Thread: NOOB - 327, how to get 400-450 hp out of it?

Tweet

Hi all... This is my first post of probably hundreds.

I am relitively new to this, I just bought a 66 Nova 2dr hardtop tht needs restoring.

It came with a 327 with camel hump heads, flat top pistons and a Holley 750 carb. Owner claims 300-350 hp with this setup. We fired it up and it sounded rather smooth. The carb needs rebuilding.

What is the most logical (and cost effective) way of making 400 - 450 ponies with out heating up the block too much?

I'm sure there is many different ways of doing this, I would like to know the most popular route. TIA

-ERIK

Erik, first welcome aboard.

Your question is not uncommon, though there are a lot of opinions on how to build horsepower. It appears you are asking how to get 400-450hp from a 327. The answer is; lots of work, lots and lots of money, and complete loss of driveability on the street. Pretty simple really.

Here's a link to a respected engine builder who has an engine that has actually been dyno'd at 440 hp at the flywheel. Look at what they had to do to get there. Remember the admonition that "there's no substitute for cubic inches".
http://www.smedingperformance.com/383stroker.htm

Then take this link to a recent discussion we had here regarding hp figures and you'll get a sense for what we've learned about most peoples hp figures.
http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...&threadid=2484

As for most economical way to increase hp?........................lie like most people do.

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter
As for most economical way to increase hp?........................lie like most people do.

Ok... I was just kidding the 327 already puts out 450.

Well i did a little research here on the forum and people really like the 350 stroker. The 383 sounds fun.

How inexpensive can I build one if I do the work my self?

Sorry I am so new to this... I had a 93 RX7 Twin Turbo, so it was easy , a few bolt on products and you had 350 hp easily in a 2700 pound car. The reason I jumped ship, #1 I'll never own a rotary ever again and #2, I tried for 6 months locating the vaccuum leak from my rats nest of hoses so my second turbo would spool... It never did. Newer cars seem more frusterating. i wanted something easy to work on and something "I" can actually change the spark plugs on.

I do want gobs of power especially since my buddies 600hp Supra makes every car I drive in now seem like it's a snail race.

Oh and what do you mean "streetable"?
Isn't too much hp just right? Please explain...
Thanks

-ERIK

You can buy TEN 350 crate engines for the price of ONE 450hp 327.

Why is this important???

Buy 350 crate engines, bolt on some simple go-fast parts, and use a buttload of nitrous.

Destroying ten engines will still be cheaper than trying to build one that will last through that amount of punishment.

How much? An engine like the one I linked to would typically run somewhere around $8k. If you really had the skill to do the assembly you might cut $500-1000 off that depending on what machine work you paid for.

Streetable? The more hp you want, especially in relation to "small" cubes, the more radical the cam, heads, ignition, and fuel need to be. If big horsepower is the goal over all else you start losing bottom end. In other words, it idles rough, won't accelerate smoothly until you're up to 25-3000 rpm, have poor vacuum, and so on. In day to day driving you're living at the wrong end of the engines "sweet" spot/range. That's why most people will recommend an engine that focuses more on torque, than hp. Torque will make for a happier street experience. That's why the strokers are so popular. They're better on torque than, for instance, a short stroke engine like the 327 is. That's not to say it's horrible, just less "torquey".

The mad man's suggestion is one way to deal with it. Build a nice performing street engine with some strong pistons and rods, and do the squeeze thing for that extra kick when needed. Just don't expect the engine to have a long life, especially if you get hooked on the button.

Just put a huge load of nitrous to it. Worst that can happen is oil pan failure-----that's when the oil pan fails to keep all the parts inside the motor

Erik, it might be helpful if we knew what type of budget your playing with and how you plan on driving the car (is this going to be a toy or your primary transportation).

Why does nobody here ever think of turbocharging?

Abe

Well after doing reaserch and figuring I would need at least $4000 for a nice build up, I am going to buy my friends 454 with oval port heads, 12:1 compression (500 hp estimated) and go with an IFS. I am buying the motor for (drum roll).......

$500 bucks

Just need the following items:
-intake
-headers
-timing cover
-oil pan
-carb rebuild kit
-needs lifters
-high torque starter
-ifs

I plan on going to the pomona swapmeet next month to buy alot of these items: www.pomonaswapmeet.com

who has the best value when it comes to ifs?

As far as twin turbos, I have two left over from an old build up, brand new... they are TD06's with garret compressors. I beleive they are 60-1's

They'd be sweet but I want to get away from turbos... I've had nothing but problems with all my turbo cars.

thamks
-ERIK

PS the big block is a 2-bolt main... Is that a problem?

Also what could I get for the 327 with camel humps and flat tops if I were to sell it?
It also has a weiand intake.

"I am relatively new to this..............."

Sounds like you'll learn plenty.

As for ifs, the best deal I've seen is on ebay. There's a shop that sells a complete front clip, probably Total Cost Involved, on a "Buy it now" of $2195, freight included. Since TCI is near you maybe you could buy it through him and negotiate a slight discount if you picked it up, or have him arrange a drop ship to your door.

Buying used headers, especially "full size" (as opposed to block huggers) at a swap meet is a poor plan. By the time you clean them up, cut and modify to fit your chassis (unless the guy really wasn't lying to you about what they were built for), you'd be time and $ ahead to buy the right ones new.

true on the headers... Probably go with some block huggers... I'll go check out ebay!

Thanks.