I picked up a good small journal 327 block and crank. It's missing the pistons and rods. I have a set of good large journal rods. My question is, are there special oversized bearings out there to adapt these rods to the smaller crank. If so has anyone tried this with good luck.
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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).
Can you not just find a set of 283 rods? I am sure that would be cheaper than buying a special bearing, if they do make them. I know those special main bearings that are thicker are brutally expensive.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Hmm, I never knew that. GM parts books say they are all the same but I suspect you already knew that. I wonder why they would make a 327 rod stronger? Would the little bit of stroke difference make it that much more prone to fail?
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Carl, If you say they are the same part number then what I read was BS. It was on a Chevy forum on the web. This is what I read.
There are no worse rods than the 283 rods, very thin beam profile and small bolts.,. These are not suitable for high RPM use.,. Do yourself a favor and buy a good set of aftermarket connecting rods with the best bolts you can get. If you can't do that then a set of the factory small journal 327 rods from 65-67 would be the best of the small journal rods. They have more meat on the big end than the 283 rods, which don't have much. They also have a beefier beam, but the bolts are still tiny.,.
When you wrote that they were different, my first thought was "I never knew that, I thought they were identical", so I went and opened the first Chevy parts book I spotted. It was for Nova, and there it lists the same rod, 283 or 327.
Maybe for fun I'll check the Vette book.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I checked the book and it says 62-67 283 327 all use the same rod. Maybe there were some different production runs over the years? I recall someone saying years ago that 58-61 rods are better but there was nothing to backup that claim
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I would think that the hi-hp 327s (325-350-375 hp) would have better rods, but a base 327 would have the same as a 283.
As for the original question, like Carl said, they would be costly. I would be looking for the proper rods. You will be looking for pistons too, unless you are going aftermarket with that......and if thats the case, might as well go with aftermarket rods too
While I knew there were small journal and large journal 327 cranks, I thought it only applied to the main bearings, not the connecting rods. Really don't know though.
im of the same opinion, I never reuse any of the old parts, cost wise its not worth it, new rods and piston have a very close balance so when you balance your crank it almost spot on, I did say awhile ago my 400 was about 5 gs to redue and the only exotic part was the cam. if you want ive still got all the specs on the last 327 that I built, its good on fuel and fairly peppy
-- Edited by 65wagon on Wednesday 22nd of February 2017 11:36:09 AM