65 bel air, 327 build up questions

Hello I'm new to all this. This is my first car build up. I'm needing advice and info. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. I have a 65 bel air 2 door post with 2.73 gears, 3 speed on the column. I have a 327 block casting 3858174, engine ID F073IHC. Somebody has put 3795896 powerpak heads on it. I have a weiand stealth 8016 dual plane intake, 1406 edelbrock carb,accel supercoil and 1 5/8 long tube headers with 2 1/2 inch duals with turbo mufflers. It isn't together yet. The cam, rockers, and pistons are all stock as far as I know. What can I expect out of this setup? Is it gonna be doggy? Fall on it's face on the interstate? I think stock it was out of a 65 impala 275 horses? Or am I better off leaving the cast iron intake and factory Rochester on it? Sorry for the long post. But I figure I would try to give all the details I could come up with. Thank you so much in advance. Plan to learn from all of you!!!!


Register now (free) or login to remove ads

It all depends on what kind of driving you do. Mostly highway or around town.
Those 2.73 gears are good on the highway but a dog around town. At least you already have an intake carb and headers to use. They'll help.

Depends on the 3spd. You really really need a first gear ratio in the 3:1 or more range in that trans. If you're rebuilding the motor, a 260H grind from Comp will definitely wake things up a bit. For your first ride, I wouldnt go nuts with cams heads etc. Get this thing to run and stop well and drive the wheels off of it. That 3 speed is pretty much your limiting factor. Much over 350hp will shorten its life significantly. If the heads need to be rebuilt, honestly buy some Vortecs and swap out the Weiand for a Vortec specific dualplane, unless you can get Vortecs drilled for the older intake manifold. Your Mileage May Vary with the redrilled manifold. Buying some GM Vortecs and their manifold will be cheaper than the rebuild on the powerpacks and will make a lot more power if you want them to.
Im not a fan of Accel; but thats personal preference. I would go with an Ignitor 2 or 3 from Pertronix, and the requisite coil for either.

If you need 3spd parts; Magnus Racing Products in CT is the guy who is buying up all the Saginaws and Muncies on the East Coast.

This is a long term project. I have a bb 402 that I would like to build for it, put an old rock crusher behind it, and throw a 3.56 posi in it down the road. But I have this motor already and it runs great the way it is. I would really like to drive this car by the summer at least once. I've never drove it. Back to the 327....I really don't know anything about cams. I've heard u can go too big on a 327 pretty easy. I've personally seen a new cam take out the bottom end of an old 350 in like 2 days. Does everything have to be rebuilt first? Again thank you very much.

When the factory engineered this powertrain package for the rather heavy Impala, their goal was to please the highest percentage of buyers, including grandma's weekly trips to and from bingo. They used a 2.73 rear gear to maximize fuel mileage and keep engine noise down to a minimum (low revs). This package necessitated using a low-compression motor with a very, very short cam, making power from idle to maybe 4000 max.

The 8016 Weiand is one of the best dual-plane, high-rise STREET/STRIP intake manifolds you could use, having the same characteristics as an Edelbrock RPM 7101, Holley 300-36 and Professional Products Typhoon. These units were designed after the Winters-cast aluminum intake manifold that was used on the Z-28 302 motors of '68/'69 and will typically make power from 1500 to 6500. This makes an excellent STREET/STRIP manifold in my opinion, but not necessarily a good STREET ONLY manifold where revs would be in the aforementioned idle to 4000 rpm's and using 2.73:1 rear gears. By the way, Weiand no longer makes the 8016, so hang onto it for a street/strip build.

For your current needs, I would recommend a stock rebuild, using a factory cast iron intake manifold and vacuum-secondaries carb of your choice. The Rochester Quadrajet is, in my opinion, one of the finest fuel mixers on the planet, along with Weber and Dellorto, but if you run across a square-bore intake, use your Edelbrock carb.

Here's a cam and lifter kit I might use, with new stock springs, seals and a good 3-angle valve job....
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-K1101/
This short cam should work very well with the stock torque converter and 2.73 gear for those of you who are using an auto trans.

There are special procedures to be used with flat tappet camshafts, so pay attention here:
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/...tips_and_tricks

With the headers you have and tuning in the ignition curve properly, I think you'll have a car that will be a joy to drive daily.

So would I be better off keeping the stock cast iron intake and quadrajet that are on it? I think it is stock 64-67. So I wouldn't be gaining anything by using the weiand and the edelbrock carb? I think it is one of the first quadrajets they made. And it works perfectly. Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate it!!!

When you're building a motor, you are shooting for the best COMBINATION OF PARTS that will work together to produce the most efficient motor that you can build within a budget that will make the power you NEED. The power you NEED (not necessarily the power you want) in your case is from idle to 4000/4500 rpm's because of the 2.73 rear gear in your car. This is where most newbies make their mistakes, using the wrong cam for the gear and/or converter. The other mistake you could make, in this build, is to use too much intake manifold volume for the gear. The stock intake will make power from idle to around 4000/4500 and that's where you want it to be to match up with the cam and rear gear. On this particular build, shoot for idle to 4000/4500 (where 99% of your driving will be done) and you'll be a happy camper in my opinion.