Looks like the 350 in our el Camino may just be a '68 327, unless the block was used to build a 350. Anyone know anything about '68 327 truck engines such as type of heads, valve sizes etc? The pad is stamped CE858741.

keith,

my '68's stamped #s start with #s and end with letters. If the motor you speak of came with the vehicle, and the vehicle is a '68 then the stamped pad of vin #s on the dash (visible through the windshield) will match one of 2 the stamped sequences on the engine block (passenger side of the car/block up front). On my motor there are 2 sequences on the block (and the one i speak of, the one you should worry about, is to the right when youre looking down at it from the front of the motor.) The last 3 #s you will see in the dash # should be the displacement of the motor your vehicle came with. On the block the last 3 numbers are also the displacement. ( 327, 350, 396, whatever) After the last 3 stamped #s on the block you should see a 2 letter code that tells you the type of car the motor came in. my '68 elcam's dash vin #s read 1 3680 8Z104327. The motor reads: 8Z104327EE.

you say truck engines but the el caminos were given whatever the 2 and 4 door chevelles were given that year. the following info about my '68 motor will most likely not help you. My motor is a 275 horse L30 327 with fuelie 194 heads (normally found in early corvettes.) 194 refers to the intake valve diameter of 1.94". Some had 2.02" (called 202s) but those are even more rare, especially on an elcamino. yours are most likey standard issue. If the heads on your motor have threaded holes on the front or back sides (for brackets and such) then they are not '68 heads and your motor is probably a rebuild. That might suggest a crank transplant, which (as you probly know) would lenghten the stroke. and im also not sure if a 350 crank would fit but i suppose it would. the builder would also have to change the connecting rods so the pistons wouldnt crash into the head on the upstroke. if they did that they would most likely also get new pistons, bla bla bla. All that time and money to convert a 327 to a 350 would be better spent, in my opinion, on a boneyard motor or a crate from GM. Thats just too much work to make something that someone else (GM) made a ton of and is so easy to come by. I have never, in my 17 years alive, read about or seen a kit to do this conversion except for complete 350 reuilds, which may not even work in the early 327 because of a main journal size change they did in the earlier years? [indicated and abbreviated by SJ (small journal) or LJ (large journal) in shop talk/parts catalogs.] i hope you consult the #s stamped on the motor. good luck with your identity crisis.

wes

ps: which pad did you get those #s from? and if anyone out there sees a flaw in my info please shout it out or email me or something. id rather stand corrected than be wrong and sound like an idiot who thinks he knows all. merry new year!

The casting number on the block checks out as a truck application. In '68 there were some vehicles using a 250 hp 327 with low compression, small valves and a four barrel carburetor. The engine isn't making much horsepower. I guess the only way to know for sure would be to tear the engine down and check it out. As long as it works fine, I'll probably just leave it alone. I was just curious......as usual.