| ET's 327 -- The Rebuild ... |
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| A while ago I took a trip to Frank's Pick'm'up Trucks, in Olympia, looking for a front bumper for the GMC. Low and behold, and still in the doner truck, sat an intact 327 just like the one origionally in my C-10! After shelling out $700, both the engine and the Turbo 400 it was coupled to, were mine. The engine sounded strong, the numbers matched and it had all of the accessories and brackets that came with my own truck. I made arrangements to remove the package the following weekend. The next week I took another trip down, in near tripple digit weather, to remove and trailer the engine back to Seattle. What a long, hot journey but the deed was done. |
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| Still in the Doner Truck and ready to fire up prior to purchase. |
| By Sunday, July 16th, the breakdown of the engine had been accomplished, the 327 is on a stand and the bolt-ons have been removed, cleaned, photographed and stored. The timing chain nearly fell off before the gear was even pulled and the cam was a mess. This block had never been apart, of that I was sure. Considering the wear on the cam and T-chain, the bores didn't look all that bad and the forged crank measured out stock. Next step was to take the block next door to Aussie Machine for an initial cleaning in the Jetclean and inspection for cracks. So far, so good; the block is sound and, as expected, in pretty good shape for it's age. On July 24th, I drove the block to Waterhouse Motors, in Tacoma for a thorough "Shake'n'Bake" and they delivered it back to the shop a couple days later. Ummm, looks so nice! |
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| Stripped and ready for cleaning. Wow, what a mess I've made! |
| Back from Waterhouse and ready for machining. |
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| Now back from boring, my block is .030" over, has new cam bearings, has had the lifter bores broached. Ready for parts ... almost. Though it's been a full two months of monitary waiting, the cost of the balancing is still a week away. All of the bolt-ons are cleaned and painted plus the correct balancer has been found and a new flexplate purchased. |
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| Ahhh ....the big day! |
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| The balanced parts are finally back and now the rebuild can begin! Follow through the rebuild in photos ! Enjoy ...ET |
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| Following months of set backs the shortblock is finally assembled. All fit the way it should and my excitement mounts; looking forward to the day I can fire it up! Unfortunately, a crack has been found in the intake manifold and the heads are too worn to run as is. I am now on a neverending quest for the correct intake plus a new kickdown switch, which also proved bad. Photos of the offending parts are on the Links page. As for the heads, they are currently at the machine shop, have new guides, seats, springs and good valves. ...waiting for the last $200 for the valve job and surfacing. What a long journey this has been! I envy you pros who no longer have to go through this massive (and expensive) learning curve! I guess it will just make the engine more near'n'dear when its on the road. |