Re: WTB 4bbl intake manifold for a 23 series 327

Posted by Ross On 2023/11/1 7:45:07

I've spent a fair amount of time wandering through the parts book and the specs they published every year. There are very complete specs in the service counselors. Here are the basic finds: (from memory)

Solid lifter cams were all the same 48-54.

Hyd. lifter cams were all the same 48-54.

359 cams were a different part # mostly to provide clearance for the rods on that long stroke engine.

'54 327s got their cam timing bumped 5 degrees by means of a different driven gear. Pretty sure 359s had the same cam timing. Jack, I love to hear your thoughts on the cam timing if you find a copy of the specs.

Cyl heads were tweaked almost every year. Ultramatic cars got an extra half point compression 49-52 compared to stick. After that it was 7.7 for the 288s and 8.0 for the 327s. Later cars got a lot more advance from the distributor.

I notice that all of the Packard heads had rather elaborate contouring of the of the combustion chamber and I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing. That's why I'm not so enamored of the aftermarket aluminum heads with their simplistic chambers but don't have any dyno results to prove it. What ratio were they providing?

In period road tests the 4bbl cars did better on gas than their predecessors and were faster. But that may have been the recalibrated dizzy. For rural driving with many curves and hills I find the tip-in of the 2bbl preferable.

At the end of the day, this is what I build for myself: port the engine just to clean up the bumps and stalactites. Relieve the valve pockets a bit. Run the latest possible cylinder head I can find. Use a 53 or 54 dizzy. Use a 327 manifold even if its a 288 as they have larger passages. My only dyno is the seat of my pants, but this seems to work well.