327 Vigilante on Unleaded

[F3X]

Hi,
I have a original 327 Vigilante mtr and will the exhaust seats/valves wear with unleaded fuel? I know most pre unleaded mtrs have issues but no idea about the AMC.
Thanks

[Elliott]

I believe they will. Joys of older motors.

[ferriolom]

I believe they will. Joys of older motors.

So what is to be done about this? Lead substitute? Pull the heads and put in hardened valves and seats?

[Gambler68]

I wouldn't bother unless you actually need to pull that motor apart (break out your wallet). It's not like those heads can't take it.

I'd worry more about running ethanol blended gasoline in it. Doesn't really matter..it's going to get horrible mileage no matter what you do. It's all about the fun-per-gallon vs the miles-per-gallon.

Lead substitute certainly won't hurt it, it's still around and cheap (buck a bottle per tank).

If the miles ARE original on it (13k) then there's a 99% chance you still have the fiber cam sprocket in there. You need to change that. They used fiber to keep the noise down, but over this amount of time..

it's easy to do and the parts for the timing are cheap. You can remove the gas pump from the side and check the timing chain with a screwdriver for slack. Gaskets are 20 bucks. I recommend Falcon Global for gaskets for the 327, especially the valve cover ones.

A simple "AMC 327" search on ebay will bring up the main vendors you'll want to use.

[Gambler68]

I wouldn't bother unless you actually need to pull that motor apart (break out your wallet). It's not like those heads can't take it.

I'd worry more about running ethanol blended gasoline in it. Doesn't really matter..it's going to get horrible mileage no matter what you do. It's all about the fun-per-gallon vs the miles-per-gallon.

Lead substitute certainly won't hurt it, it's still around and cheap (buck a bottle per tank).

If the miles ARE original on it (13k) then there's a 99% chance you still have the fiber cam sprocket in there. You need to change that. They used fiber to keep the noise down, but over this amount of time..

it's easy to do and the parts for the timing are cheap. You can remove the gas pump from the side and check the timing chain with a screwdriver for slack. Gaskets are 20 bucks. I recommend Falcon Global for gaskets for the 327, especially the valve cover ones.

A simple "AMC 327" search on ebay will bring up the main vendors you'll want to use.

compared to a 360, the 327 is an absolute JOY to work on. You can pull the front clip very very easily in about a half hour start to finish, and the motor is very easy to figure out and work on quickly..at least the front end and top end of it. I didn't go any deeper into mine.

Pertronix also makes a kit to replace the points distributer, fyi. I havent done it, but will be.

[joe]

Just run it. Most of the stuff I've owned was built to run on leaded fuel and it's all good. Granted it will wear faster w/o the lead but not at an alarming rate. When leaded fuel was banned and everyone screamed "our engines are all gonna blow up" turned out to be pure BS. By the time you'll notice enough wear your heads will need rebuilding anyway. Do NOT run a lead additive. You can't mix it well enough in the tank for it to work properly unless you just feel like adding a gummed up trashed carb to your to do list.
Run it and enjoy it. Rebuild it when needed.

[Gambler68]

[ferriolom]

Good advice from everyone here, so thanks.

Looking at a 66' Wagoneer with 80k on the original 327.

[Gambler68]

Good advice from everyone here, so thanks.

Looking at a 66' Wagoneer with 80k on the original 327.

Buy it!

[Elliott]

Hate to admit it but when I owned my J3000/327 you could still get leaded gas. When I built my '67 TR it got hardened seats, bronze guides, stellite ex valves... and 104 octane boost.

[austinaubinoe]

You can still get leaded gas? We only put the finest 110 octane in my dads '65 396 vette

[Elliott]

Av gas is probably still leaded....

[SEdmonds]

I think the 327 is just a wonderful engine. We just had our 327 rebuilt - we had to - it was seized - and put in hardened valve seats. It had 130,000 on it. It likes 92 octane, but its compression ratio is close to 10:1. It's bored .03 over and has high compression Egge pistons.

Pics of it can be found here:

http://1965rambler.weebly.com/sept-2010--the-engine-is-in.html

Yours is basically a new engine - and I would hesitate to open it up without cause. I remember when leaded gas was first taken off the market and the discussion regarding what to do with engines made to run on lead - some thought was that if the engine had a sufficient coating from years of running on lead, that this would protect it - but yours is so young, I just don't know.

I would most likely run it on 92 unleaded.

The AMC forums have lots of info on this engine. The 360, 390 and 401 get more coverage, but the 327 was a darned good engine, too. It's not terribly hard to find parts for it, so don't be discouraged by those who will tell you that's it's a heavy, old fashioned engine that you'll never find parts for. It doesn't have a lot of aftermarket build up parts for it, but it is a fine engine.