In 1963, 1964, and 1965 Ford Motor Company won 101 NASCAR races with their big block racing motors, against nine (9) by GM. The 427 was an awesome weapon on the tracks. It was lightweight, powerful, and reliable.
NASCAR wasn't the only place where Henry Ford II, "The Duce", intended to assert the power of American manufacturing. He wanted to embarrass Enzo Ferrari and the 427 did the job two years in a row at LeMans (and then it was outlawed from further competition).
New "modern" marine engines are made to replace every five to seven years.
Paramount with her 40 year old original 427 engines had become a little less than reliable this past summer. (To put it politely). Days before the annual two week family summer cruise, Paramount lost the starboard transmission as we approached her slip.
The first week of the holiday was spent tracking down a replacement Paragon gear and getting it swapped in and buttoned down, the weather was beautiful. We got her off the dock for week two as the clouds and rain socked in. The week was spent holed up in Silva Bay...
It was time to rebuild the engines!
Pete and the guys at Pacifc Parts were assigned the job.
The engines stripped down to the block and bored out 20 over, new piston heads and the complete "deluxe" rebuild kit was sourced through the online Chris Craft Commander forum website (as was the above info on the racing history) this owners resource has proved invaluable in the Paramount restoration.
The high chrome content is clearly visible in the shine of the cylinders.
The guys in the Pacific Parts workshop and their parts store are all impressed by the quality of the 427 block and are putting their best efforts into remaking the engine "better than new".
We are scheduled to dyno-test the first (counter-rotating) engine on Wednesday (December 17th) this week.
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