Do factory truck small blocks usually come with steel cranks?

[special-K]

Originally Posted by MARKDTN

Here is some info on 327s from another post. There is no large journal 327s in 67 Chevelles and thus no 4 bolt mains.
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This addresses small journal 4-bolt 327s, but also 1968. Here are some of the highlights:

There is no such thing as a factory 327 4-bolt main. You can build one out a large journal block, but none were ever made factory. You will not find a single instance of anybody that can prove there ever was one. Lots of "I heard they did......" but no real evidence. There are pages on Google about this and not one of them I've seen can show any documentation that they exist.

Some have claimed this with a 3892657 casting block. See http://www.nastyz28.com/sbchevy/sblock.html. Mortec says the same things. This is a 1967 only block that was SJ for 327 and 302 but '67 Camaros with 350s got the same 4" bore block with the saddles machined for a LJ crankshaft (http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=143669).

There were no factory built cars with 4-bolt mains until 1969. No Corvettes, Z28s, or SS350 Camaros. If there were some blocks cast in '68, I believe they were for '69 model year vehicles.

http://www.ncrs.org/forums/archive/i...p/t-85289.html
I had not keyed in that there were no 4 bolts in '68 until recently. I had always assumed that the Z28s and SS350s in '68 got them. I knew that the '68 Corvettes did not. So that makes it even less likely that a 327 ever had 4-bolt mains because in '69 the only application for 327 was Camaros and B-bodies-and it was a more base engine as both had 350 performance engines available. By 1970 the 327 was gone and the 307 and 350 was it.
So '68 Z/28s and SS350 Camaros have 2-bolt mains.
http://www.holisticpage.com/camaro/camaros/302.htm

http://www.chevy-camaro.com/faq/chev...o-faq-Z28.shtm

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=164584

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/buil...evy-57753.html

Some LJ blocks cross over boundaries. For example, the 3956618 blocks were a 2-bolt for 68-69 327, a 4 bolt for 69 Z28, and 2 or 4 for 69 350. the famous 3970010 (and 3932386) is similar, but has no 68 applications. The raw casting had enough meat in the right places to machine it with either style cap.

No SJ block ever had 4-bolt mains. No documented 4-bolt LJ 327s were built. I could see a possibility in '69 with 0010 or 2386 block, but with all my searching I have yet to find anybody that can prove they have a legit one. And as we know, you could never prove it in a truck even if it did happen because the VIN derivative is not on the engine pad.

There are rumors of Massey-Ferguson combines with 327 4-bolts. The is no evidence this ever happed. Just another part of the legend.

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/sh...hp?tid/157044/


http://www.thecombineforum.com/forum...et-engine.html

There were industrial and marine engines from Chevy (and Ford and Chrysler). MF Combines did have Chevy 327s, but they were 2 bolt mains. MF combines did get 4-bolt SB engines, but they were 350s. I still maintain 2 things:
1-there is no such thing as a factory 327 with 4-bolt mains. Ever.
2-there were no small blocks with 4-bolt mains before the 1969 model year.

If there is any proof otherwise, I would love to see it.

The thing with all that is it is 100% car guy oriented. Not a single word on trucks, other than their motors can't be verified due to no partial VIN stamped in the block. Well, that's a Camaro guy talking, and he would need that number to have any idea of what he is talking about. A truck guy who knows these things inside and out up, down, and all around is your book. No mention of the 327s used in 40-60 series trucks or pickups.