Zoldman

Charles, Thanks for reply. I tried to email you, but my mail got bounced back; says your box may be full. If you can find the instructions, I would really appreciate it. I thought I had the IAC adjusted correctly, but maybe not. Sure would be nice to fix it with time instead of money!! By the way, what the heck have you done to yor motor that you're getting the 1/4 mile time and MPH? Awesome. Thanks Bill

Try this: http://www.books4cars.com They aren't cheap, but they have every factory manual I've ever needed.

Ok, Not sure if this post belongs here; might also go to Drivetrain forum, but I'll try here first. I bought FJ201's yellow 260 with a 305 TPI speed density motor and non computer controlled 4L60 auto trans. The car is MAP/Speed Density with an ECM form a '90 vehicle (#1227730). Engine and trans are froma n earlier vintage, but all conversion stuff is present and after a few replacments and tweaking, is working fine. Car runs fine, just replaced injectors and a few sensors. It has one annoying habit that I can't shake, though. When coming to a stop, the engine speed dips suddenly, and then either the motor will totally stall, or the RPM jumps back up. It acts like the trans is loading the motor too much, but the line pressure is fine, and the lockup is not on. I read somewhere that the vehicle speed sensor controls some function of the idle air motor that opens it slightly when decelerating to prevent stalling coming to a stop. Something about the IAC not being able to respond quickly enough to compensate without help. Well, I don't have a VSS on this trans, and don't want to experiment blindly and have one installed without coming to the fount of knowledge for advice. I have searched the archives and find very little that applies, but I may be missing good info by not knowing what keywords/jargon to lead with. PLease help; this is a good car with mucho potential; it just is a real pain when it stalls so much. Currently, the only way to solve the problem is to set the idle to almost 900 rpm, and that is no fun either. Thanks Bill Boyd

OK, here goes: I have a '79 Vette that I stroked to 383; 9.6/1 compression; cam similar to yours; Edelbrock 790CFM Quadrajet carb rejetted properly. Heads are AFR 180cc street heads with 2.02/1.60 valves and rollers. 10.5 is a bunch of compression for street gas, even supreme. You can get away with it if you have alumuminum heads, but will probably continue to have problems if you've got cast iron heads. This is not something you can get around. Here are a few things I did: 1) Set mechanical timing to 36 degrees advance at 2500 to 2800 rpms. Most HEI's will give you max mech advance at around 2500, maybe a little more. Your looking for your total mechanical advance to be as close to 36 as you can get without pinging. Plug off vac advance at the source and go drive the hell out of the car at all, punching to throttle from various rpms and in all gears to make sure it doesn't ping anytime you really jump on it. If it does, back off to 34 and try again. You will find the max mechanical advance your car will accept this way. This sets your wide open throttle timing. 2) Next, you need to make sure that your vac advance is hooked up to the right place. You want a vac source that is high at idle and drops off as the throttle is opened. In other words, when you punch it, the vac advance drops out, leaving the timing to your mechanical advacne springs. Usually, there is a vac port on the carb body underneath the primary butterflies; or you can use one off the manifold. It depends on the carb and how much vac you're producing as to where you hook up. 3) Get an adjustable vac can. Crane makes on that you adjust with an allen wrench. This way you can tune you vac to give you only the advance at part throttle that your motor can handle. 4) Now, with vac plugged at source, get a reading of your timing at idle; it will be only the mechanical at this point. Remember to do this will car fully warmed up and at the idle speed you want. Now hook up vac unit and check timing at idle again to see how much the vac unit added to your mech timing (this will be your total timing at idle). OH, don't forget to readjust your idle speed after hooking up vac unit; it will jump higher and will need to be lowered to the same as before. Do this before taking the second timing reading. 5) Whatever the difference is is what the vac is adding to your timing at idle and part throttle conditions. You now drive the car and see if it pings on you at part throttle when under load like you decribed. If it does, adjust the vac can to give less advance and test again, and again, and again until you get it right. When you're happy, record the total timing at idle for reference and enjoy. There are other things about vac cans that can be experimented with. Some are not as sensitive as others, meaning that they don't open as easily under a given level of vacuum. I have never found one of these that worked as well as an adjustable one, but some people hunt them down from junk yards and swear by them. You may also find that with 10.5/1 compression, you have to leave the vac advance out of the system and run on only mechanical. Lots of people do this and it doesn't hurt wide open throttle performance at all. It does lessen part throttle response, which can make a car feel more sluggish when cruising, and it will hurt your gas mileage some. Good luck; hope I helped a little. Bill

Guy, I'm glad you answered that, because I meant to ask what the @#% they were for anyway. What other computer related mods, if any, did you make? Is there is good write up here or elsewhere that I have missed in my searching? Thanks Bill

Tim, God, I'd love to come, but I've already promised my younger boy (11) he and I would do a movie and video game day tommorow. We don't get to spend time together "just us" very much, so I don't want to disapoint him (or me!). I've talked to Matt (Skinhead) on the phone, and plan on going "Pickaparting" with him some Saturday, so this would have been a great chance to meet him in person too. Well, Im sure there will be another time, and I appreciate the offer. Again, I really thank you for your reply, and look forward to meeting you sometime soon. Bill

Tim, Your name popped up a lot on my searches, so I thought you would know the answer. This is the first "computer engine" I have really worked with; I've been a neanderthal "carb" guy for the most part. All them leeetle wires and stuff. I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain once I get to actually trying to get it to run. I'm out in Riverside, so I'm in your neck of the woods, sort of. Thanks a lot Bill

I've been searching and reading on LT1 and OBD I and II, and I think I'm more confused than when I started. I have found a decent LT1 from a 97 F body, but it is OBD II. OK, I can live with OBD II; there are ways around some of the limitations. My question is related to the cats, which I will not have. How will the OBD II computer deal with the readings it gets from the non cat exhaust? Aren't there post cat sensors in OBD II cars? How tough is the OBD II to OBD I conversion, or is there an available OBD II programmer that can eliminate these issues? Help me!!!!! Bill '73 240 wanting new heart

OK, how bout this? I have a '73 240. I'm going to put a stock '94-'96 Corvette LT1 (300hp/330ftlbs) with an L460e auto trans in her. No real racing, just some spirited driving and blowing away a few of the snotty rich kids in my area that like to laugh at old cars.(they already hate my '79 Vette) What kind of bracing will be needed, and can I do enough without welding something up? I can do most everything else, but welding is not in my arsenal. Are tower braces enough? This is an area that I am weak in, and sure could use some help. I will take it to someone to get the bracing done right if that's what it takes. What do the experts think? Thanks Bill

Here's a probably really dumb question: Why angle plug heads? I have straight plug AFR heads on my '79 Vette and love them, so I was going to use the same ones on the 383 I'm building for the Z. Do the angle plug heads go on late model engines or something like that? Both of my engines are 70's vintage, so straight plug was what was recommended. I hope there aren't any header clearance issues with straight plug heads. I've been looking at the Sanderson Q series headers; they are unique and don't look to interfere with the steering shaft at all. Pricey though... Bill

I've got a 1972 240z that has the orginal dash and it has zero cracks!! Car has been garaged since new, and I am continuing the orginal owner's good treatment. My question is, what is the best preservative to put on the dash to help keep it pristine? I here that anything with lots of silicone is the best, but if anyone has any other input or brand names they have had success with, I'd appreciate the advice. Thanks Bill

Thanks to all who replied to my post. I'm leaning pretty heavily toward V-8 swap now, as build up of L-28 to HP I want will cost mucho bucks and give me a real peaky motor. When I get to going on this, I'll be back on the V-8 board for more pearls of wisdom. Thanks again Bill Boyd

So I'm looking at what kind of V-8 swap to do, and reading up on Z's in general. I start to see that a well prepared L28/P79 motor with good cam and head work looks to be a pretty stout combo. My question is, how stout? I have looked all over the web and cannot find any horsepower/torque/0-60/1/4 mile times. I know its not a V-8, but this combo may be all I could ever want or need. Anyone have some help to offer? I'm looking for a very streetable package that will still light up the unwary. I prefer carbs and lean in the Weber direction. I was going to post this first on the V-8 forum, but I already know what those guys will say. I like going fast in a straight line too, but there are limits to my needs, and I love the way a Z handles. Thanks Bill Boyd 1972 240 waiting for me to make up my mind

Hey all, Just bought a 1972 240 and joined this renowned site to figure out the best way to drop a chevy 350 into the beast. So far I've found JTR and bought the manual; good reading and lots of info. Their kit looks good, tranny mount (700R4) will require some doing. Found Motorsports Auto, and visited them to buy some parts and talk about their kit. Looks OK also; tranny mount maybe better thand JTR, but JTR motor mounts look better. Anyone know of others and have an opinion over whose is best? I know about setback and engine height and JTR seems to have this figured out real well, but MSA claims theirs is just as good. Just looking for good old fashioned opinions; thanks for reading all this....... Bill Riverside, Ca