My new Gladiator

[tgreese]

I like it! Very handsome!

Your options for a trans swap are kind of limited with the 327. The Gen 1 AMC V8s have a unique bell pattern AFAIK, so look for a T-98 from a J-truck with that engine. You have good connections to that kind of stuff here.

Blocks on the rear, ok. Blocks on the front, scary.

The AMC 327 is a battleship of an engine. It will run and run and run if you change the oil. Steel crank, steel rods, lots of bearing surface, massive block. The starter can be a problem. I hear the position of the exhaust manifold cooks the starter - ask about the replacement gear-driven starter. OEM style starters are hard to find.

Excellent!

[will e]

SELL IT TO ME!!!!!!!

[jeep779]

Very nice

[fulsizjeep]

That's a nice one for sure.

That AMC 327 is actually a better engine than the AMC 360. That is my opinion anyway. Naysayers may speak up, but that's cool - we all have an opinion. Hate to see the Vigilante yanked, but it is yer Jeep. It should be fairly easy to put a T18 4 speed behind it and solve the 3 speed issue. I say should because I have never done it, but they are out there.

[drlocke]

Very nice truck!

If you are going to butcher it by offing the 327 then sell the truck to someone that will appreciate the motor. Just havin' fun with ya.....

But seriously: That 327 has an interesting parentage; you are operating a wonderful piece of history there! Tgreese is spot on about it;it is built for industrial-grade use. Look for one of fulsizjeep's posts and click on the appropriate link in his sig and study the engine you've got. It has very comprehensive construction involving extensive webbing at the mains--along with a very deep "skirt" on the block. The motor also puts out a surprising amount of power and torque for its "small" size. The one in my old Wag can sometimes still give me a scare if I tap on the skinny pedal too hard.

IMHO there is little you could put in there that would be a better motor short of putting in a Cummins diesel--or perhaps a 401, although you'd have to be out-and-out crazy at today's gasoline prices to consider this.....

If the 327 has good and even compression all around the 8 cylinders it should definitely be considered as a keeper!

There is one thing you DO need to do with this venerable old motor if you haven't done so yet, and that is to check it for timing chain slop--RIGHT AWAY! Pop off the dizzy cap and breaker-bar the crank through an arc of about 10 degrees or so. Check for any delay in movement of the distributor rotor. Many of the 327s were manufactured with the camshaft sprocket made of aluminum with nylon-coated teeth. The plastic ages and fails even on a low-mileage motor (AMHIK! ) and the chain will jump. It IS a valve-piston "interference" motor, so if it jumps far enough....

You might even consider simply doing a preemptive replacement of the chain/sprocket assembly; the parts are not expensive, and the job is fairly easy to do for the intermediate-skill wrencher. Catch that situation and nip it in the bud, I say! While you have the water pump off in the R&R process you might replace it as well if it has the bakelite rotor.... Just a thot.....

Even if you are a young FSJer this engine with proper care will outlast you to a ripe old age of many miles of hard use.

[jpjeeper]

The only reason I was thinking about pulling the 327 is that some folks have said here that the 327 is hard to find parts for and may be expensive to rebuild. I would like to go HEI and that is said to not exist either. Can somebody straighten me out here?

I really don't need more motor and if mine is good enough to rebuild or its ok, I would like to keep the thing close to stock and matching numbers.

[fulsizjeep]

I don't think it is so much a matter of hard to find parts as to the price they come at. Rebuild kits, gasket sets and lots of parts are available for AMC 327s. Hi torque starters are also available so to get away from the original style that IS hard to find. Gambler68 has one and raves on it.

[jpjeeper]

Ok, so I got a hard time for thinking about replacing the 327... ( I really didn't want to) but now I find it hard to locate a 327 master rebuild kit...

OH WHERE OH WHERE HAVE MY ENGINE PARTS GONE...

Any helpful Links are appreciated.

[tgreese]

I can't remember the name of the usual store ... but here's an eBay source: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AMC-R...0278QQtcZphoto

[joe]

Google <Kanter auto parts> . They prolly have a master kit for the 327. The do for the Kaiser 230 OHC motor so.... It's a vendor that specializes in resto stuff. I've never bought motor parts from them so I can't give you a reference as to the quality of the parts.

[tgreese]

Kanter: http://www.kanter.com/amcn.html#amc3

[Elliott]

Just like the ol days, you will need to send your cam in for a "regrind", I haven't found anyone that sells them any other way. Everything else you should be able to source. Ok, so Kantner does an exchange...

[jpjeeper]

Every thing I read says the 327 went in up to 66. Do I have a strange bird? I can't find it in a 67 gladiator.

Tell me im just and idiot...

I feel like such a newb... Give me a mini jeep any year and I can tell you everything about anything... give me a monster jeep... and I know nothing.

[Bob Barry]

The Buick motor started to be used sometime in 1968, but the Kaiser VINs didn't really number sequentially by model-year, so there will be even "1969" Kaiser FSJ's with the Ramber 327 motor that may have been built in the 1967 or 1968 calendar year and given a model-year according to the year it was titled.

But a 1967 Kaiser with the 327 is perfectly kosher.

I would do the timing-chain, upgrade to a factory 4-speed (you may not even need to change the bellhousing, but I don't know much about those year manual-tranny setups), and call it good. If the motor is not burning oil and has good even compression, I wouldn't even pull it apart. The 4-bbl and dual-exhaust is practically all you should ever need as an upgrade over the factory-installed 2-bbl and single exhaust.

Other than that, just do basic maintenance, repair any faulty wiring, and DRIVE IT!

[fulsizjeep]

No sweat huh? FSJs had 327 as an option from 65 to midway through the 68 model year when the Buick 350 was stuffed in them (also a great motor). Most parts books cover to 66 on the AMC 327 because that was the last year Rambler used that V8. The 290/343 came out in 67.

This doesn't tell you where to find parts, but has some AMC 327 history...

http://jubileejeeps.org/327/