Nope, you can't buy a complete...
Nope, you can't buy a complete engine like this from Dart Machinery, but it does now assemble a heck of a Windsor-style 427-inch short-block as a bull-strong starting point for your own creation. And, yes, some deep-breathing Dart heads couldn't hurt.
Dart Machinery has a long and successful history of producing both horsepower and brute strength for Blue Oval and Brand C gearheads. The Motor City-based firm is perhaps best known for its high-flow cylinder heads and race-oriented Iron Eagle engine blocks, but has recently begun production of 427-inch short-block assemblies based on Dart's Special High Performance series of 9.5-inch-deck Windsor-style blocks. These robust iron-blocks are decidedly more street-friendly (and affordable) than the racy Iron Eagle, yet offer a humongous strength increase over a stock 351 casting. They are targeted at the high-performance street and sportsman crowd.
Dart now teams these American-cast-and-machined SHP blocks with quality rotating/reciprocating hardware from top-line performance manufacturers, and even more importantly, harnesses the talents of experienced in-house engine builders to hand-assemble each and every 427 short-block.
Let's be clear: Dart is not in the business of building long-blocks or crate motors. Rather, with this new Windsor-style 427, the company has created a strongly spec'd and precision-assembled short-block foundation. It's the trickiest and most critical aspect of any powerplant, and one you or your favorite engine shop can build upon. In essence, Dart has done the hard, precise work so you can finish it off and bolt together whatever combo suits your purposes, knowing the bottom end will be up to the task.
Still, where's the fun in just showing you some short-block images? Instead, we prevailed upon the talented crew at Dart to show us not just their 427 bottom end going together, but to finish the big-bore beast off with cam, heads, and induction, then lock it all down in the company's in-house dyno cell and generate some real-world numbers for your consideration. For this exercise, the Dart dudes opted to put together a sort of street-bruiser combo with torque aplenty that would be happy to rumble around on a diet of pump gas.
Horse Sense: Drag-racing enthusiast Richard Maskin founded Dart Machinery some 30 years ago in a humble Detroit-area two-car garage. Its growth over the past three decades has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Dart's high-nickel-content...
Dart's high-nickel-content SHP iron-blocks are cast in Wisconsin and machined on ultra-modern hardware in one of the company's two Detroit-area facilities. For 427 cubes, the bore is 4.125 with a 4.000-inch stroke (though the SHP block is said to support combos up to a maximum of 4.185 x 4.250). Bores are Siamesed for rigidity, while the distinctive scalloped outer-jacket shape provides plenty of coolant flow around the cylinders. Decks have a minimum of 0.675-inch thickness.
The business end of Dart's...
The business end of Dart's SHP short-block looks like it could survive a nuclear strike. Thick internal bulkheads are matched by massive steel main caps, the second, third, and fourth of which have four bolts, with the outer pair being slightly splayed. Like the blocks, these caps are machined in-house at Dart. Notice how far the bore castings extend into the crankcase for piston support throughout its stroke. Main-journal diameter is a Cleveland-style 2.749 inches, and the muscular bare block weighs in at 195 pounds.
Dart doesn't mess around when...
Dart doesn't mess around when it comes to the 427's crank, going with Eagle's forged 4340-alloy unit with 4.000-inch stroke as the sole offering. Engineered for internal balance, this thing is rated for up to 1,500 hp. 'Nuff said?
It's the same with the rods...
It's the same with the rods in that Eagle's 4340 H-beams (in 6.250-inch length) are the only choice--and they are strong.
If all this seems rather dictatorial,...
If all this seems rather dictatorial, there are alternatives on the piston front as a choice between flat-top or dished (26cc) variants is available. Paired with heads having 62cc chambers, the former would result in around 11.04:1 compression on the 427, while the dished slugs would yield about 9.5:1. In either case, the piston manufacturer is Mahle, with 1.245-inch compression height, utilizing a common 1.5mm/1.5mm/3mm ring package. Dart will work with you or your engine builder on desired compression. For our subject build, Dart opted to use the flat-top pistons, but opened up the accompanying cylinder heads' combustion chambers to 65cc for 10.5:1 compression.
Dart's pair of veteran builders,...
Dart's pair of veteran builders, Tony McAfee (shown, here wielding the Sunnen dial bore gauge) and Jeff Lake, assemble each and every 427 short-block. These guys are experienced pros. They used to build and maintain the race bullets for Dart's recently terminated Pro Stock drag program. And when it comes to a short-block, the skill and precision with which it is assembled is at least as important as its components.