Whats your favorite SB chevy motor and why??

[jrsmith_2010]

350 all the way. they are all the same and easy to get parts for. plus can get up and go

[19673ontree]

327 !
why ?
because of the fact it's the greatest little motor EVER ! and I like the nostalgia of them , they were in nova's camaro's corvette's chevelle's truck's and they are just hard to beat ,,,, they run great , they will last forever they get good gas mileage , just can't say enough , I like a 1970 350 motor too as long as it has 327 crank and piston's (LOL)

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

I love all of them, but I have special place in my heart for the 283 and 327. I used to build them with my Dad when I was a kid.

a 350 is hard to beat though, as far as practicality goes.

[prostreetC-10]

Although I currently don't mess with those little SBC's.....that 383 is a great stroker motor.

[chevy29267truck]

i would have too say i like three chevy engines that are 292 inline
six engine the 327 engine and 396 engine i just like all three engines

[prg machine]

I thought the 383 was the only small block chevy there was

[retselgerg]

The SBC is biggest thing to hit the auto industry since the wheel, its the one piece of history nearly everyone (or at least anyone with since) can relate to. the next generation engines have picked up where these left off.. GM will always have the market dominated. my favorite would be the 265 the remote filter intact... what a beauty, the 327 & 283 introduced "big horsepower, and the 350 was a blank canvas with all most unlimited horsepower possabilities. with all variations its hard to pick a favorite (but id love to have a 265) one things for sure its not a sbc your wasting your time

[thesteppenwolf]

..I like them all, I have a collection or pile of parts I build from...a mix and match sorta thang...amazing what will work together..

[streetstar]

The war is over and the 350 won ---- hands down (new GM cars and trucks- well, mostly trucks -- from 1969 to 1998)

The 327 is just an archaic little dinosaur, that, while it can be effective, would be just as effective if not more so if the same parts were used on a 350.

I like old school crap and a quick tour of my garage and backyard will tell you that ---- but really, why bother with anything less than a 350 unless it is something that is given to you, is something you already have, or is something of personal significance to you?

The 302 and 327 were great motors, but the 350 was even better ---- when the 2nd Gen Z-28 came out - it got a 350 because the CI restriction in Trans Am racing that limited engines to 305ci was lifted, and the 350 was a faster motor. That should end the argument there ----

I wont go into the 383 or the 400 ------- 400 is good but its a niche engine now because the blocks are harder to find, and some would say it has cooling shortcomings compared to a 350 because of the siamesed bores.

The reason i wont dive into the 383's is because i feel they are just a 350 on a small shot of steroids. if built with the same components, the strker will pump out more torque, but not a helluva lot more hp than the 350

(more torque does make it an ideal truck 'plant though)

------ so there you have it --- all 350, all the way !

i am not biased either, my fleet consists of 2 307 equipped trucks, 2 454's, and only one 350

[ulakovic22]

Well, based on your criteria I would say a 377 just because outside the circle track world you don't hear much about them, they are fun and have enough grunt to get these big ol trucks moving. You can rev the piss out of them too!

[Ol'Rover]

327 & 305

can you say...Bullet Proof?

[68Stepbed]

The 327 and 350 engines are both great engines. They each have good sides and bad sides. When introduced in 1967, the 350 wasn't as widely accepted as the market tells they were. ALOT of racers and street bruisers still liked their 327's. The 327, for a small engine, made gobs of torque, but it was all in the mid-upper rpm range. It also had high rev capabilities that a "street" 350 will never see. The 327's short coming though was the lack of low end torque where a street engine used it most. It was also a bit of a slouch behind an auto trans. but a terror in front of a 4-spd tranny. With high octane leaded fuel available at every gas station, the 327 with a higher compression ratio was a screamer.

I'm good friends with a guy who built a 53 Chevy car back in the 60's with a 327 and a 4-speed. He said he used to drop the clutch at 6500 and shift at 9500. The car was absolutely wicked.

The 350 made better low end torque where it was needed in a street car and definetly in a truck. The 350 just simply had better all around street manners even in the mild engine combos that GM put in the Camaros and Vettes. The ever popular 375hp 350 LT1 was a wild engine with a solid cam and high compression, but simply woouldn't survive on today's watered down fuels. Also, technology has come a long way and you can build a 375 hp 350 with hydraulic cams and still be able to run on 93 octane junk squeeze from any gas station.

I'm going to agree with lots of folks here and say a 350 would be a better choice for what you want. If you were to find a good rebuildable 327, go for it. It's gonna be harder to come by than a 350 core though. 400's are very hard to come by and have lots of shortcomings for high horsepower builds, but any would be sufficient for a mild street build like you want. Of course depending on budget, there's always aftermarket blocks like Dart, World Products and even the GM Sportsman blocks that have all the shortcomings fixed and made better. They're primarily designed for street/strip or race only configurations though.

[DomesticDisturbance]

Originally Posted by thesteppenwolf

..this part of the country a 350 four bolt is as rare as ...2.02 heads..or camel back heads....I would like some of each....

im with you on that one. but lucky for me i have both a 4 bolt main 350 and a set of 2.02 double hump heads sitting in my garage going together.

im partial to the 350 myself. i grew up at the drag strip for the most part and thats all me and my dad ever put together. in all actuallity i have had better luck with the 350s holding together than any other small block that i have played with, but either way i like building them all, but a 350 the most

[Ackattack]

I guess I'm a little different than most on here, and love the new technology in the new genIII/IV engines. I mean come on, an LS7: 427 cubic inches, 505HP, dry sump oiling, and still gets good gas mileage! Now that's a spendy unit, but awesome.

I also like the LS1/LS6 engines as well as the 5.3L and 6.0L. I'm torn between slapping a supercharger on my 5.3L and calling it a day, or building up the LS6 block I have on a stand.

If I had to pick an old school SBC, I guess it'd have to be a 327....had one of those in my 72 GMC for many years. Learned a lot working and re-building it.

[68GMCCustom]