SpeedRacer

BTW Summit Racing http://www.summitracing.com/index.htm will sell you a brand new set of Trick Flow 23 degree aluminum heads for $850 including shipping.

takman57 - Just an opinion, and I know you are trying to keep the bucks down, but if you can swing it go for a good set of aluminum heads. The closer you keep the engine to the original L6 weight the better the car is going to handle. Also, watch the combustion chamber size (cc's) so you don't screw up the compression ratio.

Hey guys, check the links on the left - I think Matt Millen has a 350 w/T-56.

Myron, If you are using the top (large) hole in the Holley throttle arm just move the ball down to a different hole closer to the throttle shaft.

I had to go find it but the July 1998 edition of "Street Rodder" magazine has a great article on the Tri-power setup called "Triple Play". If you library has old magazines you might want to check it out. Covers everything you have to do in detail. They replaced a 650 CFM 4bbl (no brand mentioned) and mainfold on a reasonably stout Chevy in a 1,700 lbs T-Bucket with an Automotion Tri-power setup. The results were "0-60 times were virtually identical but when it came to mileage, the advantage went to the three two's by a significant margin - we picked up over one mile per gallon. However, we have a hunch we could destroy that number by listening to the carbs, as they sound great when they're all wide open!" Loads of street rods run Tri-power setups so I would check with them if there is a club in your area.

OK - Friday was yesterday - so how does it run? What do you think? It's got to be seriously fast right. Let us know.

Welcome Drax240z, glad to see you made it over here from ZCar.com. I don't know anything about it but here's a guy selling a complete LT1 "All stock, standard, bore, stroke, bearings. Assembled complete long block with aluminum heads, stock roller cam and lifters with pan and covers". He did't quote a price. http://207.158.197.120/wwwboard/messages/881.html If you have a limited budget, I would call your local salvage yard and ask for a small block Chevy with a T-5 bolted on the back. My quess is that a Camaro or Firebird would be your best bet because I think all of the later ones had a hyd. clutch.

Hi Sumo, I think the best place to get a Tri-power setup these days is from Larry Fulton who's company is called "Automotion" (406) 453-5395. Sorry, he does not have a web site. Edelbrock still makes the manifold and you can pick them up on eBay quite often. BTW, over the years lots of GM cars came from the factory with Tri-power setups (the most popular being the Pontiac GTO) but not the small block Chevy! Doing a Tri-power right is a bit of an art. The engine only runs on the center carb until you reach an certain throttle opening. I can adjust when the other two carbs to kick in from about 50% to 80% throttle opening. Each Rochester carb flows about 280 CFM so in total the whole system flows about 840 CFM. That's just a little bit more than the usual 780 CFM Holley that many people run. The end carbs do not have idle or power circuits. The secret to getting the engine to idle right is preventing air from leaking around the throttle blades on those end two carbs. I have custom made throttle bodies, with double thickness throttle blades and a special throttle shaft to mount them in. The jets on the end two carbs are quite a bit bigger than the center carb because the power circuit in them is plugged. Mine is part "Hot Rod Carburation" (who just went out of business) and part "Automotion". I've got it running but it's still in the garage thanks to Detroit's winter weather. We do have a guy in the club that has a Jamacian with a 383 SBC and the Automotion Tri-power setup and it is sweet. Larry Fulton even powder coated his carbs red to match is car and engine! Since you run on the center two barrels almost all of the time he gets pretty good gas mileage. He used to run a 780 CFM Holley on an Edelbrock Performer RPM and said his mileage didn't change when he converted to the Tri-power. Even when you lean on it it's like having a good size Holley on your engine. Remember though, when all is said and done, it's much easier to set up a good ole' Holley 4bbl (or any 4bbl for that matter) than a multiple carb system. We don't have emission tests here anymore so I can't help much in that department. My guess is it wouldn't be any different than any other setup as long as you didn't have to run at full throttle. Since, in most cases they don't check for NOx, you can most likely pass if you advance the timing and lean the car out (but not until it miss-fires!). Usually, the high compression engines do pretty good on emission tests since they tend to burn the fuel more completely than a low compression engine. Hope this helps.

Great Dan, how does it sound? You might want to change "78 280Z, 383 450hp?, 700R4 allmost there!" to "78 280Z, 383 450hp?, 700R4 bring'um on!

Some folks give the 400 a bad rap because it has "siamese" bores so it's a bit difficult to keep the cylinders round as the engine goes through it's heat cycle. That does not make it a bad engine for the street - just don't plan on running the Daytona 500. Let's face it, there where thousands of these engines that people drove every day for thousands of miles without any problems. However, I think you will find that the biggest reason for the bad rap is that people don't know how to build one. Because of the siamese bores there are two "steam" holes between each cylinder. If you change heads, then you have to drill these holes in the heads and make sure they match (or drill holes to match) in the head gaskets. If you don't then steam gets trapped up at the top of the bore and, as we all know, steam does not cool. Now you have a hot spot, which tends to cause pre-ignition (pinging/knocking) which is bad. If it continues to knock then it will probably come apart!

I can't remember to many Chevy's that used a cable clutch. Many of the early ones used linkage and you do not want to do that. The only one I can think of off hand that used a cable was the Chevy Monza with the 262 SBC V8 in it. If it where my car I would go hydraulic. I have researched both the Camaro and Corvette versions and think the 1984 and up is the best choice. Since the Z was already hyd. it is easy to switch. Pick up the '84 and up Vette bellhousing and slave cyl. Then get a Wilwood 7/8" master from Summit http://www.summitracing.com/index.htm Drill and tap the Z car clevis to match the Wilwood pushrod. The Wilwood will bolt right into the Z without modification. Have a local shop make up a braided stainless steel line to go between the slave and master cylinder. Install, fill, bleed and off you go. Looks and works just like the factory did it.

Hey SpencZ - They work pretty good on some racecars but those guys are migrating away from it to "drive by wire". As a couple of these guys have mentioned the Lokar High Tech throttle cable (part no. TC-1000HT)is super easy to install, very reliable (ever had a throttle stick open?) and looks great.

Isn't interesting how great minds think alike! Mine is like both Pete and Mike's using the Lokar SS cable from the pedal to carb linkage, I drilled out the "riveted" ball on the end of the pedal arm too but I used two fender washers with rubber washers glued on for insulation) for mounting the cable on the firewall. The cable is held on to the carb using the SS Lokar bracket and dual SS springs. My tank is stock too but I had it reconditioned (coated) by Gas Tank Renu http://www.gastankrenu.com/ I have a Carter street pump mounted in near the stock location. The huge inline filter is mounted on the right fenderwell near the front. Stainless steel braided line with "Endura" ends goes from the filter to the only unusual part of the system.....it feeds 3 Rochester 2 bbl carbs using an Automotion Tri-power setup. It will get topped off with an Edelbrock Elite series finned aluminum & black oval air cleaner. What a pain it was making up a fuel line to connect all the carbs!

I'm not one to push eBay but there is a blueprinted 350 listed without a reserve for $900 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=266193039

Dan, The other possibility is waht you already mentioned. Double check the timing because it sounds like it is retarded a bunch. At GM we use to retard the timing on an engine while it was on the dyno to get those dramatic "glowing red hot header" shots. If you have changed the balancer, timing cover and/or pointer you may have to use a dial indicator to get the true TDC. The reason the headers glow is because the fuel is contiuning to burn in the header as it exits the cylinder. The good news is it usually doesn't hurt anything except the finish on the headers. The bad news is, that once you get the timing where it should be (~15 degrees), you ain't seen nothin yet - it is REALLY going to scare the s... out of you!!!

Oh dark one, it is too late - I am way, way over on the dark side! Not only do I have a 327 SBC in my car but my car is a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO built on a 1971 240Z. http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4294856715 The engine is a blueprinted 365HP 327 Chevy with the above mentioned 64cc Trick Flow aluminum heads, 1.5:1 aluminum roller rockers, new but stock 365HP cam, .030 over 10.5:1 forged pistions, 750 Holley on an Edelbrock Performer manifold and ceramic coated Hooker "Block Hugger" headers. I have a Summit gear drive starter on it and a 16lb nodular iron flywheel with Hayes competition clutch. I just installed Summit's aluminum water pump and have almost finished converting it to Tri-power. I didn't change to 3 2bbl's for more horsepower, I just wanted a little more exotic look to the engine. They tell me that the Rochester 2bbl carbs. flow about 280CFM so I may get one or two more poneys. I'll post a couple of pic's of the engine when I get done. So, what's your ride?

Owen, What we did with mine that worked great. We dropped the front suspension and "boxed" in the sub-frame. We used 1/16" thick 2" X 2.75" angle iron and boxed from the inside of the fender across the sub-frame and down. Then we mig welded another 3" strip of 1/16" steel on the bottom of the sub-frame all the way from the radiator support into the floor pan. The edge was welded to the previous angle iron to form a C section. You have to drop the suspension for the bottom piece because you will have to put a couple of holes in it (susp, sway bar, etc). Presto! no more flexible flyer!

A manual will work just fine and you have a few choices. I used the JTR method to install the engine with a Camaro T-5 trans using a '84 and up Corvette bellhousing matched to a Tilton (Wilwood now) 7/8" master cylinder. I have a 1971 240Z so I used the 1973 console and the shifter came right up through the stock hole. http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4294856715 Some of the other guys here can comment on the use of the T-56 and Tremec because they are using them.

Jerry, the 305 got kind of a bad rap because it was an "econo" motor but (other than the dished pistons and thin cast large chamber heads) it a pretty good SBC. Listen to Mike and get a good set of aluminum heads but make sure they are ~64cc unless you want to change the pistons. 64cc with stck pistons should give you right around 9.0:1 compression. Because the heads are aluminum you should be able to run regular fuel unless you go crazy with the timing. Loosing the extra weight is good and you will replace the only real limiting part of the engine. I would however, suggest you consider a little better cam. I think you will find the econo version has very little duration. With a nice set of heads, alum. intake and new carb you will want it to breath just a bit better. Look for a nice "torque" cam that isn't going to be lumpy for your daily driver.

I use Hooker ceramic block huggers that I bought from Summit. I just went out in the garage and measured the flange - it's 3/8". I also have Trick Flow aluminum heads w/angle plugs and, although there isn't tons of room, the plug wires do clear the headers. BTW I mentioned the brand of heads because there are different angles to angle plug heads.

Brian, there are alot of "block hugger" headers on the market today. Please let us know what brand you are referring to. FYI the current Hooker block hugger headers will work with angle plug heads but it is a bit close. Be sure to use good 8mm silicone wires. Hedman also makes "Tight Tubes" headers that will work with angle plug type heads and are even closer than the Hooker type. You can check them out at Summit Racing http://www.summitracing.com/index.htmb

I don't know what to tell you. I also use the JTR method and the fuel pump block off plate is a good .5" away from the mount. Do you have the correct JTR spacers in place? You could shim the mount a bit if more clearence would help. Just use the template in the JTR manual to make a shim. Also, I just use a simple Moroso chrome plated steel block off plate held on with 4 Allen head bolts and a standard gasket with no problems.