GM 427 BB - tall vs short deck?

[JustJohn]

I think I've decided to take my car back to the engine it came with (but with EFI).

I've never rebuilt a Chevy engine but have rebuilt a couple of overhead cam Jag V-12's so it doesn't scare me, I'm just not knowledgeable on what I'm in for.



Can someone point me in a general direction? I know the 69 427 is going to be rare but really I just want the correct displacement and something that will be easy to get parts for. Deck height seems to be the first issue and not 100% interchangeable with other parts.

[ChevelleNV]

Tall deck is my preference, you can run a longer rod and have a piston with a decent pin height which can give you a better rod ratio without sacrificing piston skirt. you will have to run manifold spacer plates, but you can buy those and as far as interchangeability most all standard deck parts will fit the tall deck. the only issues you might run into are clearance issues since the heads and manifold are higher in the engine bay and some brackets might have an issue if they bolt to the head and block at the same time. The clearance issues I have seen in the past are carb to hood clearance with hi-rise manifolds and valve covers either hitting or real close to large diameter brake boosters, which can be an issue if you need to pull a valve cover to lash the valves.

Just my .02 cents....

[chpr1972]

kinda late for an answer but......short deck using a 454 block with a 427 crank if being original is not your bag. Or you can do what I did and put a scat stroker 4.25 .060 over and made a 496 that looks like a 396, 427,454 or ???? If you were racing then a tall block might be good but for street getting headers using intake spacers and expensive longer rods it is NOT worth it. With a 230/236 [282/288] 515 lift comp roller cam kit, a 10:1 compression old school closed chambered heads that has been extensive reworked with larger valves and extensive porting[bought the from an old racer 30 years ago and the guy that built the motor used the heads over a set of open chambered heads reworked the same way]and a torker 2 intake and reworked 750 holly carb[lost some power with low profile intake and 2 small carb] hooker comp 2 1/8 headers the guy that built it says I should be running about 500 to 525 hp at the fly wheel. every thing in the motor has been replaced and I have less than 8 thousand in the motor.