Mike C

Hmmm. This is technically a mis-nomer in Z-car land. The Z car is a strut suspension. This means the "shock" not only damps but is a structural member of the suspension, a locator if you will and the spring is around the strut cartridge. Coil over in other arenas means that instead of the spring being separate from the shock, the two are combined into one unit (coil is over the shock). Thus the stock suspension is coil over as well, technically. On this board coil-over is used to mean the stock large diameter springs and mounts are replaced with a smaller diameter spring and adjustable perch so you can change ride height, spring pre-load, and increase tire clearance on the inside.

My 2 cents again (you must have several dollars of my money now...) I have a 1040 CFM Barry Grant Stage III 750 Holley on my Camaro. It doesn't make the same sound as the Q-jet on my truck when the secondaries open, but it DOES absolutely ANNIHLATE the tires. Don't make performance decisions based on sound... Just because it worked better then doesn't mean it will now. If it didn't cost $3000 for a Super Ram, my car would be FI now. Someday all of my vehicles will be converted. You just can't beat it. Best bang for the buck is to buy a wrecked 93-97 Z/28 or Trans AM with a 6 speed. For less than the cost of the Super Ram you can have FI and a 6 speed manual trans. Then (if you have been reading some of the other posts) just pocket port the heads and add the LT4 Hot Cam kit you will have 300 rear wheel HP. This would/will pound the crap out of your old man's Comet.

All early truck 350's got the narrower 8" balancer. Usually these were 4 bolt main engines as well. The high-perf large journal motors (302, LT-1 350, L-82 350) also got the large balancer, but it is slightly wider. There are different balancers/timing tabs depending on a 49 state or California motor (this depends on year as well). Just double check the timing mark is same spot on new balancer as old one and buy a timing tab for the smaller balancer. I thik all 8" balancers had the bolted on tab, but some of the smaller ones had welded tabs.

The big block chevy tri-power had a mechanical center carb and vac actuated front and rear carbs. Even Chevy went to a single carb on the L-88 and Zl-1, their highest horsepower motors. Fuel Injection solves all of your problems, why are you shying away from that?

Typical carburetor. Probably something do do with adjustment of the choke or its enrichment. Stupid amount of vacuum controls on those models. Is it ESC also? Sometimes a tuneup (plugs, wires, cap, rotor) will cure some of those ailments. Also check the air-preheater from the manifold and make sure the vacuum port is working on the air cleaner.

I paid $200 for mine, but your prices aren't too bad either. I would try and get the turbo flywheel as well so you can upgrade to the larger clutch. Make sure it is an L T5 and not one from a 300ZX which is different.

I assume this is an L6 powered car and not a V8? If it is a V8 buy the JTR book. Here is what I wrote yesterday on the T5 vs. Nissan 5 speeds. Relative strength of the T5 is debatable. Some people say they have broken T5 and replaced with NA 5 speeds with no problems. The "clunky" shifting can be remedied with an aftermarket shifter which also improves reliability since one of the big causes of failures appears to be "overshifting" the assembly. (This clunky shifting reputation is ironic since in the land of domestic cars it is considered a "slick" shifting trans.) The plus of the T5 IMO is that it has a first gear of 3.5, the same as the early 4 speed, and more overdrive than the early 5 speed, close to that of the late car. That way you can use 3.54 gears and have more first gear multiplication than a 3.90 equipped car with the late 5 speed and a lower effective final drive than 3.36 gears with the early 5 speed. That is why I am doing the T5 in my car. I bought a Hurst competition plus shifter for an 83-86 Mustang and even in the garage it is night and day better than the Nissan POS shifter. I am assuming I will have to bend/modify the shift lever when I do the install, but you never know. You can pick up a stock mustang shifter which is better than the Nissan one, but it lacks the shifter stops which are important IMO. The T5 is longer than the Nissan trans in addition to the mount being ~ 1 1/4" further to the rear. Easiest fix for that is to section and offset weld the crossmember. It has a different spline output shaft. It will require either a new custon driveshaft or the shortening/balbancing of an 82-83 T5 turbo shaft. (I would get one made since the Nissan one has non-replaceable u-joints)The Nissan early 5 speed is a true bolt in requiring NOTHING including speedo calibration if he has 3.54 gears. The B model 5 speed speedo is setup for 3.90 gears. There are two different shifters, not including the bend in the handle. One is longer than the other from the pivot to the ball where it goes into the transmission. Unless his car is/was an auto then it should have an r200.

This is a pretty complicated question. I would recommend you buy a book on (I assume Weber carbs?) You can get a combined book for Webers and Del'Lortos or a Weber only book.(I bought both when I got my triples.) I would imagine there is a Mikuni book as well. For $20 you can get jetting recommendations and diagrams, idle speed and mixture adjustment instruction. www.classicmotorbooks.com or my local Barnes & Noble had the Weber only book.

There were two versions of the motor. One was installed with a carburetor in a 67 Camaro Z/28 replica and the other was in a 97. I think you are right that the 350 pistons can be used with the 4.3 crank and rods.

Life is bouncing from one emergency to the next! Keep at it. Do a little everyday and the next thing you know something is finished! I have hardly turned a wrench on a car in the last 4 years. All of my free time and money went into the shop. It is the coolest thing I own, so don't get me wrong, but it was/is an unbelieveable amount of work, but a lifetime investment. Someday I'll have a job again and maybe a little money to spend, but I doubt there is ever enough time!

I have paid as little as $100 and as much as $200 but "actual mileage may vary."

Relative strength of the T5 is debatable. Some people say they have broken T5 and replaced with NA 5 speeds with no problems. The "clunky" shifting can be remedied with an aftermarket shifter which also improves reliability since one of the big causes of failures appears to be "overshifting" the assembly. (This clunky shifting reputation is ironic since in the land of domestic cars it is considered a "slick" shifting trans.) The plus of the T5 IMO is that it has a first gear of 3.5, the same as the early 4 speed, and more overdrive than the early 5 speed, close to that of the late car. That way you can use 3.54 gears and have more firts gear multiplication than a 3.90 equipped car with the late 5 speed and more overdrive than 3.36 gears with the early 5 speed. That is why I am doing the T5 in my car. I bought a Hurst competition plus shifter for an 83-86 Mustang and even in the garage it is night and day better than the Nissan POS shifter. I am assuming I will have to bend/modify the shift lever when I do the install, but you never know. You can pick up a stock mustang shifter which is better than the Nissan one, but it lacks the shifter stops which are important IMO.

Obviously that is the idea behind a spread bore carb. The easy way to do this is with an Offenhauser Dual port intake. It is the same idea behind the ZR1 corvette intake with its multiple throttle bodies. There are two complete sets of runners. One small set that uses the primaries only for high velocity and a second set that uses just the secondaries for power. Combine this with a Q-jet. OR, just swap in a port fuel injection motor and it will do both VERY well. Actually, even the CPFI Vortec motor would be an excellent swap for a Z and they get pretty good economy even in full size pickups and vans. If economy is primary and performance secondary, the 235 hp T5 TPI 305 from a 91-92 Camaro will run low 13's and possibly high 12's whhile returning nearly 30 mpg on the road. (Assuming 70 mph or less) Best way to improve economy is reduce displacement then engine speed. Volvo has a prototype engine that tilts the cylinder head changing the mechanical compression ratio. You can have that Jekyll and Hyde transformation with the push of a button...N20. Or turbo, no button, but on and off to some degree. Look at Scottie GNZ. His car runs 10's and knocks back 26 mpg on the road! Most common Holley vac secondary carbs are square bore and not spread. Most carbs have progressive linkage so there is no point in running multiple carbs when a single one will work fine unless you are trying to maximize performance from each cylinder in which case you need a venturi for every port by using 4 downdraft webers or something similar.

A reasonable bid would be $1500. As usual, results may vary. I think the guy I got my CNC LT1 heads from spent $1700 just on the heads. Intake and larger valves will add to that. Shop around. MTI in Houston is very reputable and the owner is a good friend of a friend.

I have heard the rumor as well. I can't say specifically, but I will offer this for thought. Two friends did work on their Impala SS. One low mileage '96 swapped on AFR LT1 aluminum heads (which are SUPPOSED to be better than the GM Al heads) and ASM (Arizona Speed and Marine) coated headers with a Borla exhaust. It dynoed 267 hp at the wheels. The other car was a high mileage '94. He pocket ported the iron heads and added a custom comp cam (the one I was asking about last week)270/284 advertised 215/224 @ .050 .500/.500 lift with 1.5 rockers. This car had stock manifolds and cat back Flowmaster exhaust. It dynoed at 293 hp at the wheels! Same day, same dyno. The work was all done by another friend to take the mechanic out of the picture. First guy spent over $2200 + labor. Second guy spent $500 + labor and made WAY more power! If you want to see where to spend your money, obviously it is with the cam. Best bang for the buck IMO is the LT4 Hot Cam kit and pocket port the iron heads. Three reasons to go aluminum, in order of importance in a Z (IMO of course), (1) weight,(2) tolerance for higher compression, and (3) repairability after an accident. My CNC ported heads off of a '96 SS camaro are testament to that, the supercharged car dropped a valve but the head was repaired which saved the $1500 worth of port work. But pocket porting is cheap and easy compared to the CNC porting which is easy, but surely not cheap! I re-read your post... Unless you are using an electric waterpump then you cannot run the cam for the early ZZ unless you machine it for the cam driven waterpump drive, or if you are planning on running the LT1 heads on an early block, the coolant passages do not align.

The air filters are about $60 each. I assume you would get no warranty, either? I would buy from a dealer for only $100 more, or talk him down to $1200 or so. Can't expect to get retail from something you bought and are trying to sell IMO.

If you go to www.gearzone.net, they have a T5 identifier. Either look for the part # on a sticker or a metal tag. For instance, the 1352-004 is for an 83 Nissan L28. Go to the T5 page and it is at the bottom. All of the T5's have the same first 4 digits and a different 3 letter extension so you know what you are looking for.

Good job! But I have to argue with you on the TPI 305 being the crappiest motor GM ever made... Plenty of others are worse. Non TPI 305? 267 Monza V8? Just to name a couple...

Just be aware that your car has the A model 5 speed now and the 81 is the B model. Lot less first gear multiplication but more overdrive. Maybe he'll throw in the 3.90 diff with purchase of tranny?

Mine is a chrome one that came from Summit or Jegs, I forget which. $25 if memory serves here... There are several different manufacturers with similar units. You might even get one at a local parts store. Has a knob you turn and 1-6 psi range. To install it, just splice it inline with the carbs. I mounted my pump in the back and the regulator as close to the carbs as I could.

Air cleaners and intake as well? Carbs are an excelent deal at $200 apiece. MSA gets $1700 for their complete triple Weber setup for comparison.

Also John, you may have to change the pinion flange in order to use your driveshaft. Good luck! (I want and LSD BAD so i'm jealous!)

Barings are very precisely machined. The gear set is setup based on the particular housing which is where the shims come into play. I would not hesitate to disassemble the unit using your 78 manual, replace all of the bearings, then re-assemble with factory shims in their factory locations. It may not be same as when you took it apart, but it should restore everything to its original factory settings. I have not done this with an r200, but I HAVE rebuilt probably 10 different GM axles like that. Only time need all of the setup tools is when you are setting up a new gear set in your housing. Should you ever do a new gearset,If you know the depth that the pinion should be from the axle center line, you can use a universal pinion depth checker form Precision Measurement or Proform for $175 and $99 respectively. I have a T&D machine setup tool, but it does not have adapters for the r200, but when and if I need one I'll have it made. The T&D was $400. If you swap the LSD into a different housing and gearset, if you don't change pinion depth, all that needs to be confirmed is ring gear back lash which can be changed using a universal shim kit available at driveline shops.

With the clutch MC, when it leaks fluid can run into the car. Because of the diaphragm booster, that does not happen with the brake MC. Sounds like your booster failed after an old MC crapped out. It still has fluid in it and that is getting in your car. Must be a lot of fluid also...Unless you flushed the lines completely, it is just old fluid backflowing into your new MC. The rear brakes need to be adjusted out as far as you can get them, otherwise you will always have a spongy pedal.

All first gen small blocks except the 400 have 5.7" rods. The 67 302 was a 4.00" 327 small journal block and 3.00" steel crank. While it is possible to build a 302 with the 283 steel crank, the counterweights are different and require more time on the balancer. The 68 was a large journal 2 bolt main motor while the 69 was a large journal 4 bolt. All had STEEL cranks. 290 hp WAS an accurate hp rating for the motors, at least at 5000 rpm where they rated it instead of its 7000 + rpm power peak, so you can see how peaky the motor was. THe secret to making power in the 4" bore blocks (302/327/350)are the big valve 2.02/1.6 cylinder heads, either GM or aftermarket. With virtually the same cylinder heads and a similar cam, a 70 LT-1 will blow the doors of a first gen Z/28 in a drag race. HP is about the same, power peak is a little lower, but all that torque... I am in complete agreement that a 302 is an awesome Z motor, but dollar per dollar a 350 is the way to go. Or if you already have the 327, a motor similar to the 350hp L-79. I am in complete agreement with Grumpy on stress to the motor but would like to add the fact that the longer stroke imparts more stress than the shorter one at the same rpm, both on the reciprocating assembly and because of the high piston speed relative to the shorter stroke at same rpm.