Heavy Z Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 Driving back from the river today in my Z smelling the aroma of cooked radiator fluid, open the hood and my breather now looks like a chocalate shake dispenser... So, now that I've got to do the head gasket, I'm considering either: 1. Going with a thinner Fel-Pro gasket to squeeze more comp from my engine (currently 9.5:1) - anyone have experience with these? This is the cheap fix. I'm also getting a bit of blowby through my rings and have considered pulling the crank & pistons and rather than just doing rings... 2. Change the gaskets, upgrade my 327 to 6.125 long rods, JE or keith black pistons, and shoot for 11:1 compression. If the long-rod/smaller intake runner/moderate cam theory holds up I should be cool on pump gas with my setup. Any thoughts, recommendations, advisories or otherwise? Thanks all in advance for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 My wife says "That's stupid, 11:1 with that garbage they call gas now days!" I'm inclined to agree with her, especially since you specify a moderate cam... guess that might depend on your definition of moderation. You undoubtably have aluminum heads and Pat's DCR calculator, so let us know the exact combination and the outcome. I, for one, am always happy to gather new knowledge (particularly when someone else is footing the bill). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 I run 11.17 to 1 compression on 93 octane. I do run 34-36 degrees of timing also. Part of the secret is in the cam. A little cam will cause more problems. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 It can be done! Just search for "The 350 Engine Chevrolet Should Have Built" or go here: http://www.airflowresearch.com/articles/article03/A3-P1.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ground_Rat Posted July 10, 2004 Share Posted July 10, 2004 http://www.airflowresearch.com/articles/article03/A3-P1.htm Good article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy Z Posted July 10, 2004 Author Share Posted July 10, 2004 Yeah, that's the article that got me thinking on the rods. I guess I won't know until I get it apart, no oil in my radiator but drank from there into my engine. Water jacket may be cracked, head maybe, hopefully just a gasket. Didn't get hot when it happened and was all warmed up, oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 If you're going that far and going with that kinda compression, you might as well go with a cam like this one: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CCA-12-250-3&N=120 300363 that will let you use the compression to it utmost and spin the heck out of that 327. It's a high winding motor, and we definitely don't need the raw torque in Z cars, so go for it! You just have to build a stout valve train to spin that high and keep it there long, though... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Brett, LongRod327 (Jason) wanted to build such a motor and nearly got it finished before he ended up selling it. I think the price of the pistons was what set him aginst doing it. Price it out FIRST! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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