Thread: 427 Chev Tall Block

Tweet

My son has a chance to buy a 427 tall block with new cam bearings
and fresh .030 bore at good price. No heads etc. He's thinking of
someday building a bigger drag engine. Machine shop says he can
go with 4.50 stroker crank and 6.585 rods and get above 500 cubes.
This engine would go into a 72 Camaro drag car. Just wondering if
this is advisable expense wise and what are any advantages or did-
advantages to doing this. ThanksRD

I don't think I'd begin with a school bus motor. I'd opt for a Gen VI with roller cam and one-piece rear main seal, then purchase aftermarket aluminum heads for it.
.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

I don't think I'd begin with a school bus motor. I'd opt for a Gen VI with roller cam and one-piece rear main seal, then purchase aftermarket aluminum heads for it.
.

Tech, if you're on a budget, what makes the school bus tall deck a bad one to start with? I'm curious here. I've built 2 stroker engines out of tall deck 427s and had them in hot rod pulling tractors. They seemed to do just fine. Is it more of you can take a Gen-VI farther on up as in bore and power levels?

.

I guess it's just a matter of starting off with something newer than 1970's iron. That, and I could never find a really good dual-plane high-rise intake manifold for them. If you wanted to use my favorite intake, the Edelbrock 7161, you had to use spacer plates with it and then you increased your chances of leaks and other problems and it just got too messy. There are intake manifolds made for the tall deck block in single plane design, but I never liked them. I like the easy 540 cubic inches with a 4.500" bore and 4.250" crank in an 8.2 block. Check marine shops for used blocks or purchase new from GMPP, PN 19170540.
.

We bought the 4 bolt 427 TD today at a GREAT price. The seller was super cool too as he was a guy who'd built cars for the past 35 years and was pretty much retiring from the business. Said he'd built a few of these TDs and was sure glad i came through as an honest customer because I'd asked him to hold the block for 3 days until i could get there and he showed us the number of emails and calls he'd gotten on this block. Guy was true to his word and that's how it should be. Man what a great guy as Dad I spent a good hour and half there just talking to him, looking at all his goodies, cars, etc. This block will be built in 1-2 years after i've had my belly full of the drag 383 motor. Have no interest in a dual plane intake as it will be a stroked 500+ cube motor. To my knowledge i know there are several TD intakes out there which would also thus eliminate the need for a spacer w/standard deck intake. Header placement might be my only battle but we'll get to it when that time comes. I like aftermarket blocks like the next guy, but if i can save $1500-$2000 by using an old school GM block....that's hard to beat plus i do like the 2 piece rear main seals for a few reasons. At the very least for the price i paid, if i decided to pass, I know i could get my money back and even a profit on this block. Old school blocks have yet to let me down and 427s and 454s for sale are rare in my neck of the woods for sure.

Do fenderwell headers on the TD.

As far as intakes, yeah, I built mostly for street stuff that was done by 6000 and needed a dual-plane that made power from 2500 to 6000 with a 3000 stall converter. Single planes will make less power up to about 5500.
.