Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

This engine is largely responsible for me purchasing my Chevelle!  A friend of the family got this engine from a friend of his to put in a 48 Ford in place of a tired 307.

When he heard I was looking to get a hot rod he traded me the 327 for my 77 Malibu wagon daily driver.  He wanted the 350 and th350 trans out of that for his street rod.

The 327 was a bit more motor than he wanted to put in the rod but more on that later.  A short novella first!

My father offered me the family 72 Delta 88 for free if I got it out of his garage to replace the wagon as my daily driver.

I took the radiator from the wagon and bought a $10 tire from John's and used those parts to get the 88 back on the road and out of my Dad's garage.

Now that I had the 327 I needed something to put it in.  I didn't know much but I was smart enough to know I didn't want to put that engine in my 68 Mustang coupe that I was sick of.

That car had a crappy oil burning 200 6 that two local businesses collaborated on screwing me on.  1st business changed the oil pan gasket on the original nice running but leaky motor and left a piece of cork in the pan that blocked the oil pump.  Camshaft snapped in half and came through the block on my way home from work one evening.  It was unappreciated by the nice new white Cadillac behind me that was covered by a cloud of oil and whose wipers only made things worse!  End of the nice running original motor.   The replacement engine came from a shop in Spring Lake Park that specialized in Mustangs.

I asked to come see and hear a motor run and was told that their yard was in Wisconsin but that they didn't bother pulling junk motors.  I was naive enough to believe that BS and they installed a used replacement.

It proceeded to use multiple quarts of oil weekly!    The Mustang sat and I drove the wagon.  I could have got a deal on a 289 from a friend who bought an almost done 26 T coupe street rod to build his car.

He wanted a 400 SBC to turn the largest tires he could buy.  He still has the T and it's painted like a traffic cone now.  

My mustang only had a 3spd manual, 4 lug wheels and a wimpy rear end so I passed on the deal and sold the car to look for something else to put my 327 in.

After much searching for a Camaro, Nova or Chevelle that wasn't a rusty bucket of crap I found my car. 

I had sold the Mustang for $2200 and the Chevelle was $3000 with the 454 and TH400 or $1500 without the motor and trans.

I only had $2200 so I said I'd take it without the drive train.  I called the next day to say I'd changed my mind and wanted it all figuring I could sell the 327 but he had already pulled the motor and trans.

Ironically that motor which actually turned out to have a 427 crank and rods in a 454 4 bolt block ended up in a garage down the road from my fathers!

The 327 sat in the engine bay but never was fully connected.  I had bought a complete 66 El Camino A/C bracket and pulley set up since the heads didn't have accessory bolt holes.

Ran the alternator wire to the other side of my engine compartment.  Motor wouldn't quite settle onto the motor mounts due to the Corvette oil pan!

Frustration and lack of funds led to the car sitting for almost 2 years. I had bought my old 76 Camaro back from my father after my siblings trashed it.  He had given me the 77 Malibu wagon and cash for that.

I had used the cash plus my graduation money to buy the 68 Mustang. I took the engine, transmission, brackets, pulleys, etc from the Camaro. 

I had the the 350 rebuilt replacing the 882 heads with 993's with the bigger valves added.  

The 327 never ran and passed between me, my father and a friend of mine a few times over the 25+ years I've been associated with it.

Chris and I went and grabbed the 327 and a 440 Mopar from my Dad's garage just prior to Christmas.  The 440 is a good core and is for sale on Craigslist currently.

Chris was maybe interested in the 327 if it's lore was accurate.  It was supposed to be a high compression, large cam, high strung screamer.

It last resided in a 62 Corvette.  Since it was not the original motor the owner replaced it with a 406 SBC.

The story goes that the 327 was a giveaway motor from the Back to The Fifties where Wagamon Brother's would build it to to the preference of the winner.

The Vette owner wanted it built for stop light to stop light acceleration not cruising.

Chris looked at the pistons through the spark plug holes.  No pop up pistons.  Not likely high compression so he's not interested.  Engine does turn over and looks like it should run.

I decided  after all these years I want to hear it run just for curiosity sake and also from a sentimental standpoint too. 

I tell Chris I have some spare parts, gaskets, etc.  do you think we can get it to run on the cheap?

Of course Chris being the engine guy he is says it should be easy.  I buy a used Performer from John Enga (thanks again John!), find my spare HEI, Quadrajet, fuel pump, water pump and gaskets in garage.

A friend donates the Moroso valve covers that came on his 64 El Camino when he bought it but have been sitting on the shelf for years and Chris scrounged an oil pan out of the rafters to replace the dented Chevelle pan so the goofy Vette one doesn't need to go back on it.

Part one can be seen in the pictures Chris posted.  Part two is to add the water pump, carb and ignition and then see if we can get it to run after all these years.

Luckily Chris has a test stand with a new fan set up to try out! 

OK group Sunday FEB 12 is the day. We are going to load this engine on the stand and bring it to life. If you don't have anything going on and want to make some noise come on over. Lets start about 9:00 AM as it will take an hour or two to get it on the stand and hooked up.  I will post in the members section my address and phone number for those who want to participate.

Here are a couple pics of it on the stand. We will get some better video once I get the carb sorted out.

67ss wrote:

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How do all these parts fit back in? It's OK if there are a few extras when you are done right?

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 Rapp's Law of Inanimate Reproduction: If you take something apart and put it back together enough times, you will eventually have enough left over parts to build two of them.

Went to Chris P's place for a second run on Mikes Mystery 327. Aside from a small fuel leak right off the bat it went well. Motor ran well and had a nice lope at idle once the timing was set. 

https://vid1175.photobucket.com/albums/r626/JLSTANIEC/IMG_1322_zps8bs10k8r.mp4

-- Edited by Chris S on Sunday 5th of March 2017 06:50:31 PM

One more with exhaust.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B19OFzC_UhtaYXZPTWNZVWo0SWc

Motor sold today and is heading up to Da Range to go in a 66 GMC truck.  The owner of the truck was very excited to get her ride back on the road this summer.  Glad it found a good home.

Yes Mitch any funds I made are going to the Chevell.  Paid for

my 200R4 and now need to buy all the other stuff associated with the swap. 

Lost in the 60s wrote:

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OscarZ wrote:

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Yes Mitch any funds I made are going to the Chevell.  Paid for

my 200R4 and now need to buy all the other stuff associated with the swap. 

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 Should only need to modify the crossmember for that swap, or buy one. Know anyone with an old crossmember we could cut up for a donor ?

HEY, I just remembered, we have one at work that may be enough. I can snag it before it goes in the scrap bin, if you want.

 

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No need to modify the cross member for a 200R4 swap.  Just put it in the rear most holes, and it will bolt right up.  Trust me on that one. 

I'm guessing what Mike is referring to could be a controller for the electronic lockup if he's keeping that feature ($175 BMW thru Summit).  Or, maybe he needs a converter.

Convertor, conversion for my shifter, TV cable, etc. 

67ss wrote:

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Mitch do you still have the stall converter that came out of your street rod or did john take it back in trade?

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 John sent it back for warranty. Mike wouldn't want it. Even at 55 mph a little throttle in put made the tach jump 250-300 rpm before the speed would increase.

Lost in the 60s wrote:

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OscarZ wrote:

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Convertor, conversion for my shifter, TV cable, etc. 

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 Your shifter will still work, you just won't be able to manually pull it into 1st gear. I didn't change the column shifter in the '38 after the swap and the linkage lined right up where the TH350 had been.

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Mike, if you have a console shifter, use the kit from Shiftworks that gives you the revised ratchet plate and lens:  Shiftworks 200R4 Kit Link

I use the TV Cable Made EZ kit from Bowtie Overdrives for the carb linkage:  TV Cable Made EZ Link

Plan to modify my stock shifter with a shiftworks kit. 

I think Mike is more of a put it in "OD" and drive kind of guy. It'll downshift itself if he want's to mash on the pedal...