Hot Rods Are you a 283 engine guy or a 327 guy?

Small journal 327s cause that is what I had in the 60s. A couple 250s and one 300. I ran them as is with only Mallory ignition and Dontov 30-30 cam as mods.

 

And I thought you just meant that your bathroom was 283 equipped...

 

I like em both....just built and put this one into my 3W.
Ported Power packs, 1.94 intakes, mild cam, steel crank, Mallory ign, ported 2.5"rams horns, 5 spd trans, 3.9 gears.
Rebuilding the carbs for the Weiand WC4D.

Has enough beans for what I'm doing with the car, runs great !

 

The only true SBC production “stroker” manufactured in mass quantities.

 

I bought a stuck 283 for cheap. When I opened it up, I found a rod cap had come loose and ruined the rod and crank. When I finally got apart, I got a 327 crank to put in it to make a "stroker motor" out of it. The machine shop I took it to said it would probably have to be bored .060 and the crank ground .020 and .030. I don't think he wanted his shop to have anything to do with it so he offered me a 327 core block and crank for no extra charge and I said sure. I now have a + .030 327 with a .010, .010 steel crank.

Gary

 

I had one in high school, hoped up with a cam and better heads, headers, 650 dp, edy high rise. Ran like a raped ape with it's ass on fire.

 

My 57 Vette has a .060 forged flat top large journal 307 with a cast 307 crank .
I have power pack heads on it currently . The short block was left over from a street stock we ran .
I built the engine for gas mileage 25 years ago for gas milage with a 300 HP trw replacement cam .
It runs fine likely about 280 HP with the intake and headers

With a cam and good heads these run just fine.
The 10 cubic inch loss to a real 327 is maybe 10 HP if that at 6000 rpm .

The issue is you need about a 58cc head to get the compression up with a flat top piston . That's with near zero deck and a .040 thick gasket OR down in the hole with a shim gasket
I have heard the 305 Vortec type heads work well . I have heard another 305 head also works good . There are some aftermarket cast heads with small chambers as well.

The 1.94 valves work well on these your not going to get 10-1 with a 65 cc camber 461 fuely headas I recall unless you angle cut the heads which is what we had on the stock car . Then you got to cut the intake .. our .060 over 307 made 374 HP with a holley 2bbl Bolaws carb a cast iron modified stock Brizenski intake angle cut heads with a hyd cam .

 

Hmmmm well the large journsl 327 became a stroked 327 with the introduction of the 350 chevy and there is like a billion of them .

I forget. Will a turned down to small journal size mains 350 crank fit / clear in a small journal 327 block ??

 

My best SBC large journal 327 crank in a 400 block

 

Never tried it. Could be an interesting setup for a sneaker combination. No replacement for displacement. Well cubic dollars... And a big blower!

But I don need no steenkin big horsepower engine. I'm going to make do with a 283 in the Whatever project

 

The reason I ask is some 283 blocks were the same as 327 in the crank case so you could in theory have a 283 bored to 4 inch then have a 350 crank turned down on the mains and have a 283 stroked to 350 running cheap easy to get pistons and likely a free crank needing machine work any way .

I have done several large journal 327's on 350 blocks with a 307 crank . One ran 12's in a chevelle years ago was 12.5 -1 with a roller cam . Cast crank never had a issue .

 

265, 283, 327 all work for me. In high school 1965 I had a 30 Ford roadster with a new crate 327 fullie without the fuel injection. 2 wcfb’s instead. Fastest thing around.

 

352 Stroker. 1/4 stroked 327 crank in a .125 over 283, or standard bore 327 is the way they used to do it

 

lol. i use std size flat top forged 283 pistons in my dragster 350 buick engine. std size is as far i can go. and they are rare to find. repops are crazy pricing now.

 

But the 3.480” crank wasn’t in anything else so it’s not a true stroker 327 eventho it could be called one.
Now a 3.500” crank, custom made back in 1957 or earlier, (1/2” welded stock crank) made a 352” which I understand Chevrolet would not make in the planning of the 350” because Ford stated making them in 1959. I understand Keith Black drove a 58 Corvette in 58 with a 352” around Long Beach that kicked a lot of butt!
All in how you see the engine you have or are building.

 

Here’s ya some NOS .060 badgers for a 327

needs to lower that price

 

283 at a swap meet recently, was complete with new pistons, cam etc for $500 or parts separately. was tempted. JW

 

An SJ 327 i should have got at a swap meet last year, was $3k but i was thinking that the over used Corvette covers were holding the price up. JW

 

Very tidy 283 in a 30 A Coupe. JW

 

When I first saw this thread, I thought "what's the difference?", because they look the same....but I've been thinking on it, especially while perusing the forum with a few cold ones down....if I was building something with steel wheels and hubcaps, more of a '50s build, I'd do the 283. If I was doing something with Radirs or Torq-Thrusts or Cragars, more of an early '60s style, I'd go for the 327....

 

Yes , there are 2 ways to do it.
Turn down a 350 crank main journals to fit a 327. [use 350 rods]
Or line bore the 327 block , but this requires the rear oil slinger to be turned down [or the rear groove fly cut]

You can take a 327 out to 383 and Yes there is machining involved.
If you pick the right block ,you can take a 283 out to 383 with similar machining


Anything is possible if you have a "thinner interpretation of the rulebook" [305 to 430 ]


back on subject 283 or 327 [guess which]


And you can pull the engine without removing the hood or front sheet metal [just the radiator support panel]

 

^^283. JW

 

Triggering alert ahead! Put me in the "Neither" camp. I'm a contrarian, and I've reached my SBC Saturation Point. If I look at a car at a cruise night with an SBC, My mind instantly skips over it, like when I was a young guy weeding out fat chicks at a bar. I don't "see" SBC's. And it's not that I think they're bad engines, I 've had several. I just can't look at another one! To me, if you put an SBC or an LS in your hot rod, you're saying, I have Zero imagination. I know, now I have alienated 3/4 of ya's. You asked....

 

I never understood the 307 hatred. I had one in a C-20 and that little engine ran good. Let the stones fly, but I’d build a 307 over a 283 any day. I’d also build a 350 over a 327, but that’s outside the scope of this thread.

 

I think the "hatred" was because it was a "step back" in cubic inch. They would be legendary if they came out before the 327, and with 350 available at the time.....they were a runt.
nothing wrong with them at all.

 

I can't believe we are even talking about 3o5's 3o7's, 350's etc. JW

 

Why wouldn't we? Aside from 305s the 307 and 350 were fairly common stroker engines to build pre 1964. And the average person wouldn't know the difference between a 305 and a 283/327 after some part swapping unless they ran numbers

 

I ran Badger forged pistons in a LJ 327 built in 1982. They were cheaper than TRW then . They were also heavy . I still have the short block freshened up on a stand now .
It's likely going in my 27 roadster .
It's had a hard life even did some laps in a sprint car at one point when a 360 broke mid season . Rode in the front of a vega wagon , 67 chevelle as well. Been rebuilt a few times cylinders now have taper .
Figured it gets one last run .
How it never had a rod issue on stock road with only Pioneer bolts hitting 8000 RPM so many times has always surprised me.

I paid $169 for the pistons at Cotati Performance in Rhonert Park CA.

 

I've never owned a 307 ( imagine that!) but from what I recall they had a run of soft camshafts that gave them a reputation as "short lived", doesnt mean they don't have potential.

 

A great look and how they should be…