Mike C

My last Z had a pair of mirrors from an early Camaro (70-81 bullet mirror) I like them so much I put them on my current car as well. These mount to the doors and look great IMO. They are about $20-$40 a pair in the salvage yard and I think they have a shape that goes well with the rest of the Z. And they are metal. Stay away from the C3 corvette mirror which is similar but the stalke is the wrong angle. You can even mount the remote adjuster in the bottom of the Z door.

I love it Norm! I'm amazed at the power you've coaxed from your 'Dog! Keep us updated. What kind of cranking compression does your 10.5 motor have? I'm not convinced my new motor is as high as my buddy said, and he can't remmeber what pistons he used when he rebuilt. WIth the stock L28 cam what should I see?

Go to www.zhome.com and check out the index of technical articles under engine and their is an excellent article on the L series heads, what the best choices are, and how it effects compression on L28 in specific.

The biggest mistake with HEI is trying to run it with less than full voltage. Make sure you have bypassed the ballast resistor. With the key in the run position you should have 12v at the distributor. Make sure you are getting voltage while the engine is cranking as well. If not you can run another wire to the distributor from the unused terminal on the solenoid. The terminal was originally provided for points ignitions to get 12v on startup, then when you let off the key they went down to 9 volts or so to run so the points don't cook.

I think Hays makes a steel flywheel for the T56 that will work. Maybe a call to Summit you can find out for sure. Mcleod makes some changeover type products as well, and PAW is probably their biggest vendor. Isn't the 400 bolt pattern the same as the two piece other small blocks, just with a locating dowel?

Since a 302, 327 and 350 large journal motors all share the same block, until you check the casting number on the crank to make sure it is a 3.00 stroke, no guarantees the motor is STILL a 302 regardless of what it started life as. Anyways, for the money it is a fair deal for a running motor even if it were not a potenial collector item.

I like the MSD blaster 2 coil and you can't beat te price at $30.

Sawzall it off and get a new one. Get stainless bolts from Summit so you don't have to go through that again.

Make sure that the nuts on the strut bearings are tight inside the hatch, and get a big pair of pliers between the coils on the springs and make sure the clincher nut on the strut tube is tight. In our VW, it used to pound over expansion joints when it needed the struts replace.

The 58cc 'vette heads will work fine. It uses the same intake as pre '87 small block I believe. BUT if you are planning on building another motor anyhow, I wouldn't spend a dime on the 305. Just drive it 'til it blows up and then swap in your new motor. The 58cc 'vette heads will be too small for another motor IMO and you'll have to buy ANOTHER set of heads which means you could spend twice as much on the first set and make WAY more power in the future. You can't go ahead and use any other heads on the 305 because the small bore limits you to a 1.94 intake valve. I you really want heads, just pocket port the 305 heads and rebuild with a 3 angle valve job.

The 1850 is a Holley 600 vacuum. Should have side hung float bowls with single inlet fuel line and an aluminum "transfer tube" running from the fron bowl to the rear. The -2 means it was made sometime between (Approximately!)1980 and around 1992 or so before the -3 carbs appeared.

The SP2P is very similar. It is a good truck manifold, but a very dated design now. Spend the $ on an Edelbrock Performer RPM or Holley 300-36. THe HOlley carb numbers will be stamped on the choke tower facing the front of the car. Pull off the aircleaner and you'll see them unless somebody hacksawed the tower off...

Cheap welders are like cheap hookers or lawyers. You wonder why they can't command the same price as the others. The more money you spend, the higher the duty cycle, the more you can weld when you are ready. Even if 85 amps is all you need right now, before long it will be 110 then 140. Actually, 140 amp welder is sufficient for darn near everything. I've had my 230v 145 amp Century for about 7 years now, and for the most part I'm happy as a clam. BUT I still run into duty cycle problems on occasion. At 120 amps you are limited to about 24" of weld. This is more than almost anything on a car, but you never know when you may have another project (24" by 84" barbecuer on wheels for me!) or want more power for doing chassis mods or building a car trailer, etc. You could always buy a Ac stick welder for about $200 that would take care of the big stuff, but that takes up more floor space...

I have them on my car. I had them on my last Z as well. The parts car I just got has a better set I'll swap onto my car. In Texas you can't afford NOT to have them IMO. Really lowers the interior temp, will let your carpet live longer and you can still see out the back unlike dark tint. I think the car looks a little more streamlined without them, but on a driver their benefits far outweigh the cosmetic drawback.

Usually aftermarket springs are painted a dynamic color. Don't forget that chaning tire size can have a dramatic effect on ride height/ground clearance. As well as the effects of time...Mean Ol' Mr. Gravity! Considering how much clearance is above and below your tires, I would say it is stock. With my 1" lowering springs (Suspension Techniques) you can just stick a finger betwenn the tire and fender on the 205 55 16's.

Northern Auto Parts (.com) may be able to help you out with a performance rebuild kit. I know they have them for the 350 and they are cheap. With hyperuetectic pistons it's only $295 with pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets, timing chain, cam and lifters. If you piece it together yourself, the Crane Powermax cams designed for a TPI 305 should work well.

If that is a P4B, it's a real antique. Makes an OK truck torque manifold but not much better than the cast iron Q-jet manifold. Nightrider is right, just get the appropriate freeze plug. I have a GM LT-1 intake and that is how it is plugged up.

I'll measure mine for you tomorrow. Been stupid busy or I'd have done it today.

Chevrolet quit using the intake fill tube in '68. That looks like an old Edelbrock intake. P4B maybe? Notice the new Performer RPM has a flat spot which can be machined to install fill tube. I plan on doing this and grinding off all of Edelbrock's casting names, numbers, etc. for the sleeper effect in my 'vette.

Seems like you could swap the spacers side to side and offset the motor to the "driver's" side. $800 sounds like a smokin' deal, I'd be all over it!

I'm really diggin' your mower! I had an RZ350 for a couple of years and really dig the yammy oil burner twins. Nice toys.

240Z Turbo built his own stainless twin turbo header for an L series motor. Here are a couple of links to some pics. Go through a few more pages in this section for more info on his header. http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000500 http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000457

3k rpm is about the point where MSD goes from multispark to single spark so it could be the box, but usually they either worky or no worky . (above the 3k rpm point spark frequency is too close to maintain the multi-spark output, like SFI) MSD are VERY sensitive to resistance in power wire. Run at LEAST a 10 ga wire to the box and make it as short as possible. Ground is equally important and ditto on it's install, you may even want to run some new engine to chassis grounds. Also make sure and route the trigger cable from any EMF generators such as the alternator, coil wire and plug wires as well as the MSD power cable and battery cable.

Many junkyard HEIs will have damaged or locked up advance mechanisms. For my pickup truck I bought a Proform HEI from Jegs for $159. It comes with a high ouput coil, increased dwell module, brass terminal cap & rotor, adjustable vac advance, a brand new polished aluminum housing and hardened shaft as well as a 1 year warranty. My only complaint was a module that crapped out after the warranty was up, but $23 from the parts store fixed that. I would buy another. For my Jimmy (which is 4x4 and they move the motor back about 8" relative to a 2x) I bought an MSD ready to run distributor which uses the GM points cap to increase clearance. They run about $239 but come with MSD's easily adjustable mechanical advance curve and adjustable vac pod. They also have cap and rotor.

The CAT rods in the new Summit catalog look like a good deal for the $. USA made and brand new for $200 with good bolts. I think the 294XE is too big a cam for your application. A little more maintenance, but I would look seriously at the 282S solid lifter cam. Unless you have unshrouded the valves in the chamber and at least cleaned up the bowls and mathced the ports to gaskets you won't see 400+ hp. More like 350. At the RPM you'll turn, I'd at minimum pin the studs but would think about going screw in. The solid lifter cam will be worth 25hp over the hydraulic and the port and bowl work should get you in the 425 range at about 6500 rpm redline. Get David Vizard's book "How to build and modify SBC cylinder heads" as you'll more than recoup your investment.