so here it is: i am not a mechanic nor do i understand the technicalities that go into mechanics. i drive cars, i dont know how to work on them.

i am thinking of upgrading a 327 to a bigger engine. in my head, 350 or 383 are the two i am contemplating. im not dragging anyone...its gonna be a daily street driver.

who has an opinion on which way to go? i want my car to have balls, but i dont need to be going too crazy.

knowledge is power.......

derek

I like this for a traditional smallblock :
http://www.crateenginedepot.com/ZZ38...P9982C556.aspx
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450 horsepower at in incredibly low 5400 RPM, and 460 ft.lbs of torque at 4500 RPM make this the ideal hot street engine.

The excellent air handling and combustion characteristics of the Fast Burn cylinder heads combined with the ZZ383/450's 3.800" stroke, make this engine the benchmark against which all other 383 inch small-blocks should be measured. And its tough, too.

The 4340 nitrided and induction hardened crank and unique forged PM rods see to that.
The 9.6 to 1 compression ratio ensures that the ZZ383/450 is 92 octane pump gas friendly.

The ZZ383/450 gets a stout .509/.528 lift steel camshaft with 222/230 duration at .050 lift. Hydraulic roller lifters and GM's time tested 1.5 to 1 roller rocker arms round ou the valve train.
And, of course, it has the Fast Burn head's lightweight stainless steel valves and retainers for reliable performance at extended RPM.

GM's testing was completed using a GM single plane intake, P/N 12496822 and a 750 CFM Demon carburetor with mechanical secondaries.
Test header specs are: 1 3/4" primairies,33 inches long with a 4-inch collectors.

GM dual plane intake P/N 12366573 may be used for hood clearance on the ZZ383/450, but it results in a decrease in peak horsepower of approximately 15-20 horsepower.

The real sale feature for the ZZ383 is he fact that it comes from GMPP with a Chevrolet factory warranty; not an insurance policy that reimburses you (maybe) if the engine you buy from someone else dies a horrible death.

The difference is; you drag your Camaro into any GM dealership in the country (great if your on a long haul road trip) and GM will repair or replace the motor at no cost to you within 365 days of the sale date. Note that isn't when you finally install the motor after a five year odyssey of chasing rust and aftermarket parts. It isn't even the delivery date, which can take up to a week or more to arrive; but the date of sale.

These are brand new Chevrolet motors hand built (hecho en México) that are made with all brand new Chevrolet service parts, not refurbished used parts. So those new Vortec "fast burn" combustion chamber heads will make more power than a pair of fifty year old Camel hump "fuelie" heads ever would. Once the warranty expires you can port and polish the Vortec heads to obtain even more power potential if so motivated in the future; as they respond to all of the tricks that made the fuelie heads popular.

Larger Dave

Keep the 327, everybody has a 383 or 406, lol

What wrong with the 327?

How do you intend to drive the car?

Easy enough to add power to a 327.

Nah. LS.

its gonna be a daily street driver...
im not against keeping the 327....i am having the engine pulled this
winter to check the compression etc etc....it almost definitely needs
rebuilding. im thinking the cost of rebuilding it and adding all tghe
things it will need to generate more performance will be less cost
effective than buying a whole brand new setup.

Not necessarily,I took my 210 hp 327 to a little over 300 hp for about $2000 which includes all machine shop fees and a new set of heads, fun to drive,very streetable,in fact I drive 275 miles to cruisin the coast with a three speed transmission with no problems

Everybody wants more power. Why? You can't use it on the street 99% of the time. I see articles in magazines and guys have built 900 hp twin turbo engines for their street car or 750 hp big blocks. Why? If you hook that power up, you're breaking parts. If you don't hook it up, you're just keeping the local tire dealer happy. Most of this high HP stuff is for bench racing at the local Sonic.

A sane engine build for the street will yield between 400-450 HP and up to 500 lb ft of torque. I will say that 300 HP for me is not enough for a classic Camaro when you're run of the mill modern V-6 car is putting out 300 + ponies. Yeah, 383s are a dime a dozen but there's a reason for that. They're dirt cheap, the parts needed have been scienced out to the nth degree and widely available, and they make good power. 400 HP 350s are easy to build also when you consider the heads that are available today. Lots of choices.

I would definitely go with the bigger cube engine.

Torque is king on the street , and that crate motor has tons of it. Way more than a 327 with ancient factory heads.

And 450 HP with a tiny 222* cam ? That's impressive.

Mine is a base coupe like yours and I will definitely research the cost of rebuilding vs new..... I'm just doing some research ahead of time


Thanks for the input

It's not an issue of wanting MORE power ... I just want power. I own a nice Classic Camaro and I want it to get up n go when I want it to. Right now----it's not living up to that expectation.

Nothing wrong with wanting it to be fast.

That's why thousands of people bought these cars in the first place.

Guess you missed the point. If you're going to build an engine, you want more than the output of a 2015 V-6 but you don't have to so crazy that you're planning a 600 hp beast.