Help Picking Motor

[PhilBarone]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and admittedly know very little about cars but I just bought a 64 Impala which I always wanted. It has a 327 in it now, you can see it here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0306484211&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT&viewitem=

I'm not sure what I should do first, paint, motor, wheels, I don't have a clue and I'm open to all suggestions I am looking at crate motors. I've been riding and racing motorcycles since I was ten and I'm spoiled since my bikes were so fast; mostly Ducatis and Harleys. So, I think I want to go pretty large but I don't know just how big I can go without having to modify the engine bay and it's going to be driven so I'd like some element of relability.

Roush makes a nice supercharger and they're making their engines very reliable so I was hoping to pick up something along those lines but a Chevy engine. I'd honestly even consider the Roush but I hate Fords and it's technically a Ford motor.

I also can use some guidance regarding a tranny. I know everyone is using automatics and I recently saw a car with a paddle shifter and I found something about it very appealing but I'm looking for the best quarter mile times since I will be bringing it to the track. I guess it's pretty obvious I don't know s**t but that's why I'm here so thanks in advance. I actually have a machine shop with a CNC mill I use to make saxophone parts and a manual lathe. I live in Westchester NY and I'm looking for people to do the work so feel free to send people my way.

Phil Barone 212.686.9410

 

[bobs409]

If it were me, I'd cruise it like it is for a while before deciding. If it is the original 327, it would be good to rebuild and keep it unless your looking for mega power or simply a different size engine.

I lean toward originality myself. A 327 is a peppy little bugger. I never heard of anyone not liking them. It really depends on what you want.

Car looks good in the photo's but if your set on restoring it, I suggest all the mechanicals first, then paint, then interior. You don't want to be installing an engine over freshly painted fenders. :eek:

Since you have no experience doing this, I'd caution about tearing into this car on a major redo. Many people have started that way and gave up. Are you sure you'll be in it for the long haul? It can get quite expensive and lots of work!

Bob

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Restoration space needed

Assuming you do some of the dismantling yourself, you will need ample space to store the vehicel and its parts while restoring it. I estimate that you will need about 4X as much space as the car itself takes up. So if your car occupies 200 square feet you will need up to 800 square feet to house and restore all the various removed components. That is, if you do a lot of this yourself (which is very rewarding in terms of contributing to the overall project).

I second Bob's suggestion to drive the car around for a bit, maybe a year or so, before you commit to it. When I take on a total car restoration, I assume about 1200 hours of my time. I do a lot, but not all phases (I sub out the painting, for example). That's a lot of time, nearby 60% of a full time job for a year. If you paid someone to do this at "shop rates" it could be prohibitive (unless you have lots of cash, which solves some problems).

Drive her around, get to know her, have some fun, start making a plan, then launch in to that plan and follow through. Rely on experts to do that which you feel you cannot take on. My rule of thumb is "if you don't do it often, and you don't know how to do it right, get an expert to do it". That assumes a rather large bankroll, however...

Keep asking questions, take in all opinions, then decide for yourself. Think about what you want to do to enjoy the car. Do you like showing cars? Do you like driving cars? Do you like racing cars? Think about what you want to use the vehicle for, that will give you (and us) some ideas about directions to head in. There are many paths!


Enjoy!

TomK

 

[Kdurgin]

Dollar for dollar, I think a 383 stroker is a good choice. Same external mounting and dimensions as your 327 and easy to get 450 streetable foot pounds of torque.

 

[PhilBarone]

If it were me, I'd cruise it like it is for a while before deciding. If it is the original 327, it would be good to rebuild and keep it unless your looking for mega power or simply a different size engine.

I lean toward originality myself. A 327 is a peppy little bugger. I never heard of anyone not liking them. It really depends on what you want.

Car looks good in the photo's but if your set on restoring it, I suggest all the mechanicals first, then paint, then interior. You don't want to be installing an engine over freshly painted fenders. :eek:

Since you have no experience doing this, I'd caution about tearing into this car on a major redo. Many people have started that way and gave up. Are you sure you'll be in it for the long haul? It can get quite expensive and lots of work!

Bob

Thanks Bob, thanks very much! I really appreciate you all taking the time to help and I'm listening very carefully. I'm in it for the long haul and I can be very patient. I think it makes sense to do the mechanicals first so I'll do that. I'd like something very fast so I think I'd like a much bigger motor but my mother used to tell me that my eyes were bigger than my stomach so I'm being careful. Any suggestions on size and brand? I'm still considering a supercharger but I don't see anyone else doing them so I'm leery. What about trannys? Phil

 

[PhilBarone]

Assuming you do some of the dismantling yourself, you will need ample space to store the vehicel and its parts while restoring it. I estimate that you will need about 4X as much space as the car itself takes up. So if your car occupies 200 square feet you will need up to 800 square feet to house and restore all the various removed components. That is, if you do a lot of this yourself (which is very rewarding in terms of contributing to the overall project).

I second Bob's suggestion to drive the car around for a bit, maybe a year or so, before you commit to it. When I take on a total car restoration, I assume about 1200 hours of my time. I do a lot, but not all phases (I sub out the painting, for example). That's a lot of time, nearby 60% of a full time job for a year. If you paid someone to do this at "shop rates" it could be prohibitive (unless you have lots of cash, which solves some problems).

Drive her around, get to know her, have some fun, start making a plan, then launch in to that plan and follow through. Rely on experts to do that which you feel you cannot take on. My rule of thumb is "if you don't do it often, and you don't know how to do it right, get an expert to do it". That assumes a rather large bankroll, however...

Keep asking questions, take in all opinions, then decide for yourself. Think about what you want to do to enjoy the car. Do you like showing cars? Do you like driving cars? Do you like racing cars? Think about what you want to use the vehicle for, that will give you (and us) some ideas about directions to head in. There are many paths!


Enjoy!

TomK

Thanks Tom, I plan on doing a lot of the dismantling myself and I thought I'd strip the paint myself. I'll do as much myself as I can to save money but I don't think I can do a frame off since I don't have the experience or space. However I am looking at moving so it's possible that I'll be able to take the entire car apart. I'm pretty mechanical. I studied engineering and I own a machine shop with a CNC mill. However I don't really enjoy doing the work like I used to because I work so much now so my down time is for myself. I do like driving the suckers though and I don't have the reflexes to ride bikes anymore so that's why I bought the car. I'm not interested in showing the car but I would like to race it and cruise. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it so keep um coming. Phil Barone

 

[PhilBarone]

Dollar for dollar, I think a 383 stroker is a good choice. Same external mounting and dimensions as your 327 and easy to get 450 streetable foot pounds of torque.

Sounds small for such a large car but I don't know much mind you. I was actually thinking about going larger than 427. How many HP does a 383 produce generally speaking? Phil

 

[PhilBarone]

Dollar for dollar, I think a 383 stroker is a good choice. Same external mounting and dimensions as your 327 and easy to get 450 streetable foot pounds of torque.

I'm looking at 383 motors here: http://www.blueprintengines.com/popular_configurations/index.html

So what's the difference between aluminum heads and cast iron heads? Also apparently the blocks are different materials too. It seems like the heavier metals would be more reliable but heavier. Phil

 

[61BISCAYNE]

Hi Phil,
Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have found a great car to work with.
I'm sure most of the guys on this forum would vote for a 409...but that requires
more funds than some of us can spring for a motor.
You mentioned that a 383 sounds like a small motor for such a large and heavy car.
Well, you might be surprised, these cars are not nearly as heavy as many think.
According to my info, a V8 equipped '63 Impala two door hard top weighs in at just under 3500 lbs.
Compare that to a '72 Camaro at 3200 lbs...not as much difference as one might expect.
You say you want to go fast??? How fast is fast???
Do you want more race or more cruise? Wild street engines can be quite temperamental and require
someone with experience and lots of patience to keep them in tune. You say you are considering a supercharger...that can be great
as long as the engine is fuel injected. A blow-through on a carburetor can offer real
tuning issues, but fuel injection is a perfect marriage.
Don't sell a carbureted big-inch small-block too short. A stout 383 or 400
can provide plenty of torque (the stuff that moves heavier cars) and can be built for
a fraction of the cost of big blocks, especially if you compare a 400 small block to
a 427 big block...minimal power difference, significant cost difference.
I will reiterate what others have said, drive it for a while and take great consideration as to what you want when it is finished.
The car looks way too nice to strip down for a serious street brawler, so you may also want to take that into consideration when making your decision.

 

[PhilBarone]

Hi Phil,
Welcome to the forum. It looks like you have found a great car to work with.
I'm sure most of the guys on this forum would vote for a 409...but that requires
more funds than some of us can spring for a motor.
You mentioned that a 383 sounds like a small motor for such a large and heavy car.
Well, you might be surprised, these cars are not nearly as heavy as many think.
According to my info, a V8 equipped '63 Impala two door hard top weighs in at just under 3500 lbs.
Compare that to a '72 Camaro at 3200 lbs...not as much difference as one might expect.
You say you want to go fast??? How fast is fast???
Do you want more race or more cruise? Wild street engines can be quite temperamental and require
someone with experience and lots of patience to keep them in tune. You say you are considering a supercharger...that can be great
as long as the engine is fuel injected. A blow-through on a carburetor can offer real
tuning issues, but fuel injection is a perfect marriage.
Don't sell a carbureted big-inch small-block too short. A stout 383 or 400
can provide plenty of torque (the stuff that moves heavier cars) and can be built for
a fraction of the cost of big blocks, especially if you compare a 400 small block to
a 427 big block...minimal power difference, significant cost difference.
I will reiterate what others have said, drive it for a while and take great consideration as to what you want when it is finished.
The car looks way too nice to strip down for a serious street brawler, so you may also want to take that into consideration when making your decision.

Thank you. I don't know if any of what I say is reasonable but I imagine as I do my resaearch reality will set in. I'd like to do 11's and have a reliable cruiser but coming off of bikes maybe it's not reasonable to expect that. I do not want to be screwing around with it all the time. Been there done that and I'm too old to still be doing that. It's time to have some fun. That's why the Roush motors with their blowers are great choices even if they are Ford motors technically. If anyone on here wants to buy it be my guest but that baby is slated for a tear down into a hot rod. Phil

 

[tripower]

Phil, Welcome to the site. As others have said drive the car just the way it is now and get familiar with it. The 327 is one of the best engines Chevrolet built. You may be surprised what that little 327 is capable of. One of the fastest engines I ever built was a 327 in a 66' Chevy ll Nova. That thing would scare the wholly crap out of you...

 

[k9hotrodder409]

Welcome to the site Phil. I had a .060 over 327 in my '57 drag car before the 348 and that thing roared all day long and also scared the cr** out of me. What a rush!

 

[BARRYS770]

If you still want a supercharged engine, consider the GM LS9 crate motor. 630 Horsepower!!!!!!!!!------------plus it will get reasonable fuel mileage when your cruising. It's not cheep (21K):, but probably not any more than a Roush :evilMotor.

Barry

 

[PhilBarone]

If you still want a supercharged engine, consider the GM LS9 crate motor. 630 Horsepower!!!!!!!!!------------plus it will get reasonable fuel mileage when your cruising. It's not cheep (21K):, but probably not any more than a Roush :evilMotor.

Barry

Hi Barry, Thanks for that info. Do you know of a site where I can see that motor? Phil

 

[PhilBarone]

If you still want a supercharged engine, consider the GM LS9 crate motor. 630 Horsepower!!!!!!!!!------------plus it will get reasonable fuel mileage when your cruising. It's not cheep (21K):, but probably not any more than a Roush :evilMotor.

Barry

I'm doing some research. It's a dry sump. Phil

 

[PhilBarone]

I'm doing some research. It's a dry sump. Phil

I think it's a no brainer except for the price but that's what credit is for, right? It's closer to $23 though. I'd love to find a totaled Vette and pull the motor. Anyone know what year these motors went in? Phil

 

[BARRYS770]

Street & Performance are the people to talk to.

http://www.hotrodlane.cc/LS9/ls9.html

This link should give you a good starting place. The LS9 engine is a hand built engine that is only used in some of the hi-end Vett's. Finding one in a salvage yard would be a long shot & would still be expensive. If you did manage to find one, you would need to come up with a wiring harness, plus the stock computer program would have to be modified in order to use the engine in an older car. Street & performance Engines are "Plug & Play." Street & Performance might be able to provide you with the computer & wiring harness w/o purchasing the engine from them.

Barry

 

[PhilBarone]

Street & Performance are the people to talk to.

http://www.hotrodlane.cc/LS9/ls9.html

This link should give you a good starting place. The LS9 engine is a hand built engine that is only used in some of the hi-end Vett's. Finding one in a salvage yard would be a long shot & would still be expensive. If you did manage to find one, you would need to come up with a wiring harness, plus the stock computer program would have to be modified in order to use the engine in an older car. Street & performance Engines are "Plug & Play." Street & Performance might be able to provide you with the computer & wiring harness w/o purchasing the engine from them.

Barry

Thanks Barry. This was very valuable. Phil

 

[BARRYS770]

If the LS9 gets a little pricey or too techno, consider this alternative:

www.theengineshop.com/prods_pages/engines_merlin540.htm

Same HP, 1/2 the $$ & 2yr warranty

 

[PhilBarone]

If the LS9 gets a little pricey or too techno, consider this alternative:

www.theengineshop.com/prods_pages/engines_merlin540.htm

Same HP, 1/2 the $$ & 2yr warranty

Thanks foir that! Phil