads later on down the road. From what I understand,the Vortecs are a great upgrade.

Maybe Oger will correct me if I'm wrong, But what I think he meant about "not getting carried away" was a reference to not "overcamming" the engine if your goal
is street performance.

When I get around to re-building my 327, I have narrowed my cam choices to the Crane 266 hyd. (210/216 @.050 .440/.454) or the Comp XE256 hyd. cam
(212/218 @.050 .454/.454). Both of these cams should give good low & midrange performance out to about 5,000rpm....Basically the street RPM range.

Regards,
Mark P.

------------------
69 Camaro Coup-My Granny bought new in 1969!
Cortez Silver/drk blue interior
327/210hp
Dual exhaust with Turbo Muffs
Now with Pertronix Electronic ignition!
Powerglide trans.
Ugly & skinny tires!
-------------------------
Search TV Christian Ministry: www.searchtv.org (http://www.searchtv.org)



[This message has been edited by Granny's 69 (edited 01-21-2003).]

Unlike bigger engines 327s (especially with 2.73s) Don't like a lot of cam or huge cylinder heads. They just don't have the torque to use them on anything that is driven on the street.

I guess I had not thought about doing the cam at the same time. Is the cam that is in it all that bad? I see it was the same grind used up to 300hp in stock trim.

I was thinking in the long run about swaping the trans to a TH350 or 200-4R. I was also going to convert the current rear axle to a posi with 3.42 or 3.55 gears if possible.

I don't plan to take the car to the track and it does not really see much street time in the summer. I just want something faster for now. I'm sure after I have that, I'll say it would be nice to have something even faster, and so on and so on.

This is my first go at this so I appriciate all of the input.

Murph

Ditto, Oger.. pdq67

Mark,

Where did you get your TH350? Is it basically stock or to what level of modification?

Murph

Murph,

Actually, I picked up my TH350 at a auto parts swap meet for $50.00. After I brought it home & cleaned it up, I opened it up to discover that it was basically toast. No bigee...I just had it re-built.

I just picked the tranny up from the builder this afternoon. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif I had a good basic rebuild with new seals,friction clutches,steels,etc. along with a Transgo "dash2" shift kit and a stock torque converter. I went with a stock converter because my engine is still stock(for now).

Also, I will be installing a Hayden 6 row transmission oil cooler, an Energy Suspension poly trans. mount and all new cabling(shifter cable & kickdown cable) and finally, I will install a Shiftwork PG to TH350 shifter conversion kit to convert the stock Horseshoe shifter to work with a TH350.

I asked alot of questions about shift kits before I had my TH350 built. The overwhelming recommendation was a Transgo kit. So that's what I went with.

Total for the Tranny re-build with stock converter & Transgo kit was $525.00. The total overall cost was about $800.00 for everything.

Let me know If you need anything else.

Mark P.


------------------
69 Camaro Coup-My Granny bought new in 1969!
Cortez Silver/drk blue interior
327/210hp
Dual exhaust with Turbo Muffs
Now with Pertronix Electronic ignition!
Powerglide trans.
Ugly & skinny tires!
-------------------------
Search TV Christian Ministry: www.searchtv.org (http://www.searchtv.org)

Thanks for the info Mark.

Does anyone know what added complications this trans swap adds when the car has a column shift. I plan to convert over to a center console and horseshoe shifter at some point but this is a very expensive change. Console/shifter/wiring harness's

Maybe I will focus on the trans and rear and just part out the L31.

[This message has been edited by murph's 68 (edited 01-22-2003).]

Murph,

Sorry for the slow reply,but I've been out of town on business.

I believe that Shiftworks makes a PG to TH350 conversion kit that works with column shifters. Try them at www.shiftworks.com (http://www.shiftworks.com) .

Don't give up on the Vortec heads just yet. As I understand it, the Vortec heads have 170cc intake ports with 1.94"/1.50" valves.
This is close to the same intake port size of some of the old "camelhump" heads (165cc).
Vortecs will probably work out good on your 327 if you don't let the compression get too high ( greater than 10:1 ). So do some checking with a Compression ratio calculator before you bolt them on.

Of course, if you do decide to run the Vortecs, you MUST change to the Vortec style intake manifolds.


Good luck,
Mark P.

------------------
69 Camaro Coup-My Granny bought new in 1969!
Cortez Silver/drk blue interior
327/210hp
Dual exhaust with Turbo Muffs
Now with Pertronix Electronic ignition!
Powerglide trans.
Ugly & skinny tires!
-------------------------
Search TV Christian Ministry: www.searchtv.org (http://www.searchtv.org)

[This message has been edited by Granny's 69 (edited 01-24-2003).]

I will focus on the rear end first. I will find out if I can convert the 10 bolt 2.73 to a 3.55 posi with the current set-up. Then the trans next. This is how my orginal plan to upgrade was, but when the L31 popped up I started to rethink.

I am starting to tear down the L31 and get it ready for storage.

Murph