school me on rambler 327 ..

There's nothing wrong with the iron Borg-Warner (Flash-O-Matic) auto trans unless you have 400+ hp. Most are OLD now and need some servicing before putting back in use is all. Drop pan, change fluid, clean filter screen (no throw-away filter), adjust bands, remove/disassemble/clean valve body. Would be a good idea to pull the two band servos and replace the o-rings too, though you may need to buy a gasket kit to get them. Of course replace the rear seal, and if the trans is out the front seal. Might want to pull it and replace that front seal anyway.

The Jeep 327 TH400 is a good option, but you need the flexplate/crankshaft spacer/adapter also. I forget exactly what it looks like, but without that the adapter is worthless. All the internal parts and the output shaft housing of the "universal" TH400 are the same as any other TH400, so the 4x4 trans can be converted. It has to be totally disassembled to change the output shaft, but that's not a big deal if the trans needs rebuilding anyway.

The Nailhead TH400 was also sold to others as a "universal" trans because the shallow bell left plenty room for an adapter. It was kept in production a couple years after the Nailhead was history for that reason. I guess not enough customers to keep it in production much longer.

 

The weird part is I have learned more about Rambler/AMC on the HAMB than I could find on any other Rambler/AMC site!

This stuff probably makes the trad purists puke, but this is the magic of this site. More technical knowledge base than almost anywhere else on earth.

 

Frank, I have tried to go to your mag but no go?

Thanks for your input.

 

Maybe the site server was down? www.amc-mag.com should do it -- I just tried, and I clicked on the PDF. If you don't have a PDF plug-in then try right clicking on the free sample link and saving.

I try to keep people on here informed about the Ramblers since they are somewhat popular for rodders now that the most popular cars have gone up so much in price and are harder to come by. I'd rather see one rodded and on the road rather than scrapped! I like to see them restored, but it's not always practical. I'm a "driver" guy myself, no trailer queens for me! Mods, especially for safety, are the order of the day! Practicality comes into play too -- it's not always practical to keep the old drivetrain. I just don't like making changes just to be making changes. Fronts suspensions, for example. The original trunnions are as good and in some cases better than replacements such as the Mustang II, you just gotta know how to work with it.

Best places for AMC/Rambler info are www.amc-list.com and www.theamcforum.com. A great info website is www.wps.com. Mostly the old 196 engine and 63-66 Classic/58-63 American stuff, but those are what I get the most questions about here.

 

----------------
I'm not sure when GM stopped
manufacturing the "universal - nee Buick
naihead" version of the TH400. but besides
AMC -powered Jeep trucks and Wagoneers
in the 1960's, it was used by several British
manufacturers, including Rolls Royce, Jaguar
and Daimler at least into the late '70's and
possibly later.

Mart3406
==========================

 

Hello Ron,

Is there any way i can contact your friend about those cam grinds? Also would like to look into the intake upgrade and exhaust as well. I have a 327 AMC motor and love it!

Ralph

 

I can get you a reground cam--I have one more left. Has more lift and duration than stock. I can get the specs.

 

You know what to do with the intake? Most people adapt an Edelbrock Torker, but that's not what I would use for a street engine. The Torker is the most popular to adapt simply because the first people to adapt an intake were using the engines for racing, and the Torker is great for mid to high rpm power. That's the only intake that most people have seen adapted, so they copy the process. For a street engine I'd adapt an Offenhauser Dual Plane, or some other DP intake. Better low to mid range power, which is what a street car needs.

If you need some details on adapting an intake let me know.

There are no headers, but "Headers by Doug" used to sell nice 3/8" thick header flanges. The center exhaust ports are siamesed, so there are only three exhaust ports on the head. You can take some headers with two pipes close together in the center and merge those two pipes when welding to the flange. Will take a good welder, but not too difficult.

 

I answered Lono in a PM, but will restate here: YES, you can use the torque-tube transmissions (auto or manual) with an open driveshaft. You just need the correct yoke. T-10 or any 67-71 AMC big V-8 (343 or larger) car yoke. The 290 and 304 used a M-4x auto trans and smaller yoke. The bigger engines used a cast iron case. Factory 290/4Vs had the cast iron main case trans also (no factory 304/4V). If it's an auto with a cast iron main case, the yoke should fit. T-10 manual yoke is supposed to fit also.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________
^^^^What he said...My understanding is they were about the same T-10 that was used in old fords...Is that correct?

 

The older Ford T-10 uses the same spline count as the AMC T-10, but the outer diameter for the seal is different. The Ford yoke can have a thin sleeve put on to fit the AMC seal. You'll have to take the Ford yoke and AMC seal to a machine shop so they can fix you up. You might be able to get the AMC yoke from an AMC vendor like Kennedy (www.kennedyamerican.com) or APD (www.americanpartsdepot.com).

 

Any chance he might have some spare '65 Marlin parts kicking around? I am driving through PA in a few weeks.

Ralph

 

Maybe I missed it but is the 327 bell and crank flange position same as later V-8 mills, 343, 401? Made 400's that bolted up to them, I got a few of such cases.

 

The flange on the 327 is flat -- at least on the 63-66 models. I think the flywheel bolt pattern is the same as later AMC V8s (and the same as sixes), but the diameter may be different.

You can't use the 327 TH400s on the later AMCs due to the bell housing bolt pattern. The GEN-1 250/287/327 (56-66) has a unique bell bolt pattern. To top that off, the TH400 used was the "universal" pattern (Buick Nailhead) that required an adapter due to the shallow bell housing on the trans. The adapter is at least 1.5" thick. If you have the trannys that's great, but I hope you have the special flexplate and flexplate spacer to go with them. Those are hard to find -- people forget to pull them when saving the trans and adapter.

 

Some trivia that may help if you find a fifties AMC in a junk yard...

The 55 and 56 Nash and Hudson 320 cu in V8 was actually a Packard. They were bought from the Packard company, those 2 years only.

In 57 they brought out their own engine. It was actually designed for the Kaiser Frazer company but never built. AMC hired the designer who formerly worked for KF. Whether he brought the blueprints with him, or redid the engine from memory, I do not know. But this was the AMC V8 used from 57 to 66.

You can tell them apart at a glance. The Packard design has rectangular valve covers with bolts along the top and bottom edge. The AMC design has valve covers with beveled ends and bolts in the middle.

 

The AMC GEN-1 V8 actually came out in late 1956 as a 250. It was only used in the 56 Nash Ambassador Special and 56 Hudson Hornet Special. Apparently AMC decided the 250 was too small for the big cars, as the Specials were actually the slightly lighter Statesman and Wasp bodies (7" shorter wheelbase) with Ambassador and Hornet trim.

I'm not sure how much of the original KF design (actually Continental -- Continental Engines was owned by the Kaiser conglomerate at the time) was followed for the AMC engine, but it certainly was based upon the original. The engineers name was Davis V. Potter. He was the main engineer for the GEN-2 V8 and the "new" 1964 232 six.

 

Hello Reb.,

That would be great.
Please feel free to send those specs at your convenience.

Ralph

 

Just a thought...Kaiser used the
327 AMC V8 in Jeep Wagoneers
in the mid-60's with a GM 'B-O-P'
bellhousing pattern 400-Turbo
behind them, using an adapter
plate. If you could find one of
these Jeep adapter plates you
should be able to use it to adapt
any mid-60's and up GM automatic
or manual transmission set-up to
an AMC 327.

Mart3406
==============

 

There's an interesting 327 AMC build
here.

Mart3406
-----------------
"Marlin Experimental (M/X)"
www.marlinautoclub.com/Member_Area/MarlinMX/Marlin-MX.html
=======================

 

Mart, the Kaiser Jeep 327 used the "universal" (Buick Nailhead) bolt pattern TH400, NOT the BOP pattern. The universal was used with a 1.5"-2" thick adapter and a special adapter for the flexplate. There is a fellow by the name of Gus Averill (averills@silk.net) who make an adapter for the GEN-1 AMC V-8 (250/287/327) that uses a standard GM auto trans (Chevy pattern). Price is fair
($500 -- includes the adapter plate, pilot bushing, spacers. dowels. metric torque converter fasteners, altered flexplate, shift arm,and complete, pictorial instructions.)

Torque tubes were used only through 1966 on the big Ramblers (Classic and Ambassador), not 1969.

 

my first car when I got my license was a 57 rambler with the 250 cubic inch version of the 327 block...very rugged engine...overbuilt and heavy...able to lite up the tires with only 250 inches !

 

I have a 327 Rambler engine I got out of a Jeep wagoneer .It has a TH400 gm trany.The tail shaft has the same splines as a gm car .Really strong trany .

 

You can modify a 360 amc aluminum intake to fit it.

 

Good, sturdy engines. There are no performance parts, just a factory 4V intake that uses a Holley carb. They have a very mild cam and a small 4V of around 450 cfm. Easy to bolt on a 600 cfm carb, and you can get the cam reground for a bit more power. They were tuned for good power and economy at normal driving speeds, 1500-3500 or so rpm. The little 450 carb works great for that, starts to be a choke point about 4000 rpm. Cam and carb combined make the engine fall off over 4500-5000 rpm.