Mike C

The TH200r4 is a great swap in a car with a 350. I would think you should be able to get one for about $200 from a JY, but it may be in your best interest to have one truck freighted from the Pacific Northwest. Check out www.67-72chevytrucks.com and make a post about where you are and what you need. There are a lot of guys in Alaska, western Canada and the northwest.

If your bellhousing bolted right up, it is a "Chebby" bellhousing and NOT a BOP. You did not have to ream the holes in the case to use the standard thread bolts of the 0 degree bellhousing? Or is it a metric bolt straight up bellhousing?

Copperas Cove about 50 miles N/NW of Austin. Just West of Fort Hood/Killeen.

If it is the 300-36 it is the one they used to call a Dominator II. Pete has one of these on his Z and my brother has one on his '68 Camaro. It is almost a duplicate of the 67-69 302 intake and the LT-1 intake which I ran on my '69 for awhile. I have a cast iron spread bore version of same on my boat. It is a good intake that should be almost equal to the performer down low and beat it from 3000 rpm up. The Performer RPM will make more power, but if its paid for, not enough to justify spending more $.

Sounds like too much air. Have you tuned carbs with a uni-syn? I don't know how the SK carbs are adjusted, but start by trying to close the throttle blades further to restrict air, then (this is my plan when my Del'Lortos go on next month) buy the $29 air-fuel ratio gauge from Summit and a $20 02 sensor from your local auto parts store to tune the carbs.

How did you do the BOP pattern bellhousing? Is it really a universal pattern one or do you have an adapter? I have heard that it is necessary to drill out the case ears from the metric fastener to the standard size fasterner used in the traditional 0 degree bellhousing. The '84-'87 Corvette bellhousing is 0 degree and is also for a hydraulic clutch. If you have to spend $ for a bellhousing, look into the Mcleod scattershield. It is drilled for both 0 degree and the Camaro 15 degree tilted if I rememlber correctly.

One of my best friends has a Typhoon. It blew up. He bought a GM crate motor with 3year 36k mile warranty and installed it himself. After about 2 years and 6 months, he was bopping down the road and minding his own business when POW!, one of the connecting rods left its happy home. It proceeded to break the pan rail, saw through the oil cooler lines and punch a hole in the aluminum case of the front differential. GM gave him a NEW motor. GM fixed ALL of the other damage. GM did ALL of the work at no cost to him. I'd seriously contemplate a GM motor unless max power is your only requirement.

What type of ignition do you have? Points or HEI? If points, check for power with the key on at the + on the coil. Replace the condensor. You may need to run a wire from the unused terminal on the solenoid to th + side of the coil. THis provides 12v during cranking. If HEI, check for 12v with key in the run position and also while cranking. If you have the power, but still no spark, make sure the distributor wires are connected to the plug wires. If you have a used HEI, you may want to mosey down to the parts store and get a new module. If never hurts to have a spare even if that's not the problem.

The E31 head will be about 11:1 on a 2.8l motor. Try and score a E88 or N42. Best head is the N42 from a Maxima if memory serves. Pocket port and polish the chambers and run the middle Crane cam. The webers will be fine. I believe they have bearings on the throttle shafts and good seals. THis is the only wear area of a carb, so a kit in each and you should be good to go. With the 4.11 gears you really want to extend the power band of the motor to the 7000 rpm range for sure.

The electronics are not upgradeable per se, but you could always add somebody else's electronics. Since the controller was designed for marine use, it may be that some of the aftermarket marine suppliers have a CPU upgrade for the Ram Jet. Try Arizona Speed & Marine first and see if they can offer any advice. www.azspeed.com

The 350 knock sensor is a good tip. You should run hydraulic valve train, but it doesn't have to be roller. I have a 305 TBI motor, wiring and computer from a '90 model 5 speed car if somebody needs parts or a complete motor.

It will probably work. You will have to get a different MAP sensor at minimum from a 350 car like a Caprice. I'd swap chips as well and keep your cam timing less than 210@.050 I think the 350 Caprice motor, the truck motor and the Camaro motor all use the same throttle body.

Excellent. Those are some swell numbers. What does your car weigh and run? I've always wanted to dyno my 355. I have the Comp solid roller 280AR 236@.050 and .540 lift. My motor is basically a '71 Lt-1. It is a '72 high nickel 4 bolt truck block .030 over with TRW single trough pistons (9.8:1) and Pink rods with ARP bolts. Bottom is studded and has a std/std GM nitrided steel crank. Ported 492 straight plug castings with Manley pro-flo valves, CC titanium 10 deg superlocks and Crand TR series rockers. Victor Jr. and BG 4779S3 (1040cfm), MSD 8561 and 6A. My 3500# car runs 12.7's at 110. I figured about 370 hp at the wheels and 425 at the crank, which seems pretty reasonable looking at your numbers. I shift at 6400 in first and about 6200 after that, what's the powerband like with your cam? I'm going to put the 280 cam in a new motor for the Camaro and go with a hydraulic roller for the existing 355 and drop it in my 'vette, but Comp said to expect a 50hp loss with no other changes. I'm not sure I can stomach that...For what it's worth, my car ran no faster with the BG carb which is completely polished and has the choke horn removed than it did with the 700dp with choke removed but horn attached. It did idle a LOT better (4 corner circuit) and started up cold like it had a choke on it. GM Cowl induction air cleaner (I have the ducted hood) and underdrive crank pulley were REALLY good mods, however.

Hey DJ, You at UT Austin now? I am. Like to check out your car sometime. mc

Make sure you have good battery cables and no corroded terminals. Especially the ground. Sometimes cables will corrode inside the insulation and you can't see the damage. I build my own cables with copper ends and welding cable. Also make sure that the battery and the engine block are both grounded to the chassis. 99% of electrical troubles can be traced to bad grounds.

And with the same first gear, it has more overdrive. Anybody?

You should be able to force the ball joint stud into alignment with the strut without a lot of difficulty. They are tight, but they do move.

While investigating this further, I would install an oil temp gauge. Probably the second most important guage after the oil pressure one.

I agree with Fairlady, concentrate on getting the car reliable. Then do the easy things. 2 1/2" exhaust on the stock manifold and y-pipe, K&N filter, electronic iginition conversion or at minimum an MSD Blaster 2 coil and tuneup with plugs, points, condensor, cap, rotor, and a set of Taylor Spiro-Pro wires. Then I'd look into gears. A 5 speed & 3.90 diff from a ZX. I've used a 240Z as my daily driver since '92. Best mods were: Exhaust, Pertronix Ignitor ignition, Seats from Mitsubishi Eclipse. Nest I'd do springs and sway bars, 16x7 wheels with 205 55 16 tires. Keeping as tall of a tire as possible on the car minimizes every bump in the road and new seats are a joy. While cam and lifters are worth nice power gains, they are expensive and may damage the reliability of the car.

Can't you wait on the test until you can go with the car? You should be able to put a fuel/timing curve in that would be emissions friendly and still be able to drive the car to the testing facility. I dread the day the testing comes to Austin...but I think all my crap is too old

I would concur. 39/10=3.90 I'm going to get a 3.90 diff from a ZX and the limited slip from Reider Racing if they ever come in...

Switch to semi-metallic pads in the front and cast iron drums in the rear and you will notice a big improvement in fade resistance. Isn't it amazing how rear shoe clearance affects pedal firmness in an early Z?

I run 10w40 in most of my cars. It is a good compromise between high viscosity and good thermal performance without being too thick for winter time use. In LA I would run same. There is more power to be had with lighter weight oils however, and if your engine is in really good condition, it may be worthwhile to run a 5w30 synthetic. I run 20w50 in my air/oil cooled FJ1100 and in my Camaro. Straight 30w in most of my small engines (as recommended by manufacturers) and straight 40w in my 5.7l Malibu boat, once again as per manufacturers recommendation. I have not made the transition to synthetics and usually do 5-6k mile oil change increments except for the boat and the bike.

Look for whole cars also. I bought very lightly wrecked (just fender and headlight damage to drivers side) 305 TPI '86 WS-6 Trans AM for $1275. I pulled engine, TH700 trans, driveshaft, computer, wiring, MAF, filter and plumbing, radiator and electric fan. I sold what was left for $1000. If 3 of the GTA wheels weren't tweaked I could of got the whole $1275 back. I even drove the car for a couple of weeks. Ran darn good for a 305 I thought.

I'm pretty sure the 3800 has the BOP bellhousing so you would have to swap bellhousings on the T5. I think Mcleod makes a dual pattern bellhousing that will mount the T5. Or you can use a BOP bellhousing and drill out the "ears" on the trans to the larger bolt size of the standard thread bellhousing from the smaller metric fastener of the T5.