I am beginning a 327 swap into a 53 chevy truck. We plan to use the original 3 speed and column shift if possible. It is a shop truck, so we are leaving it rusty. I will pressure wash it to blast off the loose paint, let it rust over any clean metal freshly exposed, then flat clear the whole thing. Replacing all but the 2 door glasses, along with all weatherstripping. For the swap, we have the bellhousing from a 58 V8 truck, flywheel and pressure plate from the same truck, freshly rebuilt 327 that came from the burgundy 51 AD, Edelbrock carb, lots of high tech billet dress up items from the owner's hot rod that we are bring back to old school style, a set of 327 manifolds from a 67 Impala SS or a set of block huggers, A tubular engine mount from Trans Dapt. The plan is to not move the steering box and use the column shift linkage if at all possible. Follow along truck fans......
Russ, sounds like a great plan!! Can?t wait for the fun build to begin. I?m sure you?ll cover the story with great pics... Any suspension mods on the plan??
shop truck Russ keep the three on the tree but use an overdrive 3 speed iam sure you have more fun with more gears. what are the plans for the stock engine parts? cant wait to see this build.
If you see anything you need from the 216, let me know. The engine itself is pretty tired, but everything works. I also have a great running 216 in my garage, can't give it away.
Oh , Boy ~ Here we go.... Once he gets it running with that romping stomping 327 CID V-Ate , he's going to need to replace every bushing in the suspension as it'll wander all over the road every time he gooses it . Then of course , will come the brakes.... This will be a very informative thread . I looked at a '51 (? IIRC) 3600 Tow Truck with a 327 shortly before buying my old '49 . This used to be an extremely common engine swap .
Hey thanks. North Dakota is a lot closer. As of this moment, I do not need another 216, BUT if the jinxes of sitting many years cause any major problems, I could be looking?
A 53 with a 327, this is EXACTLY what our shop truck was for years. I got a complete 54 Corvette three carb intake, cast headers, and all the "make pretty" Vette items in a trade which was the original power plant we put in the 53 but a Corvette purist offered us enough cover the cost of the whole 327 swap so in it went. The 327 had a Holley THREE barrel carb which is not well known but Ken?? I think was working for Holley or Colt Industries and remembers them. Replaced every single suspension and steering component if it had a moving part and could cruise 70 with one finger on the wheel. No disc brakes back then but sintered iron brake shoes were available and worked better as they got hotter. Brake drums had a short life span. Probably would still have it but some sugar daddy in downtown Dallas was paying more attention to his new sweety than to stop lights and a 53 half ton loses to a Land Rover every time.
Evan~ Cast headers = stock headers? Did the 327 go in without cramping the original steering? I'll never forget an old AD laying in this <great> old yard close to Goodman Missouri. There was this truck that had a 283 hooked up to the original 4 speed? Anyway, it seems I heard that a 283 bolts up to the original 4 speed housing and the stock exhaust won't mess with moving the steering box. Do you (or anyone) know if this is truth or myth? Thanks!
Zig, I can't remember if the 54 Vette 6 cylinder engine required moving the steering box but I can ABSOLUTELY GUARENTEE that a sbc V8 of any cubic inches will fit in an AD without moving the box if one uses a 55 or 56 265 left side exhaust manifold and this is with the engine center mounted; not off-set. A couple of drawbacks is the 265 manifold is a flat log type that will support up to 250hp max and the exhaust outlet is between #1 & #3 sparkplug which is exactly where the side mount is on later engines. A bit of creative mount bracket work can overcome the problem or one can run the factory 55-57 front motor mounts. The front mounts were designed to be used with bellhousing rear mounts so if the transmission rear mount is used it puts a lot of strain on the bellhousing to block junction. There is a little "dip" in the 265 manifold that just clears the steering box when the engine is in the correct position. Plenty of room for a points type or small electronic distributor but not enough for an HEI. You can hold a square dance in the fan to radiator space. The shot is of a 52 on an S10 frame but the firewall to radiator is exactly factory spacing so I don't know why people have clearence issues.
Thanks, Evan! HA!!! Square dances! Good to know. Whenever I go with a V8 I'm doubting I will need to worry about getting past the 250hp. My romp and stomp 'em days are l-o-n-g behind me.
As usual, plans have changed.....we now will be installing an s10 5 speed and a Colorado rear end. This will make some fitment issues much easier. Stay tuned......
