Mike C

That is a good price for the complete motor and a steal with the 4L60. You can get an adapter to put the trans behind your GN motor, but it also entails torque converter pilot adapter and spacers which I don't like. You would have to run a stand alone trans controller which is big $. A TH700 can be used with no electronics. IMO, the 4L60/TH700 gear ratios suck compared to your TH200. It also is bulkier and longer. If it were me, I would get an aftermarket rebuild TH200 and stick with it. They can be built to withstand 1200+ hp GNs. Check out some of the Buick sites for details. If my 4L60E wasn't integrated in with the computer in my SS, I'd swap in a built 200 and 4.10 gears. THe 200 has a little more OD than the 700 also. The reduced first gear (2.6) makes for a much better spread between 1st and 2nd than the 700. After the 3.73 swap in my Impala I'll see if my attitude changes.

3/4 ton GMs (pickups with 8500# GVW at least meaning 8 lug and not 6 lug equipped) use the 4L80E which IS a lot stronger than the 700r4. It also has a 2.48 first gear if memory serves. THe later 1/2 ton trucks use the electronic 4L60E and the new ones use a 4L65 in 1/2 tons with the 4L80E still in 3/4 and one tons. Nobody who runs 9's runs a 700R4, but lots of 9 second Grand Nationals run the 200 4R. Not quite as critical in a Z, but in a heavy car like my Impala SS, the 700 are just eaten alive. Most of the fast Imps are either TH400 or T56 equipped. If you are going to spend $1000 plus on an OD trans, the 200 has a MUCH more pleasant driving characteristics IMO as well as durability.

You can probably use some of the parts, but as a whole this cannot be done. The speed gears run on needle bearings instead of bushings, it uses paper cone synchronizers instead of brass blocker rings and has tapered roller bearings on the countershaft instead of standard roller bearings. I'm not sure if the case is different because of the bearings. Same with the mainshaft, but the gears are different because of the synchronizer and bearings. The Motorsport WCT5 is $1200 from SUmmit, and a Mcleod adapter scattershield can be had for about $300 more. But that puts you close to the Tremekc converion tranny price. $ for $ your best bet is a used GM trans with the WC kit and the gearzone.net cluster gear stabilizer.

Small block chevy never had cast rods. Until recent times, all were forged but newer ones are powdered metal. They have a good reputation for strength, but are more difficult to rebuild because they are "cracked". Cast cranks break at a lower RPM than a steel crank bends. The SCAT cast steel (vs. cast iron GM) cranks are better than stock, but are cheaper than a steel crank for a reason. What displacement?(bore and stroke) Occasional (drag racing) or continuous high RPM operation? How high? What's the bore and stroke? How light are the pistons? HOw much money are you going to spend on lightweight valvetrain components? What style camshaft? Carillo rods are the cat's meow. The Manley forged H-beams are better $ wise. Oliver makes a fine rod. There are others. Clevite 77 tri-metal bearings are time-tested. For sustained high rpm operation, you should seriously consider shaft mount rockers. Look to NASCAR for a model. Use mushroom flat tappet lifters instead of rollers, shaft mount rockers, the lightest most expensive valves and retainers you can afford, Same goes for piston and ring assembly. NASCAR may be dinosaur racing, but those 358" motors turn 9000 rpm +/- for hours at a time. BLock integrity becomes an issue. Bowtie block or a partial fill with Blokhard. Studded bottom end is mandatory. Get the stroke short and the bore large. The large bore mandates a lightweight piston to keep weight down. Reduced reciprocating weight and piston speed will help it live a long time. 3.25" stroke and a 4.125" bore is a good model for high rpm and high flow small block. JMO

There are several different combinations of gears in the T5, BUT to the best of my knowledge, there is only 1 Nissan L6 compatible input shaft. If you have a Chevrolet or Ford T5, there are several different versions, but the lowest numeric first gear is 2.95. The Nissan T5 is 3.5 and the early Ford is 3.27 while the later one is same as Chevy's 2.95. The smaller the number, the stronger the tranny when it comes to T5's. Depending on the number of different cluster gears is the limiting factor. It might be possible to use the modified Ford input (or maybe GM) in the Nissan case for a more desireable ratio, but I still have no clue what OEM trans you have. You would have to have the input shortened and sized for the throwout bearing and would need a clutch disc of the appropriate diameter and spline count.

3.8 SFI turbo. WHy reinvent the wheel? The 4.3 turbo is just too delicate. Bump the boost up and watch the pistons fall out! The Buick's weak link is head gaskets, but much easier to replace than pistons. I like the idea of the supercharged 3800, but it will never be as fast as the turbo version. But if you get it cheap, it would be a really neat swap and one I have contemplated myself. I have a buddy with a wrecked Typhoon with a good motor. I've tried to get him to sell it to my for the Z, but no dice. He bought an 85 4x4 Jimmy S-15 to put it in, but I'm still twisting his arm to drop it into his TPI powered 74 Corvette.

Excellent! My 3500# Camaro runs 12.7's @110 with a 2.0 short time, so you are Oh So Close! Get the launch down and you will be running mid 12's at same MPH.

Not all cop cars are LT1's be forewarned. Some are the 4.3 litre L99. Just a heads up.... Displacement will be cast on the drivers side of the bellhousing flange (5.7 or 4.3) Also, look for LT1 on the option sheet stuck to the inside of the trunk lid.

Reider Racing has the precision gear 12mm R200 LSD for $550. I bought one. It is a nice looking piece. I have not installed it yet, but I got an 12mm 3.54 R200 from an 85 300ZX turbo. Just need to find the time...

Could also be a loose nut/bad bearing on an outside stub axle. Also, make sure your lug nuts are all tight! A loose gland nut on the strut housing or loose nuts holding the housing to the car can be suspect.

IF you are doing the LT1 swap with all of the computer, wiring and sensors, use the 4L60E. Only reason to do a TH700 instead is to eliminate the computer of use it in a non-computer equipped vehicle.

Lakewood and McLeod both make scattershields that have the canted T5 pattern as well as the conventional 4 speed pattern on them. Then you can use the T5 throwout arm and slave cylinder the same way guys that do the T5 make it work. Check the JTR manual. Another option is a hydraulic throwout bearing. Either way, I still recommend the explosion proof bellhousing. Be careful buying so called "Rock Crusher" tranny as less than 1% of all Muncies fit that description, but seems that about 75% of magazine cars are equipped that way. Hmmmm. Don't pay a $1000 for a $300 tranny! Another option is a brand new Richmond T-10 4 speed which can be had with 3 different optional ratios for about $1200. IMO, the T10 is a better transmission and the new ones have a synchronized reverse gear even. You get the 26 spline input and the 40 spline output. Only 1 or 2 years of the Rockcrusher had that combo. Most were 10 and 32(? whatever the smaller GM output is) spline.

I have learned recently of the existence of Caprice SS cars that were for export, most likely to the middle east. They still use premium leaded fuel over there, and the LT1 cars were not equipped with converters or 02 sensors. They ran open loop all of the time, which seems idiotic to me, not taking advantage of all of the technology available. But that's the way it is, and when gas is 15 cents a gallon for 100 octane leaded or whatever they pay, you can't complain too much about poor mileage. But your chances of finding one of these cars is virtually nil, so the answers you got above are correct for a US delivered car. I am not sure how the marine LT1 engines are handled. They may not have O2 sensors either would be my assumption. I always wondered how simple a Mercruiser LT1 wiring system and computer would be. It also may be that marine applications have a surge tank type pressure pump near the engine for the FI and an inline pump to get gas from the tank. This might be an ideal swap for converting an old car to FI and not having to contend with baffling or converting the gas tank.

That car came from San Antonio, correct? I sold the guy the R200 after he had broken a couple of R180 diffs. That particular R200 came from a low mileage 78 280. It looked brand spankin' new inside, showing zero wear on gears. I think the car showed 80k on the odometer. If I would hazard a guess, your car has serious geometry issues with the rear suspension, otherwise there wouldn't be such a chain of broken diffs follwing that car. OR it wheel hops and you don't get out of it, loading and unloading the ring & pinion excessively. Also, nothing tears up an open diff faster than a one-wheel-peel either. The spinning of the drive wheel faster than the drivers side wheel causes the spider gears to spin like no tomorrow usually inducing a failure. Broken spider gear teeth can then wedge themselves in between the ring & pinion forcing a failure there. Nothing else just "bolts" in except another R200. Sounds like you need to look for an LSD equpped one and check out Pete's site for solving geometry and driveshaft issues you may have.

I have 2 LT1's, and enough parst to FI one of them. The other will get the GM Performance Parts 4 barrel intake which comes with the plugs needed for blocking off the optispark. You pull the oil pump drive stub and use a conventional distributor. GM built 2 302ci LT1 cars (LT1 block and L99 crank) for the 30th anniversary of the Camaro. The FI version was put in a 97 camaro and the carb one in a 67 camaro made as a Z/28 replica (since only 602 were originally made, needless to say they are a bit pricey-even for the general.) The carbed version made about 40 horses more than the FI version. Actually, an iron head LT1 should make as much power as a 70 LT-1 with a better idle and less spark lead. In addition to better flow with smaller valves, you get flat tops instead of dome pistons for better flame travel and a hydraulic roller cam. RIght now there are two gen II sbc in the paper, an aluminum head LT1 for $750 and an LT4 for $1250. There is no way you can get the same power from a gen I motor for that price. Long story short, the carb may not have the driveability of the FI in all weather and altitude, but it can make good power very affordably, with significantly less work. Ditch the entire serpentine setup and fab a low mount alternator setup using a short ribbed belt and you are good to go in a street/strip Z.

IMO, the TH200R4 is the way to go. It has closer ratio trans gears and more overdrive. I feel the TH700 in my Impala has just too large a gap between first and second gear, while the 200 should be perfect with 3.54 or 3.7 gears.

You should NEVER EVER EVER run used lifters on a new cam or switch the lifters lobe to lobe on any cam. You can run solid lifters on a hydraulic cam, but to no gain. The solid cam is ground differently on the take up and the ramps because of the different dynamic nature of the two styles. IMO, your best bet is a $99 Crane Energizer from Jeg's or Northern Auto Parts. And I think Summit will price match either of those places. IF you do run the solid cam, most likely you will need a valve spring change and you should check rocker geometry as well as piston to valve clearance.

You need the R200 stubs from a 75-78 280z, and you can use the stock u-joint half shafts.

For the 30 anniversary of the Camaro, GM Performance Shop built a FI 302 from an LT1 with an L99 crank, and another LT1/L99 carbed combo. The FI motor was in a 97 Z/28 and the carbed motor a replica 67 Z/28. You should be able to find more info in Hot Rod. The carbed motor made LOTS more power if memory serves (40 hp or so.)

I had significant improvement when adding the Blaster coil to my stock distributor. The ballast resistor does reduce input voltage, but the performance coil still puts out more output voltage than the OEM coil. Switch to electronic ignition as well, you will NOT regret it.

Tochigi Fuji (most likely a spelling error here...) makes the Nissan, Nismo, MSA, Cal-Mini and Precision gear LSD, they are all the same for the most part. You can get 10mm bolt LSD from NISMO, but only 12mm aftermarket. My Precision Gear LSD from Reider Racing was $549 compared to $750 everywhere else. 12mm bolts, but I have a 12mm R200 with 3.54 from a 85 300ZX Turbo. I am planning on photo documenting installing the diff in the case when time permits, but with the motor broke, seems to be pointless to do the LSD first...

IME, it is too much initial advance you want to avoid. There is no trouble with running that much advance in the distributor. That is the whole point in making the adjustable bushings. The GM distributors are limited to about 20 degrees of mechanical advance, this requires 18-20 initial to get 38-40 total which can make the car hard to start.

All of the 82-83 manual trans turbo cars originally came with the T5

I'll take it. Shot you an email. mc

I don't do the late model trucks, but the 67-72 board has a section for them. It gets a moderate amount of traffic (probably equal to this board) and they should be able to point you in the direction of more sites.