a chevy 427 cubic inch v8 big block making 425 horsepower
(Image/OnAllCylinders)

While Chevrolet did produce a select few 427-cubic-inch engines a few years prior (the Z11) for the Chevy Impala, the wildly popular Chevy 427 V8 engine became available to the general public in 1966.

The engine won instant fans, because the powerplant offered versatility and piles of horsepower.

The 427 powered vehicles across the spectrum of Bowtie offerings—from family wagons to Corvettes.

History

Chevy started using the 427 big block as a production engine in 1966—an engine with a diverse range of power depending on a particular vehicle or application.

The 427 lived in both station wagons and as well as Corvettes and Camaros.

Fans of this engine tout the 435-horsepower L71 version of the 427 which powered the Chevy Corvette from 1967-1969. These cars could run 13-second quarter-miles right from the factory, and that was absolutely cooking back in the late ‘60s.

Among gearheads and hotrodders, the 427 is considered to be one of, if not the, least expensive way to make a lot of horsepower.

For non-street use, the 427 ZL1 was built with aluminum blocks and cylinder heads. That engine, properly tuned, spit out more than 500 horsepower and was used in a variety of racing applications.

Engine Specifications

1966 – 1969 with 4 Barrel Carb (L36)
(Low Compression Model)
Max Brake Horsepower – 390 @ 5200 rpm
Max Torque – 470 @ 3600 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 10.25

1966 with 4 Barrel Carb (L72)
(High Compression Model)
Max Brake Horsepower – 425 @ 5600 rpm
Max Torque – 460 @ 4000 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 11.0

1967 – 1968 with 4 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower – 385 @ 5200 rpm
Max Torque – 460 @ 3400 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 10.25

1967 – 1968 with 3 x 2 Barrel Carbs (L68)
1969 with a 4 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower – 400 @ 5200 rpm
Max Torque – 460 @ 3600 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 10.25

1967 – 1969 with 4 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower – 425 @ 5600 rpm
Max Torque – 460 @ 4000 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 11.0

1967 – 1969 with 3 x 2 Barrel Carbs (L71)
Max Brake Horsepower – 435 @ 5800 rpm
Max Torque – 460 @ 4000 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 11.0

1967 – 1969 with 4 Barrel Carb (L88) 
(Very rare engine that was offered in Corvettes. Only 20 were produced in 1967.)
Max Brake Horsepower – 430 @ 5800 rpm
(Some argue that it actually produced up to 600 horsepower, according to EngineFact.com )
Max Torque – 450 @ 4000 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 12.5 (Was lowered to 12.0 in the last half of 1969.)

1969 with 4 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower – 335 @ 4800 rpm
Max Torque – 470 @ 3200 rpm
Stroke – 3.76
Bore – 4.251
Compression – 10.25

Top Aftermarket Upgrades 

According to Summit Racing, these Chevy Big Block 427 Mark IV parts are the most readily available (number of options as of 1/21/2014 in parenthesis):

Editor’s Note: This series counts down the Top 10 engines of all time—see how the voting was done by reading our initial post.

SOURCE: EngineFacts.com

Keywords
Big Block V8, Chevrolet, Chevy 427, Chevy big block, Top 10 Engines
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Author: Matt Griswold

After a 10-year newspaper journalism career, Matt Griswold spent another decade writing about the automotive aftermarket and motorsports. He was part of the original OnAllCylinders editorial team when it launched in 2012.