Why Chevy Abandoned the 1962-1965 Fuel Injected 327 V8

Chevrolet was an innovator when it came to

fuel

injection, it wasn't the first automaker to offer it in a performance car; that honor goes to Mercedes-Benz, which first released the

fuel

-

injected

300 SL for the 1955 model year; however, Chevrolet came pretty close. It offered fuel injection in its 283 cubic inch small-block V8 for the 1957 model year. It was Chevrolet's highest-performance engine in 1957. It produced 283 horsepower, which was the long-sought one-horsepower goal. per cubic inch than even many performance cars in the past. The day I couldn't get fuel II 283 as it was sometimes called, it was available in all models of Chevrolet cars including the 1957 Corvette, it remained available until the end of the 1961 model year, at that time it was only available in the

1962

Corvette through midway through the

1965

model year, a more powerful fuel 327 v8 small block engine was available in the Corvette for

1962

, the fuel II 327 had the RPO code 582 and produced 360 gross horsepower and 352 lb. -ft.

With 327 fuel it was rated at 3 and 75 gross horsepower and 350 pound-feet of gross torque, the 327 fuelie may have had a short run from 1962 to mid-

1965

, but it was the small-block V-8 produced in mass most performance oriented up to that time and when found under the hood of the Corvette gave the Corvette the distinction of being one of the fastest cars in the world during that time period if the Fuel II 327 was so special why did Chevrolet leave to produce it in the middle of the 1965 model year? It makes no sense today to look back in time with 20/20 vision.

Fuel injection was the future. It was almost 30 more years before all new production cars transitioned to fuel injection. After all, fuel injection provides better fuel efficiency than a carburetor due to its superior fuel metering capabilities. It also allows an engine to run better on the coldest and hottest days of the year compared to a carbureted engine, but there was a problem: fuel injection was much more expensive than the basic carburetor setup during this time period. For example, in 1965, the el84 fuel II added $538 to the Corvette's sticker price; Then, when comparing the EL84 to the 365 gross horsepower four-barrel carbureted 327 V8, which cost $129 as an option on the 1965 Corvette engine, it was easy to see that most buyers weren't paying more than four hundred dollars. extra just to get 10 more horsepower on el84 fuel and fuel injection helped Chevrolet maximize the amount of horsepower it could extract from its 327 small block in 1965, the effort wasn't worth it since the Newmark of Chevrolet. for the big block V8 it displaced 396 cubic inches for 1965 and for 1966 there would be a 427 cubic inch version;

A few years later, it would increase its displacement to 454 cubic inches. Instead, Chevrolet replaced the Fuel II 327 midway through the 1965 model year. With the new 396 producing 425 gross horsepower and 415 pound-feet of gross torque, the cost of the 396 on the Corvette's options list was a bit less than two hundred and ninety-three dollars, which was economical compared to the cost of fuel as of 1966. The 427 would replace the 396 as the Corvette's high-performance engine. The truth is that big block V8 engines like the 396 and 427 easily produce a lot of horsepower at such a low production cost, which meant that many buyers could easily afford it, not to mention the abundance of torque. low revving engine they provided compared to the 327 it was cheap carbureted power like this that pushed fuel

injected

power well beyond the budgets of most buyers and therefore caused their demise in 1965 Popular belief will have you believe that the 396-powered Corvette of 1965 was much more powerful than the fuel-powered Corvette II of 1962 to 1965.

This is completely false, the fuel-powered II 327 was a 390 Six with the same performance as the . 390. Motor Trend magazine once tested a fuel-powered 1964 Corvette II and got a quarter-mile time of 14.2 seconds. & Track in the day's test drove a 396-horsepower 1965 Corvette and posted a quarter-mile time of 14.1 seconds. It's also worth noting that Hot Rod magazine back in the day gave a bone-stock 1962 Corvette fuelie to Mickey Thompson and he was able to get an impressive thirteen point eight nine seconds in the quarter mile. The Fuel II 327 did not have the modern computer-controlled fuel injection that is the norm today.

The 327 and 283 Fuel e had a mechanical fuel injection system that for its time was state of the art the system was produced by GM's Rochester Division it was reliable the problem was that most mechanics did not have the experience or did not know How to Properly Maintain the System Many 1957 and 1965 Corvettes had their fuel injection systems removed and replaced with four-barrel carburetors by mechanics who did not have the experience to work on the Rochester fuel injection system or who did not want to worry about it. the extra effort required to maintain the system, this was not a problem for Those Fuel Corvette II owners who were serviced at Chevrolet dealerships, their fuel injection systems remained intact and were generally well maintained;

However, there is one aspect of this story where Chevrolet's cancellation of the Fuel III 27 in 1965 was extremely short-sighted for the future of the Corvette wasn't the big-block V8, it only lasted until the end of the 1974 model year. Future was the small block V8 which gave the Corvette plenty of power and also provided better handling as it weighed much less over the front wheels. than the very heavy big block v8, the future of the Corvette was not quarter mile racing, but rather being a great handling v8 powered sports car that could go toe to toe with the best sports cars in the world.

Chevrolet really could have used a fuel-injected Corvette in the 1970s, when fuel economy became so important that it would have allowed the Corvette to provide good fuel economy numbers along with good performance. Chevrolet finally realized this and permanently brought back the fuel-injected Corvette for the 1982 model year, however, the Fuel II 327 will still go down in history as one of the best performing eighths of the 1960s. Thank you very much for your support of this channel. Please subscribe as your support is the reason this channel is a success. Be sure to click the bell icon so you never miss a new video release.