CHEAP, JUNKYARD LS VS MUSCLE SMALL BLOCK CAR LEGEND! HOW MUCH POWER DID THE ORIGINAL 365-HP 327 VETTE MOTOR REALLY MAKE? CAN YOUR AVERAGE 5.3L TRUCK MOTOR PULLED FROM A WRECKING YARD ACTUALLY MAKE MOTOR POWER? HOW FAR HAVE PERFORMANCE SMALL BLOCK EVOLVED SINCE THE ORIGINAL MUSCLE CAR ERA? CHECK OUT THIS COMPARISON BETWEEN A JUNKYARD 5.3L AND THE 365-HP 327 SMALL BLOCK FROM 1965. I COMPARED THEM BOTH IN STOCK TRIM, THEN AGAIN AFTER ADDING PERFORMANCE HEADS, CAM AND INTAKE TO EACH! HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
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I've always wondered what the traditional small block would do with a 14 or 16 degree head like the ls has, I know the price would Skyrocket for that type of an aftermarket top end but it's always been a curiosity
Thanks. i went with the 327 diamond pistons, jesel solid lifters, 12-700-8 cam, AFR 180 heads, Dart block mainly because the LS looks like crap under a 69 Nova. Daily driver BTW. Love your content!
Hello Richard! Love your video's, thanks for making them! Question: What would be the maximum horsepower you can make with each of those two engines with changing pistons, cams, intake, heads, rocker arms, and adding say fuel injection? Both being naturally aspirated. No blowers, turbo's, nitrous, etc.?
I think this is a good comparison, especially for anyone with a desire to build a street rod with an engine as the centerpiece with no hood deciding which to run. From my point of view aesthetically, the new engines don't look nearly as good as the older engines rather it be Chevy, Chrysler or Ford. I'd much rather see an old 426 Hemi than a modern Dodge Hemi, for example, so it's good to know that old iron can still make comparable power. Even so, new engines in stock form make more power on regular pump gas and get better fuel efficiency too.
Which is more reliable? Which performs more consistently? LS is much better
GREAT VIDEO RICHARD!!!! BOTH ARE GREAT OPTIONS!!!! BOTH ARE WINNERS!!!! BOTH MAKE GREAT DAILY DRIVER MOTORS!!!!!
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ALL THAT HI SPEED JABBER UR THROWING ABOUT BUT A CAN TELL U THAT MY 64 iMPALA W 327 4BBL HO WITH ONLY THE ORIG 2 SPEED TRANS OUT RUNS AND OUT GAS MILES MY 2006 5.3 SILVERADO
WITH 2X THE GEARS !!! THE IMPALA ADMITTED HAS HEADERS AND DUAL PIPES BUT ITS STOCK THE WAY GRANDFATHER BOUGHT IT FOR GRANDMA TO DRIVE TO WORK IN . MY sILVERADO HAS MUCH !!!! LESS MILES BUT JUST NOT THE MACHINE THAT THE IMP IS !! A PAIN IN MY ASZ TO WORK ON BUT THE IMP IS A BREEZE AND I DONT NEED FANCY TECH TOOLS N PUTERS TO WORK ON IT !! AND IT DOESNT NEED PROGAMING AND BLAH,BLAH,BLAH !!
THE IMP FIRES EVERY TIME COLD OR HOT …… IT JUST REALLY IS A JOY AND WAY CHEAPER …..IN SOME WAYS …. TO WORK ON. ITS WORTH ALOT OF $$$$$ SO WE KEEP THE MILES DOWN AS POSS BUT IT STILL IS DRIVEN FAR REGULAR. A BIT OVER 2OO,000 BUT NO TAIL PUFF !!!! MY DAD WHEN HE HAD IT CONVERTED TO HEI, BUT WE STILL HAVE THE ORIG DISTRIB 8) THE VALVE COVERS HAS HAD NEW GASKETS . THE SILVERADO HAS HAD ALOT OF HARNESS ISSUES, WATER PUMP, CLUSTER TROUBLES ETC.
SO I REALLY BELIEVE IN THE SAYING IF IT AINT BROKE DONT MESS WITH IT !!!!!
Anyone that drives a truck is far more interested in the torque performance between 1k and 3k… I can count on one hand the number of times my engine revved up to 4k …. As for 6k ?… who does that ?
check out I Do Cars video on web about 5.3 lS engine. That what happens when you try to make 5.3 run like 327/365 in real world.
While I already know the newer engine would ultimately win this test, I have a 327 in my Chevy and I absolutely love the way it responds to mods. It revs quick. Quicker than any 350. I think that 327/375 was the most powerful small block ever until just a few years back. I love power but there's just something about an old 327. Anyone else feel that way?
I know which one is ugly and which one is beautiful
Who pays for all of these parts in these videos.?
Richard how would i go about getting an actual parts list for the 5.3? This is what I have been hoping someone would do a test and video on. While I like both engines, sometimes you have to move along with technology.
Technically speaking though weren't the first "Muscle car's" created ( Pontiac Tempest / GTO) by ordering a large TRUCK engine placed in the car from the factory ? So using the modern 5.3 from a truck should be a fair comparison. Side note, I own both, 55 1st series 3100 w 67 327 202 heads and power glide, /2014 Silverado Z71 5.3 Happy Happy.
Thank you for the wealth to knowledge.
Which one has better fuel economy?
The issues are availability and driveability. 5.3s or 6 0s are available everywhere and are super reliable, while the 327s are near impossible to find and more suited to racing or occasional driving rather than daily driver status IMO.
Love the energy Richard! Hope you're doing well; it's been awhile. Great content as usual.
Well, I know the newer motor is probably more powerful alright, but the old sbc in my old '67 Caprice serves me just fine, AND…….I'm the computer! Plus a LOT easier to work on. Just sayin'.
I went with my old 327 block in my 67 Camaro but with Blueprint aluminum heads, .485 lift roller cam, tru-ram stainless ramshead exhaut, Edelbrock airgap and AVS2 carb. I'm satisfied. I could have gone wilder, but you know, with my weight down to 2950 lbs and a 700R4 I'm having plenty of fun and the whole system is easily repairable. And I'm still within the old school look.
I really wanted see similar camshafts 590 lift
Roller cam in 327 would have been real close
In my opinion, it's very disappointing that after 50 years of engineering the 5.3 isn't out classing the old 327 by miles. Statistically speaking they are very similar. Boils down to the reality that there are only so many btu's in a any certain unit of fuel. How efficiently those btu's are harnessed and transmitted to the wheels is the key. Obviously progress is being made, but kinda not really.
In 1966 you could buy a Nova with a 327 for the same price as it cost for the cam train in a today engine.
Good video Richard, let me bottom line it for you. In my EXPIRENCE with the 5.3LS a bone stock motor with a $150 Sloppy Stage 2 cam will easily make over 425hp with the stock heads and truck manifold for an investment of way less than $1000. What other engine combination will put out so much HP so cheap ? Some will say you need to spend money on a high pressure fuel system. OK, let's add $150 for an external pump, a Corvette filter/regulator and some 3/8" hard line and a return to the filler neck of the tank. A cut down stock harness and a reflashed PCM will cost $250-$400 so let's say we will invest a little over $1500 and some change for a powerplant. $2000 for a swap. With tax and shipping that's little more than just the cost of a good set of aluminum heads for a SBC. I get the purist's who want the 327 for their '64 Vette but for the average guy it's very difficult to beat the LS for a swap into a Nova, S or C10 or any GM G body or a Mustang, even a B or E body Mopar.
I wish you would have picked a cam with comparable duration of 236/242 in the ls for a closer test
Right on
Technology doesn't go backwards, of course the new engine will make more power.
A 421 Sbc vs any LS would be a cool comparison.