AMC 327 - 443 XRV8
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:26 pm
Welcome again to more show and tell about this 443 CID stroker version of AMC's Rambler 327 V8.
Thank you to everyone here at SpeedTalk forum; even if you are an 'other make' enthusiast hopefully you all can still enjoy this thread if only for the novelty and rarity of such a thing: seen any DIY welded steel stroker cranks lately?
...after you read this message, the engine will automatically self destruct... ?
Anyway, I really learned to like this engine for it's everlasting personality when I bought a '65 Rambler Marlin for $100.
(the car was in a catastrophic flood; yes that was a Marlin that went for a swim under water)
To make a long story short, after doing what was necessary to fire it up, it started, clicked right into gear and I had a running car for the next three years.
I even ran that Marlin at Sacramento Dragway just for fun (same 'floodwater special' engine) and the car ran 16 second ETs 89 mph...
...better than the magazines said the car would do way back when the car was new!
I also learned to really like the engine because the way it goes together; nice big SAE bolts and nothing tricky -just a tough, easy to work on, straightforward-honest engine design... a person can basically overhaul the whole thing on the side of the road with only a simple toolbox.
This is AMC's first V8 engine. When Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merged in '54, they debuted this engine design in '56 only two years later. The engine was made during 'the Rambler days' and carried the reputation of AMC on it's shoulders all the way through the Automobile Manufacturer Association ban on factory supported racing from '57 to '62.
If this engine showed any weakness or had any durability problems, it is not hard to imagine that AMC would have not survived all their intense competition from 'the big three'. Rather, Rambler V8 earned a good reputation and pulled the weight of the company until it was retired for the newer emission control style '66-'91 AMV8 design (the one most 'other make' enthusiasts already know about)
Thank you to everyone here at SpeedTalk forum; even if you are an 'other make' enthusiast hopefully you all can still enjoy this thread if only for the novelty and rarity of such a thing: seen any DIY welded steel stroker cranks lately?
...after you read this message, the engine will automatically self destruct... ?
Anyway, I really learned to like this engine for it's everlasting personality when I bought a '65 Rambler Marlin for $100.
(the car was in a catastrophic flood; yes that was a Marlin that went for a swim under water)
To make a long story short, after doing what was necessary to fire it up, it started, clicked right into gear and I had a running car for the next three years.
I even ran that Marlin at Sacramento Dragway just for fun (same 'floodwater special' engine) and the car ran 16 second ETs 89 mph...
...better than the magazines said the car would do way back when the car was new!
I also learned to really like the engine because the way it goes together; nice big SAE bolts and nothing tricky -just a tough, easy to work on, straightforward-honest engine design... a person can basically overhaul the whole thing on the side of the road with only a simple toolbox.
This is AMC's first V8 engine. When Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merged in '54, they debuted this engine design in '56 only two years later. The engine was made during 'the Rambler days' and carried the reputation of AMC on it's shoulders all the way through the Automobile Manufacturer Association ban on factory supported racing from '57 to '62.
If this engine showed any weakness or had any durability problems, it is not hard to imagine that AMC would have not survived all their intense competition from 'the big three'. Rather, Rambler V8 earned a good reputation and pulled the weight of the company until it was retired for the newer emission control style '66-'91 AMV8 design (the one most 'other make' enthusiasts already know about)