Thread: sbc 327 info needed

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Originally Posted by gearheadmike

Hi im new here im 20 and found this sbc 327 at a friends salvage yard about a year ago. i noticed the engine in a shed asked about it and he said a friend of his left it there,i gess he had a 70 chevelle he was putting it in but he got arrested in canada and got stuck there so he needed money bad so i bought the engine for $250 this is compleat other then alt/and fan it had an edelbrock carb looked new and a starter looked to be new/redone. lookes to be stock intake and valve covers on it wich they say Turbo Fire got it home checked the numbers and found out its a 1964 chevy II nova 327 so how are these engines and is it better seeing its got the turbo fire vavle covers any hp diff? thanks

Hey Mike. No, the valve covers will make no difference. Even if they would, you have no idea they came originally on that motor.

A couple of things for you to consider here.
1. The heads were manufactured without accessory holes like later heads, so arrangements will have to be made with aftermarket brackets to run anything other than fan and alternator/generator.
2. The heads were manufactured when 100 octane leaded fuel was available at the corner gas station, therefore they have no hardened exhaust valve seats in them. Today's unleaded fuels will allow the valve to eat into the head over a period of time unless you install hard seats.
3. The head technology used here is over 46 years old. There have been leaps and bounds made in head science in just the past 15 years.

What would I do? I'd bolt the motor up to an engine stand and start disassembly. After the heads are off, mount a degree wheel to the crank and degree the cam to find out what's in there. Measure the distance from the crown of the piston to the block deck to determine the piston deck height. Measure the bore to determine if the block has been bored. Read through this Iskenderian tutorial to find out how to degree the cam to find out what it is....
http://www.iskycams.com/camshaft.php

Secure this book and read it through a couple of times to get a handle on what you're doing. Vizard is an excellent author who cuts through the chaff and gets down to the matter at hand.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rebuild-Yo...9164175&sr=1-4

If you don't pull the motor apart to identify what you have, you will be asking questions until you are blue in the face. I can see you asking about using different parts on the motor......
1. I don't know what pistons are in the motor, but can someone recommend a camshaft that will work?
2. I don't know what camshaft is in the motor, but can someone tell me how much hp my motor will make?
3. I don't know the volume in my cylinder heads, but can someone tell me what my static compression ratio is?
These and many other silly questions can be averted by KNOWING what you have to deal with in the first place.