That 286 is going to be a bit much for a 327, especially if you're not running a high stall speed torque converter or fairly low ratio rear end gears with a standard transmission. I've built several small-displacement engines with the Comp Cams 268H High Energy cam. It's got a pronounced idle lope, but it also had pretty good low end and midrange power. It also works with about 9:1 compression and moderate cylinder head work- - - -you don't have to go overboard with valve, port and exhaust pipe size. That kills low and midrange power, and you end up with a high speed only engine. The old 300 HP 327 used 2 1/2" exhaust manifold outlets and pipes, which will cary the volume of exhaust well without letting the exhaust stream slow down enough to kill the scavenging effect of the gas leaving the cylinder. I like to use 64CC heads with 1.6" exhaust valves and 1.94" intakes. The 2.02" intakes are too big for a 327 unless you're running above 3,000 RPM all the time. Do a little pocket porting under the valves, but don't go overboard on port size, intake or exhaust. Too big of an exhaust system, combined with a small-displacement engine with big ports results in a total loss of low-end torque. To have plenty of exhaust flow without killing the scavenging, run 2 1/2" pipes from ram's-horn 300 HP 327 manifolds, not headers, mid-70's Cadillac mufflers with the same size pipes in and out, and run the 2 1/2" pipes all the way out the back. One of those mufflers is designed to flow enough exhaust to handle a 500 cubic inch engine. Two of them on a 327 gives you the flow of a straight pipe, without the irritating exhaust note of a Flowmaster or a Cherry Bomb. All I get from loud pipes is a migraine!
Jerry
