I am building a LS7 based 427. It will be going into a 97 corvette. Will the 97 pcm work or should I swap it out for a newer unit?

 

There's no reason it wouldn't work.

 

It will work but, you will be limiting your options as far as managing forced induction or N20 with the factory pcm. For this you will need to do a harware upgrade to a 99+up controller in order to run custom software.

Realtime tuning for a setup like this would be optimal for razor sharp results. The Moates Road Runner is availible for the 97.

 

I am planning on staying N/A. I had read the threads about swapping PCM and was curious if this is something I should pursue

 

I installed a LS7 Crate engine in my 97 Corvette 2 yrs ago. The problem I had, and always had was the PCM would shut down at about 6250 rpm. This is an auto trans car. July of this year I put in a 99 pcm with a 2002 OS. Problem fixed. If you can spin up to 7000 rpm with out any problems then the 97 pcm will work fine.
PS, I have had this car since new with 3 different engines. It's not the fastest I've had, but overall it's the best I've had. Smooth idle with stock Ti Mufflers. A real Sleeper.
Good luck with your project.
Tom.