Maximum engine potential

[sav300]

What would you say the maximum potential of a 327 is? I have a friend that wants to rebuild one that will never see the street and only the strip. His goal is 9 seconds.

The 327 is good for high revs, but I don't know of too many that are pushing 900HP and from what I know hes going to need it. I'm just figuring this from a 4000lb pickup with driver in it and that seems to be a fair weight IMO.

If it were me I'd go with the saying, "Theres no replacement for displacement!", but I figured I would see what you would do you were to do such a thing?



Thomas

[Marv D]

650HP flywheel will get a 3000 pound car barely into the 9's 'IF' the rest of the combination is right. So a 4000 pound brick will need at least 750 ,,, I don't know that it will take 900. But if it does, I think he can get there with a 327....... with about 20 pounds of boost!

N/A,, yeeeeeeeeshhhhhhh!! 2.3HP per cube n/a is not unheard of, but he better have DEEP pockets. A comp eliminator motor usually runs in the $40k to $60k range and that's the kind of small cube power he's looking for.

[sav300]

Originally Posted by Marv D

but he better have DEEP pockets.

Thats exactly what I told him. Im not saying its impossible with a 327, but in order to reach that goal hes going to need lots of money. 600HP out of a 327 in my eyes is pretty good and I wouldnt expect any more, but using that motor to reach that high of HP while moving a pickup to 9 seconds is stretching quite a bit. I could see a 350 putting down those numbers and its more resonable. However he is one of those people that will do everything possible in order to try and make it work.

[cableguy0]

All the cars were ever did in the 9's were in the 32-3400lb range and small blocks were in the 400 inch range. Your talking dart block. trick heads giant cam 14-1 compression etc etc etc. If hes planning to use any stock parts he needs to forget it. Hes going to be looking at spending in the neighborhood of 15-20grand plus given that he decided to use a 400 inch motor instead of the 327. It can be done but I would guess you would be somewhere in the 25k dollar range for something that didnt fly apart on the first pass. Most guys going 9's in a truck are running a bbc. Its cheaper in the long run. small blocks are great in lighter cars. Unless hes looking to just spray the hell out of it. He can forget about going 9's with a 327 in a heavy truck with the aerodynamics of a brick. If it was me and for some reason I decided to piss a bunch of money away and use a 327 instead of proper cubic inch to get that power. I would start with a dart block. Get a lunati,callies,cola etc crank. A good set of forged rods and pistons. A set of brodix or afr heads. A very large solid roller cam. And spray the hell out of it 300 shot or so.

[85gmc2tone]

i vote twin turbo

[Alex1]

Originally Posted by 85gmc2tone

i vote twin turbo

BINGO!

You would still need a decent set of heads but easy enough to do with turbos...

[Super73]

Put a big single turbo on it with a little spooling juice. Have the bottle only come on till spooled. The nice thing about small motors and larger turbos, is it get's you in the upper PR range.

I'd vote for a 8.5-1 cr solid roller with an intake and heads that flow a ton. If he's just using it for track use, don't worry tooo much ab out runner volume for the intake. Hell, it's going to be boosted anyway. Set the cam up for 8,500-9,000rpm. I'd also put a Fast EFI system on it to really dial in the fueling.

Guys make well over 1,000rwhp with 347ci LS1 motors and boost. You can probably get a Gen 1 to make 800rwhp pretty easy with the right heads and turbo.

[57sailplane]

Originally Posted by Super73

Put a big single turbo on it with a little spooling juice. Have the bottle only come on till spooled. The nice thing about small motors and larger turbos, is it get's you in the upper PR range.

I'd vote for a 8.5-1 cr solid roller with an intake and heads that flow a ton. If he's just using it for track use, don't worry tooo much ab out runner volume for the intake. Hell, it's going to be boosted anyway. Set the cam up for 8,500-9,000rpm. I'd also put a Fast EFI system on it to really dial in the fueling.

Guys make well over 1,000rwhp with 347ci LS1 motors and boost. You can probably get a Gen 1 to make 800rwhp pretty easy with the right heads and turbo.

i agree, can be done if done right. if its a small journal crank that thing should hang. put the crank in a concreted 400 cid with pinned 2 bolt maines using studs.. you will need spacers so you can fit a 350 crank in the 400, then pin in 350 bearings and have it lined honed for the small journal crank bearings.. use lighest esebly posible and 6 inch rods. then boost the heck out of it with a large turbo.. and you should get there... lol... but dont laugh to loud jenkins used to do this with his small blocks less the turbo and beat the pants off the elephant motors...

[sav300]

I agree that the boosted ways are the way to go, but when I talked to him today it didn't matter what I said he wants to do it. He isn't made of money so he had better get that through his head.

The way I see, you do it once and do it right, no shortcuts or anything. I have ways for him to get big blocks and he will not have any of it. What do I have to do to get him to realize this before he goes and drops $20,000 on something that is out of his league????

Let him learn the hard way or do I bring him a block and tell him to start with this???



Thomas

[djracer]

Originally Posted by 57sailplane

i agree, can be done if done right. if its a small journal crank that thing should hang. put the crank in a concreted 400 cid with pinned 2 bolt maines using studs.. you will need spacers so you can fit a 350 crank in the 400, then pin in 350 bearings and have it lined honed for the small journal crank bearings.. use lighest esebly posible and 6 inch rods. then boost the heck out of it with a large turbo.. and you should get there... lol... but dont laugh to loud jenkins used to do this with his small blocks less the turbo and beat the pants off the elephant motors...

I would say a dart little m block would be a starting point. I would never dream of making big power from a small block without it.

That said you could do it with a 454 and spray for much less money.

[57sailplane]

agreed, if he has the pennys and want it to last the after maket blocks are the way to go.. definatly go with the big block for the money now days its a lot more resonable..

i was just saying it can be done and has been done.. as its been mentioned how long it will last is another question...

[Super73]

The old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" rings loud here.. Tell him to at least cost it out before he buys anything. Tell him to write down everything that goes in to a major build like this and really analyze it to the littlest thing. Ask the shops he is thinking about doing it through to double check his list..

[cableguy0]

IN this power level your talking 2-3 grand or so in just valve train stuff not including the heads. That is if he wants it to stay together. You cant help anyone who wont help themself. he will learn very quickly that he cant afford it.

[Alex1]

Also a factory block would be questionable at this power level. It's not cheap but can be done for a reasonable amount of $$.

He may like high rpm but when he feels the turbos spool and the 800ft pounds of torque kicks him in the back he will quickly change his mind!

[LongSixEight]

Ive got an old 327 thats .030 over, small journal, studded bottom, forged pist., dart 215's with alot of port work, solid cam around .560 lift. Bo-tie intake, and all msd ign. I ve got about 4K in it and it ran 10.60's on a 175 shot in a heavy 70 nova. Thats turning it 7800 and praying nothing breaks, because if it does odds are most of its trashed. Just thought I would add that info on my 327. I wouldnt go this route again if it were me. I just had the pieces to put this one together. Fun little motor though.