clutchdust

thanks john, what about how far over can you shift it to the right? i mean without major reconstruction. i'd like to get as good a balance as possible with the long, heavy block. so what's the deal with leaning the engine?

i'm thinking of lowering, leaning and locating the engine further back. i'm sure this is not a unique idea. how far over will it lean without oil flow issues? i should be able to figure out the other two issues but if you have input on that too, i'm all ears.

you know, just for the coolness factor i would love to see at least a crossflow head. the first time i looked at that giant empty spot on the right side of the engine bay i asked myself why the hell they did that. unfortunately, i don't think you'll get any takers other than those that have the finances to spend on cool factor alone. while no one denies such a head correctly cast and worked would make buckets of power, the simple fact is as much or more power can be had for the cost of the head with something as relatively simple as a v8 swap. i'd love it myself just for cool and 1 fast Z did an incredible job. fortunately for him, i think he will continue to breathe rather rare air in the uniqueness of his creation.

thanks guys, i was not aware the 5 speed didn't even come in until '77. if it's a 5 speed car, i may still offer the guy some money for the car but i will pass otherwise. as for the 4-bbl, that will happen. i'm simply not a fan of the multiple carbs, on this or anything else. besides the control circuits on a single 4-bbl has so many advantages over the two single barrels. this seems to be a polarizing issue with Z people. seems half swear by the SU's and the other half love a 4-bbl. i overhauled my SU's and they work but i'd rather have the 4. not to worry though, the original SU's will go in a box on the shelf for future.

i ran across an ad on craigslist for a 280 parts car (no title). so for a very good price i'm thinking about snagging it for the tranny. i don't know what year it is though so my questions are these: 1) did all 280s come with a 5 speed? 2) were all 280s FI? if so, would this FI system be better (i.e. more reliable/less expensive) than the arizona Z 4-bbl intake and a 390cfm holley?

where is the best/cheapest place to buy internal parts? a good internet store? just find what i can locally? i need a set of bearings, both rod and main and a set of rings, plus gasket kit and chain tensioner.

i just aquired an L26, best part is, for free! i just pulled it down to the short block and so far it looks pretty decent. all i'm thinking is just a re-ring and fresh bearings. i figure i'd probably need to do that to the 35 year old L24 anyway. the main reason i even picked it up is the L24 has a sticky intake valve and i know i'm going to have to pull that head for the machine work. so i thought i'd get this engine and just use the head but considering it appears (so far) that the bottom end is in pretty decent shape anyway, why not drop in the extra displacement? now, i am planning on a header and arizona Z 4-bbl intake manifold. plus i am going to spend some quality time with the head and my dremel. so what say you?

to make it faster, what would it be? i'm specifically looking for chassis and suspension ideas from those that have been running these cars for a while. now that i've "retired" the old vette from track days, i'm preparing my '73 for some weekend fun. this will NOT be a competition car, nor will it need to be STREET LEGAL. so pretty much anything goes. but i'm looking for the best return for the money. since this is not to be a competition car, i.e. i won't win any money to recoup my expenses, i am looking for the best and least expensive mods to make the car more fun to drive. BTW, i have the drivetrain taken car of. going chevy and 5 speed.

thanks for the info, pete. i thought it still had a '300Z' logo on what was left of the interior. but it was pretty much trashed by the time i found it. maybe i will call around and see if i can figure out which yard picked it up.

you guys throwing around codes and stuff like i have any idea what you're talking about. it is a SOHC, at least it looks just like the 2.4L that's in the car now, except for the FI manifold. hence, why i thought it would be such a straight forward install. if it's going to be this big a deal, i'll just pass.

a few weeks ago i came across the mutilated shells of about 4 Z's. most had been picked over pretty well. one, however, was an early gen 300Z that had the drivetrain still intact, although i do not know the condition of said drivetrain. i was thinking though, if i could pick this shell up for, oh, say, just about nothing, it would be worth checking out. my only concern would be if there are any physical reasons why i couldn't install the 3.0L/5-speed and later diff in my '73? providing nothing in the drivetrain has experienced a catastrophic failure, it seems like a really cheap and easy way to pick up quite a bit of gain with no apparent downside. opinions?

to pertronix? i talked to one of their reps at SEMA last week and apparently it's not unusual for the tach to not work correctly after installing the ignitor. he said there were several steps to check in order to get it working. but i figured i can't be the only guy here who's installed pertronix, so i'm probably not the only guy here that has had tach problems. if you've had this problem and corrected it, could you please let me know what you had to do to fix it? TIA

glad to see so much support, thanks guys. i spend alot of time over on the corvetteforum and some of those guys will form a lynch mob for talk like this! anyway, looks like the cam will be the biggest single expense but i'm still $2k from a running motor. of course, that's still pretty cheap for that much power.

i had just about given up on the idea of ever building a Z for a track car but events are conspiring to change my mind. i have recently aquired a chevy 4.3L, which is the engine i have been contemplating for conversion. i am following up on a lead for a 6 point roll cage and i already have racing seats. i had seriously considered just building a ground-up tube frame car just because the performance level per cubic dollar is better. but then, that only counts if your buying new for each. since i've been finding some rather good deals lately, i might be able to put a track ready car together for >$5k. some of you might ask, "why a 4.3L chevy?" well, how does having a stone cold reliable 300+hp/300+ft/lbs of better balanced weight sound for an idea? check this out: http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/113_0208_chevy_43l_262ci_v6_engine_build/index.html granted, i'm not expecting the full results of their build, but i'll settle for about 275hp for under $2000 in the motor. still have to follow up on the cage but if that is a go, i may just have to do this after all.:devious:

talking with an engineer friend of mine, he said what i wanted to do (build car in stages) just wouldn't do. he contends that as soon as you start to put serious brakes and race rubber on the car, you'll overstress the factory unibody. So by the time your ready to build the simple rollbar into a full cage, there won't be any car left to attatch it to. any thoughts? also, how limiting is the strut suspension and have any of you converted to a different configuration? if so, what?

what are you guys doing for updated wheels? 14" is simply a non-starter for me. I'll be switching to at least a 16x8, but probably 17". i've heard these have the same pattern as a couple early fords but not sure i want to throw alot of brake and sticky tires on those small four bolts. anybody got anything 'better'? the car will be exclusively a track car so i need some serious fastening to keep the wheel attatched to the car.

anybody run into bearing problems when running a wider wheel than stock? i'll be going with about the same back space but 1-2" wider than factory. a little additional wear would be acceptable, i just don't want to eat bearings every track event.

well, i read somewhere recently that the words you speak should be soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. so i thought i might as well see exactly what's going on. i pulled the fuel line from the fuel pump and tryed to blow backwards, almost gave myself an anurism. drained the (freshly hot-tanked) fuel tank and separated the fuel line from the tank. tried the fuel line by itself and it was clear. tried the fuel tank pick-up tube--nothing. long story short (kind of), i ended up using a piece of weed trimmer line to bore a hole through the crud in the pick up line. it was blocked right about at the flange where it passes through the tank shell. feels as though there is a burr in this area that acts as a natural catch for debris. i put more fuel back in the tank in hopes that it would help flush the debris out the drain but i saw no significant particles come out. i hope that breaking the crap loose will allow small particles to pass through the area and get caught by the filter rather than collecting there. we'll see. at least if i start running into the same problem, i know where i'll start looking next time.

thanks for the replies. maybe you can see why i'm banging my head on this one since one of the first things i did was drop the tank and have it flushed. the main fuel line was so gunked up with varnished fuel, i just ran a new 5/16" rubber line all the way to the fuel pump. the fuel pump was disassembled and all the funk was scrubbed out with a toothbrush in a solvent tank. it's even more frustrating when you know you've done about all that you can to ensure you have adequate fuel and still having these problems. i swear, maybe i'll put one of those 300gph holley electrics on there to make DAMN sure i'm getting fuel. <grrrrrr>

o.k. can somebody tell me why we like these cars again? after screwing with this thing all afternoon yesterday, i'm having the same problems. AGAIN! it just doesn't seem to go away. i have a feeling it's going to go away. just as soon as i yank those freakin' SUs off and drop a single holley four barrel in there. <GRRRRRRRRRRRRR>:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

thanks guys. got a good copy of the schematic now to trace this stuff out. maybe i'll have better luck with the electrical than i am with the carbs! <grrrr>

finally figured out a drivability problem i've been fighting off and on for the last couple months. turns out the electric fuel pump i installed can't pull fuel from its current mounting position. at least not adequate fuel. i was having a problem in that the engine would start idle and free rev fine but as soon as i would drive it, the thing would fall flat once accelerating into 3rd gear. i determined it was a fuel delivery issue and played with the float bowls. i noticed that if i turned the engine off immediately when the engine went flat, i could pull the plug from the bottom of the float bowl and it would be just about bone dry, even after adjusting the floats to practically full open. i reconnected the mechanical fuel pump and viola, problem gone. now i feel stupid. i am pissed that i bought an electric fuel pump that won't do the job but i think it might be more position than anything. it's mounted in the engine bay at roughly the height of the top of the tank. after doing more research, it appears these cheap pumps claim to work best if mounted at or below the level of the bottom of the tank. also, they don't like to pull very far either so i have two things working against me there. at least i have that part of the problem licked. now if i can just get these things tuned up correctly and the headlights working....

working on the '72 now i have it where it will run reasonably well. but i can only take it out in daylight. problem is the headlights won't come on. i have parking, brake and turn signals, but no headlights. this is the farthest into this car i've been so i never saw the headlights work before. i assume, of course, they did work at one point but i do not know if someone previously disconnected something or it's an electrical gremlin of its own device. also, since installing a pertronix i have no tach reading. where does the tach get its signal? i have several haynes manuals for this car but it seems the schematics start with the '75 or '76 models. where do i look?

mike, no, the c5 is not a Z06. the Z06 came only as a hardtop model (with an extra 50hp to boot). i've driven one or two. unbelievable cars. this one isn't too shabby though. Zguy, the c5 i'm just doing mostly cosmetic stuff for now. it's still under warranty so i'm not going to get stupid with it... yet. the c3 needs a COMPLETE restoration. it has major wear and tear/age issues. it will be a resto-mod more than anything. lots of newer technology without loosing the flavor of the early vette. i'm trying to get the Z fixed up as an inexpensive track car because the old vette just ain't cuttin' it any more. the Z should be alot lighter, better balanced and cheaper to run. the g/f has her Z and that one will be restored so when all is said and done, we should have two Zs in the stable, one restored, one racer.

you still want to have it machined with a torqueplate if you can find a shop with one. main caps will distort the lower bore but will do nothing for the upper bore. i would think it might actually be worse if only half of the engine is torqued while the other half is static, but i could be wrong. if you can't find a shop that has one, then you can't find a shop that has one and that's all there is to it. it's just one step to building an engine with the most attention to detail. sometimes money is a factor, sometimes equipment or availability is a factor.