327 & TCI in '85 C-10

[shifter13]

After a disaster w/the last motor I've finally gotten around to putting this thing back together.  The 350 was supposedly a Goodwrench reman but I never got it to fire.  The starter wouldn't disengage & I pulled it out & took it to another shop.  Turned out the bearings (crank & rods) were standard and should have been oversize to fit!  That shop went out of business (go figure), so I got burned.

Pulled the old 327 out of the corner & had this other shop do the work. 

My son helped me do a test fit of the engine this past weekend, as with the last motor, the mm wouldn't fit.  Same thing happened this time but I had one old mount from the 327.  I guess the other one got lost or thrown away from a flood about 5 years ago.  Anyway, we swapped out one of mounts for this one & now it fits.  Looks like it's almost 1/2" lower than the mounts that came w/the truck.  It had a 305.

The bonus is I just got some antique plates, so won't need an inspection.  I'd already changed over some of the stuff, so this should be easy.  I started cleaning up the engine bay & working on the frame rails.  It's been sitting a long time, so already threw away the old gas tank & got another.  Spray painted it w/appliance epoxy on the rec. of a fellow from summit & not going to put the plastic cover back on.

I hope to update on a regular basis & would appreciate any comments, tips, etc. 

[shifter13]

An update of sorts.  Bolted on the flexplate & tried the starter, as I didn't want to have the same problem that brought me to this point.  Sure enough, the 3510 style pinion wouldn't disengage from the flexplate.  I'm doing this with just the engine hanging from the hoist so I can see exactly what's going on.

Checked the runout on the 3 flexplates I had & sent the TCI back to them to put an eyeball on it, as it had the worst reading.  One of the flexplates was purchased in 1975 for this motor & maybe run for 2 weeks & the other came off either a 1977 or 1985 305.

I'm looking at starters now, as I suspect I may have to do a little fabricating to make one work

[HAULIN IT]

There should not be any fabricating necessary. The right collection of parts (starter/flexplate teeth) should make it all work. Not sure as to what the "3510" pinion is that you're referring to. You may need to shim the starter for the correct mesh, but that should be all there is to it. Lorne

[shifter13]

3510 is the OEM style starter for SBC, also called a 10MT.  I had a 50MT on my Kenworth.  Same style to bolt on as Ford (to tranny housing) & to me makes more sense.  Then again, try holding that thing w/one hand while you put in the bolts! 

Of course everything should work (on paper) but it doesn't all the time.  I've gathered a lot of info recently & it seems like once the factory starter is removed, it's a shot in the dark if the replacement starter will work properly.  Most of the time it does but there are times it doesn't.  What appears to take place is the teeth of the flexplate & the teeth of the pinion are not parallel and this small difference causes binding.  Unfortunately, shimming, either from the starter bolt position or behind the flexplate does not correct this problem.  Differences in nose cones, pinion gear shaft diameters, nose cone bushings, resurfacing of nosecones and the different pitch of pinion teeth can contribute to this problem.  By no means is this list exhaustive but should offer several problems that can cause the binding which prevents the pinion from disengaging from the flexplate.

I'm getting a high torque mini starter & the faceplate can be moved to reclock plus completely removed, so getting a reworked piece (if necessary) shouldn't be difficult. 

It's just weird how some stuff doesn't work like it should.  Take the mm brackets I had difficulty with.  Pulled out a 305 & put in a 350.  Same size block but the brackets don't fit.  Put the 327 in there & the same thing happens.  Used just one of the brackets that originally came w/the 327 & it fits.  What's wrong w/this picture?

[bake74]

   You don't find a lot of 327's around anymore.  I have had 3 of these engines and built right they are great power plants.   Good luck on your build and keep up with pics.