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Rebuild vs Crate???

17K views 32 replies 20 participants last post by  farna 
#1 ·
i have a 55 Bel air (210 with bel air trim, etc)

We just pulled the engine. Its a 327. GM 3903352.

The car has been sitting for years... like 6 or 7 years. Something was fubar in there. So i didnt have the time or $$$ to work on it.

While pulling the motor, the Flexplate almost fell off and hit me! So i really think that was the horibble sound i heard and why i stop driving it.

Now with the Engine out, im wondering what to do. im about to pull the intake off, then maybe the heads. theres some minor rust around the rockers.

Do i need to get the Heads/Block check..cleaned worked on?

I think these are the specs im not 100% sure

CID
327 67-68 Bore 4.001 or 4.000? / Stroke 3.250 / Main (crank shaft right?) 2.450 / Rod Jourla 2.100 / Actual 326.700 / Liters 5.350 / 2 bolt

(most of that is chinese to me! sorry Computers are my thing)

I dont have a ton of $$$ to put into it. Maybe sell this and buy a crate engine? Or maybe this doesnt need much work at all since the main issue was the Flexplate from the sound of it all... when the engine was running bad.

Cost to rebuild?? 500-1200+?

Cost for a Crate engine 1000-1200 with Warrantee.


My Bel Air/210 is a heavy car. I just want to Drive it around. Not trying to win Shows or be the fastest loudest car. So i dont need 400+hp

What would the best way to tackle this.

Thanks!

327-Rookie!
KevinMack
 

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#27 ·
Ok, I'm a bit late to the party but I have a couple of questions.

How is the engine mounted in the car? Does it still use the factory front mounts and a rear mount on the trans or did who ever put the 327 in it install side mounts on the engine? Also were all of the bell housing bolts in place and were they tight?

It's been common knowledge for a lot of years that a Tri 5 Chevy running a V8 with front mounts and an aluminum case transmission can flex at the Block/bellhousing connection enough to crack the trans case or cause problems with the flex plate. I've also seen a couple of cases where loose bellhousing bolts caused a broken flex plate or knocked out the front seal in the transmission.

I'd do as a couple of the guys suggested and put a new flex plate on it and pull the plugs and run a compression test. You can see if the engine has oil pressure at the same time by connecting a gauge to the engine where the oil pressure line or gauge hooks up. Using a oil pump primer as was suggested earlier would be a good idea though as it gets oil up in the lifters and into the bearings.

You don't need a fancy stand and can hang the engine from a chain hoist or cherry picker to run the compression test as all you are doing is cranking the engine over so that each cylinder hits four or five times on the gauge, checking the reading and writing it down and going to the next cylinder. I've even started a lot of engines sitting on the ground or hanging from a chain hoist.
This is a short video from when I fired up a 500 Cad that my friend gave me for my 71 GMC the engine had been sitting for several years.
I couldn't run it more than about 30 seconds but I did find out that it ran ok. No engine stand or other equipment but as I said I only ran it long enough to hear it run and determine that it didn't knock or blow clouds of smoke.

As far as the 327 goes, if it is in good shape I'd either run it as is or rebuild it and put some better heads on it. 1. it gives the car a lot higher Bubba Factor with a 327 than a crate motor these days as a lot of guys still think a 327 is the Holey Grail of small block Chevy engines. 2. you already have it and can go several ways on it. You could run it as is if it checks out. You could do a complete rebuild with new pistons, new cam bearing, better cam and better heads or you could do a rering and bearing job and run the pistons you have if the cylinder bores are good with little taper.

If the insides of the engine don't look good then you can think about a different engine and think crate motor or rebuilt.
 
#28 ·
That broken flex plate is almost identical to one that came apart on me in a '64 Impala with 283 I had just done a re-ring on. I was 19 at the time and didn't know to check the flex plate when I re-installed the engine, so I convinced myself the thing already had stress cracks and came apart during a rubber burning start. I replaced it and the harmonic balancer (somebody suggested it, so I did it) and had no more issues with it. I bought a parts truck with a 4-bolt 350 in it a few years ago, and again, the flex plate had shed its center part, sheared off the torque converter bolts and destroyed the transmission housing.

Flush and check the engine, to include dropping the pan and cleaning out the settlings that's bound to be in there as others has suggested. Maybe you are lucky and will still have a good engine.
 
#29 ·
rebuild or crate

Personally I would rebuild but first thing I would do is go to a local salvage yard and buy a used but running 350 or 305 check around for the cheapest price. Install it in your 55 and enjoy it while you rebuild the 327. This way you can take your time on the rebuild. Also if you buy a 350 with vortec heads you could put them and the intake on the 327 too.
Then when the 327 is done you simply put the 305/350 in craigslist and get the money back. There is always looking for V8 chevy engines.
 
#30 ·
Sorry to join in late. BSA Bob is right, it is a misalignment problem. I have seen this many times but it does not usually progress as far as this example. Either there was some dirt or burr on the crankshaft hub or flexplate preventing it from mounting properly. Or, more commonly, the transmission was not in alignment with the block. Think of tilting the transmission at an angle to the block and not having a U-joint, Something has to give! There could have been dirt or a burr on the engine/transmission mating surfaces. The locator dowels in the block may have had dirt, rust, or a burr which would keep the transmission from pulling in totally flush. Also, and this is not as uncommon as you would think, the alignment dowels on the back of the block and/or the alignment holes in the transmission mating surface are actually out of spec causing the mis-alignment. Check http://www.wilcap.com/ALP.PDF to see how to check alignment or google "transmission to engine alignment", "belhousing alignment" etc. I know they show manual transmissions but it gives you an idea of what to check for. Any speed shop can get offset dowel pins to correct mis-alignment and Harbour Freight has a cheap dial indicator and base that can also be used for many other things such as crankshaft end play, setting differential gears etc. Because the cracking, and in your case, the eventual total failure of the flexplate takes quite awhile to happen, the flexplate is after all "flexible", people have been known to just replace the flexplate and solve the problem. If it was just dirt and/or a burr from a previous sloppy installation and this was taken care of during the new installation, then the problem is indeed fixed. However, if there is actual engine/transmission misalignment and this is not corrected when the new flexplate is installed, then the new flexplate will also fail somewhere down the road. As a side note, any actually mis-alignment will also strain and or fail the front transmission bearing. In either case we are talking about a fair amount of time here, it won't happen over a couple of weeks or even months, depending on usage.
I would clean and check all mating surfaces and the alignment dowels and then just to be on the safe side check overall alignment. As far as the engine goes, you have lots of good advice already. Good luck.
 
#31 ·
bsa_bob said:
The flex plate was tightened down ...off center. not completely flat[fitted]on the crank. before the tightening down sequence began.therefore it just broke out at the shown point hth No other reason to me.
This makes sense to me, I wouldn't have thought of it because when I assemble stuff I always check fitment before and during tightening of the bolts.

I would think that some of the other alignment issues discussed are possible, but not something I've experienced.

Since you had this failure of the flexplate, I would check to be sure your flexplate, trans, etc fits correctly before putting it back in the car.
 
#32 ·
$$$$

Kevinmack.
Not a lot of people have extra money laying around. I replaced a dozen or more flywheels that looked exactly like the one you pulled out, and they were hammering so loud it would've fooled almost anyone into thinking the motor was blown. It would be prudent to pull the oil filter and cut it open. You don't need any fancy tools. Examine the filter media for the presence of any metal particles. If there is no metal, I would install a new filter and change the oil. Since the motor has been setting for a while, a pre-oiling is mandatory. The pro-form tool is not terribly expensive and does a decent job, but if you have any old distributors available, a nut welded on the top and spun with an air ratchet works very nicely, and they don't heat up. Of course if metal is obvious you will have to make a decision as to the best use of your hard-earned money. Stay away from the cheap crate motors as most are assembled with questionable parts and sometimes questionable labor. If you do choose to go that route, stay with a reputable company that will stand behind their product. Assuming there is no metal, remove the spark plugs and squirt a bit of motor oil into each cylinder. After you have achieved oil pressure, have a friend turn the motor over with a ratchet as you continue to pre-oil. Just a couple revolutions is adequate... you don't want to damage the camshaft. The only other thing that you may want to consider, while the motor is out, is a new set of valve seals. Easy to do with the motor on the stand and very inexpensive.
 
#33 ·
I just remembered something... part of the problem may be the quality of the flexplate IF it's a recent (in the past 10 years) purchase. My brother works on a few of the local farmers and friends vehicles. He recently put a reman engine in a 2002 or so Chevy truck and bought a new flexplate. The flexplate cracked in the center after just a couple months (and over 2500 miles... truck used by a siding company). He'd bought a NAPA "made in China" flexplate. The replacement was purchased from GM, but low and behold it was "made in China" too! Probably the same flexplate, just reboxed by GM and cost $20 more. We figure the one that cracked probably wasn't properly heat treated (hardened). That will happen occasionally even with US manfuactured items -- everybody makes a lemon now and then, though it does seem to occur a little more often for some...
 
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