Replacing road tires with touring tires..
 

..Okay, go easy on me for not knowing the answer to this: If i'm wanting to change out the 27" tires on my bike to the same size touring tires, do i need to also buy a larger(wider) rim, or will these fit on the rim already on the bike?

This seems like common sense, which apparently i'm lacking tonight. Help me out, guys.

You can go to larger sized tires if they don't rub on brakes or frame. What size tires do you have and what are you going to?

I'm assuming i'll just switch over to the wider touring tire, same size 27". Is this possible?

I'm wanting to keep the same rims, just wider tires on them

Unfortunately, with 27 inch you're kinda limited in your choices. There's 1", 1 1/8", 1 1/4" (the most common), and 1 3/8" (rare, but out there). You'll also find widths vary by manufacturer - some 1 1/4 are quite "blimpy", while others are kinda narrow. It's sorta like with clothes - you gotta try 'em on, not just look at the label. This is one of the reasons 700c tires became the size of choice. They are available in widths from 18c up to like 52c in width, and then you have varying tread designs. In other words, LOTS of choices.
I'll probably get JUMPED on for saying this, but I've put 700c wheels on bikes that were originally 27 inch, and got them to work. Its a trial and error thing. Gotta watch the frame and brake rub, but if you love the frame you've got, sometimes you can convert. OK, folks, no nasty threads!

No, you don't need to buy new rims.
Supposedly, you have the smallest 1" tires, so they are 25mm.
1 1/4" (or 32mm) tires will fit, that's not a big difference.

Try Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tires with the kevlar belt.

Boy, to me the difference between 1" (25mm) and 1 1/4 (32 mm ) is a very large difference. I've got some of each in my garage right now and OP will definitely see a large difference in appearance (volume, cross section) and ride.

Wider also means higher most times. Could have some issues rubbing the top inside of your fork depending on your clearance, but in my experience older 27: frames had decent clearance.

Summarizing:

1. Your current rims will take the wider tires with no problems.
2. Wider (and taller) tires may or may not give adequate clearance with your fork and rear frame stays. You have to try them to see if they will clear properly. As noted, most frames built for 27" wheels had a lot of tire clearance.

Note to bikemeister: I also converted a 27" wheel bike (an '83 Trek 400) to 700c wheels and the brakes were able to make the 4 mm adjustment so everything lined up fine. The switch gave me significantly MORE fork and stay clearance, which is normal given that 700c wheels are slightly smaller in diameter.

Thanks for all the answers. I'm going to take the bicycle( 70's kabuki hilltopper) to the bike shop and have them size some touring tires for me. I appreciate all the help.

There is a difference in appearance, but 1 1/4 tires usually fit on narrow 27" rims without problems.

However, some old rims are too flexible and creak under the load.
New Sun CR18 polished rims are only $23, and they are wider and suitable for high touring load.
http://www.bikepartsusa.com/cgi-bin/...ry=rim-27_inch

My point wasn't addressing the fit on the rim - that had already been answered "no problem" which I agreed with. I was only addressing the implication that the difference between 1" and 1/14 was not significant. It is in terms of appearance, and in ride qualities because of the greatly larger air volume. Now I see that you were probably commenting that the size difference was not much when it comes to fitting the tire on the rim, brakes and frame. I totally agree with that.

I also wasn't addressing the suitability of the rims for heavier load since load had never been brought up, just tire size. I'm wondering if OP intends to actually carry a heavier load. There's a lot of reasons to increase tire size other than load - mostly road conditions and comfort.