Mike C

I like that motor as well, but cost and availability are both negatives at this time. Also, it is only available with automatic trannys, correct? I don't know what bellhousing might bolt to it and it might have to be disassembled to machine the crank for a pilot bushing. (I would want a manual trans behind it.)

Actually, 86 was the first year for the one piece rear main. 87 for the centerbolt valve covers. 85 and earlier flexplates work on 85 and earlier engines. 86 and later need the new flexplate.

A correctly functioning carburetor should not be drawing fuel from the primary jets at idle. Only the idle circuit. I would check the ignition timing first, scan for vacuum leaks, then adjust the idle mixture screws. Only then can you move along to sorting out the jets for the power circuit. You are running extremely lean, so proceed with caution above idle.

Drop the distributor in the hole without the gasket. If it fits down on the intake, it's not bottomed. If their is a gap, it is. Measure the gap. Measure the gasket. Allow a reasonable amount for gasket compression. Subtract measured gap from compressed gasket thickness. If it is negative, get a shim kit from Moroso and pick one that will give you a few thousandths clearance.

Are you just talking about the seal between the block and rear of intake leaking oil? Or is it a vacuum leak or a leak into a port? I use FelPro gasket and GM gasket sealer in the can with a brush. Throw the rubber seals in the trash. Clean all surfaces with a wire brush and lacquer thinner/Acetone/Brake cleaner, etc (Keep trash out of the motor however). Paint the heads and intake with the GM sealer. Then run a bead of silicone, approximately 3/8" thick along the front and rear seals (I use Permatex black exclusively. I have had BAD luck with Red and Blue, Ultra Leak I call it). You can even score the intake with a screw driver parallel to the block to get the silicone something to hold on to. Install the gaskets and set the intake down. Align and install all of the bolts finger tight. I usually wait about 1/2 an hour before torquing them down and wait overnight before starting it up. If your engine has been decked, it can screw up the relationship of the intake and heads, and it might be necessary to machine the intake. Also, you should check to make sure the distributor is not bottoming out on the oil pump drive and preloading it. Moroso makes distributor spacers.

If I remember correctly, they are too wide to fit between the tunnel and the door.

I have a set of Eclipse seats in my car now. Look like new with black sides and back and a charcoal center section. They have adjustable lumbar and set me back only $50 for the pair. I have a set of Talon sport seats that are even nicer since they have adjustable thigh support as well, but the color doesn't goes as good. The front "foot" on the rail lines up with the stock holes, but you have to cut the rear foot off and weld a stud on the rear of the track, but then it bolts through the stock hole as well. I'm 6' tall and they fit me pretty well. If you are any taller you might bump your head FWIW.

My '72 Jimmy mounts are a flat pad with a bolt that goes up through the bracket and threads into the mount, but not a stud.

The mechanical roller is a Comp Cams 280 mechanical street roller. It pulls 6500 rpm or so in first gear. It idles at 800 and makes good low speed torque. My only complaint is valvetrain noise, but I am switching from stamped aluminum valve covers to cast aluminum which should reduce noise significantly. ( I HOPE!) I have a set of GM 492 casting heads that have been ported. They have 2.02/1.6 ProFlo undercut stem valves and titanium 10 deg retainers with Crane 11752 gold rockers that clear 1.65 springs. I have 1.45, but they contacted the body of the cheaper Crane rockers. I have had good luck with lash staying very consistent and a set of stud girdles could be added that lock lash in even better. How much money do you want to spend? Dart aluminum or iron heads can be had with 215cc intake ports, 2.05 valves and springs sufficient for mechanical rollers for about $1000. The motor has 9.5:1 flat tops and makes about 425hp at the flywheel and 375 or so at the wheels. It runs 12.7's at 110 with a 2.0 short time and weighs #3500. It was a FAST street car when it was built in '88, but times change. comp cams chevy mechanical roller cams

You can get urethane ones from Energy suspension from Summit or Jegs.

The solid roller will let you reduce overall duration while keeping your top end. My 280AR solid roller (230@ .050 and .550 gross lift) idles better and pulls 500 rpm higher than the bigger hydraulic rollers. Big carburetors just don't like low engine speeds. One option (I am assuming you have a Holley carb?) is to switch to a modified 750 or 800 Q-jet. They are much better at low and mid atomization, cruising and idle than a Holley. JET sells a stage III Q-jet that would probably help immensely.

Cheapest, fastest solution to more power, is a good low mileage, at least undamaged, long block from the junkyard. Add your existing upgraded parts, an aftermarket cam and and followers, & the 3.9 and it should run high 14s.

I looked at the V6 swap and determined the '97 firebird/camaro 3800 motor with throttle cable (not drive by wire) and T5 (Ford world class T5 used in 3800 cars) was the best bang for the buck. Light, small, 200hp with lots of aftermarket parts available. There is little demand for wrecked 6 cylinder cars, so engines and trannys can be had for pennies on the dollar compared to V8/6 speed cars.

IMO, you are going to have a hard time with a carburetor and the .50 overdrive. To get a big enough cam to pull 6500 rpm, it's going to want to cruise 2500+. The best fix, albeit not cheapest, is fuel injection. Or maybe a set of 4.30 gears? AS far as Comp hydraulic rollers, I like the 286HR, with 230 degrees at .050 and .560 lift or the XR288HR, 236/242 and .510/.520.

The rear drive 3800 uses a Ford world class T5 and a special Ford to BOP bellhousing from what I can glean. I haven't been able to find out if the block is a different casting in a front driver (This is not uncommon for motors that are in both North/South and East/West applications)The camaro/firebird motor/trans setup is ideal, but the jury is still out on the FWD motor. I'm sure the supercharger would swap right on, but that would require two different donors... Seems like it wouldn't be to hard to score a set of OEM Grand National turbo, manifolds, injectors, down pipe, etc. from somebody with a hopped up GN and a box of old parts.

They are very similar, from same engine family. Internals may be slightly different since power of the NA motor is lower, and electronics have probably changed since '87. I contemplated putting a 3800 with T5 from a 97 Firebird in my Z. Seems like a great swap for a driver. Billy Grahams Camaro/Firebird salvage has complete assemblies for sale and relative to V8/6 speed combos, they are giving them away.

The weight of the hydraulic lifters can be offset by the AFR hydra-rev kit. Check it out on AFR's page. Hydra-Rev These springs between the lifters and head take a lot of the load off the valve springs which extends the upper range of the hydraulic valve train by as much as 1000 rpm! Comp has some new hydraulic rollers that are faster ramp than my mechanical roller. I was looking for a streetable grind at the time, and the mechanical 280 street roller fits the bill perfectly. I plan to switch to cast valve covers first and see what level of noise reduction that provides. The motor is LOUD, however. When it finds a new home in my 'vette, I want quiet and fast which means hydraulic roller. Power delivery is going to be based on lobe centerline and .050 duration primarily, with advertised duration as a good guidline for idle quality. Once again, advertised duration is shaky as manufacturers measure at different lobe lifts. Comp at .006, Crane at .005 and some, like GM, at .001. The lower the lobe lift where measurement takes place, the higher the advertised duration which is why the .050 comparison is so important. Also, mechanical cams are measured at different tappet lift as well, to take lash into consideration, which also can skew comparisons of the two. I like 110 degree lobe separation for the best idle/power delivery. If you like two stroke like power, move to 106 degree separation and 250+ degrees at .050. Increasing lift gives more power without a reduction in idle quality. Regardless of cam choice, I have had trouble eating bronze gears and would recommend a cam that is compatible with an iron distributor gear. The Comp 286 HR seems a good choice (at least for me!) 230/230 @ .050 and .560 lift. I don't usually go for split pattern cams as small chevy's have excellent exhausts, it's the intake where they suffer. FYI, my Camaro at 3500# runs 12.7's at 110 mph with a 2.0 short time. I run 92 octane pump gas and McCreary G60 dirt track tires, through closed exhasut. Figure about 350 rwhp and I shift at about 6500 in first and about 6300 from there. It has 9.8:1 TRW single trough valve reliefs and re-worked GM straight plug 492 castings, a Victor JR., Barry Grant 750 (Not a Demon)and 1 3/4 headers with 2 1/2" compression bent exhaust. This is a mild, very streetable combination that should put a Z in the low 11's VERY VERY reliably at 6500 rpm. (This car was considered REALLY fast when I built it, now EVERYBODY seems to have a 12 second street car ) If you only have one car and like to tinker, the mechanical roller is cool. If you want to drive more wrench less, the hydraulic roller seems a fine compromise with a slight reduction in idle quality since you have to run a bigger cam for the same power.

On springs, it just depends on the two cams. I have a comp solid street roller 280/280 236 @ .050 and .550 gross lift. Lash is .020 Comp has a hydraulic roller than is 280/280 224 @ .050 and .525 net lift. The mechanical uses about a 15% stiffer spring, but they said the used mechanical spring should be good for the new hydraulic roller. I ran mine on the street quite a bit with valve adjustments every 6000 miles or so. A stud girdle helps maintain lash as well. Be forewarned that even my "small" 1.437 springs required the Crane 11752 rockers that clear 1.65 springs. I don't care for 1.6 rockers as they don't leave as much rocker on the valve tip. Comp said expect a 50 hp swap from my cam to the other one. I am planning on hydraulic in the future as the mechanical is just plain LOUD. Clack clack clack ping ping ping was tolerable when I was 20 in '88 when I built the motor, but not as much so now. If you plan on driving primarily on the street, I would run a bigger hydraulic roller. If it's a pure race car, do the mechanical. Too many people are making big power with the hydraulics now and it's something else you DON"T have to work on IMO.

I believe that a properly installed rollcage should be attached to the subframe connectors and the strut towers. I would do connectors first so that when the rollcage was installed, it could be tied directly to the subframe connectors.

I have 16x7 with 4" backspace (zero offset and 205 55 16. Not quite as wide, but nice height (24.87)and they don't rub anywhere except the drivers outside fender lip, but my car has been hig their and not repaired correctly. I wanted same tries all around so I could rotate tires. Here is a photo.

Remember that car companies are in the business of making money, not cars. If they put it on there at a cost to their bottom line it must achieve some goal. I'd keep it.

Short pumps were on all GM small block vehicles until '69. On light trucks until '72 and on Corvettes through '96. Most short pumps have 5/8 pilot, but some Corvette pumps from 68-76 have 3/4" pilot and require different pulleys than other short pumps. Yes, pulleys are different between short and long. Easies way to spot a short pump as the timing cover almost touches the back of the pump and on a long pump their is about 3/4" between the timing cover and back of pump. 84 and up pumps are reverse rotation and not exactly the same alignment of the pulley face with the crank.

Chevy High Performance magazine has test results from over 30 different small block heads on their web site. Hands down, the AFR 190/195 are the best flowing head under 200cc intake volume and outflow most heads with 220cc intake volume. The difference in the 195 is they have a higher intake port that matches up with intakes such as the VIctor Jr. They are expensive at $1295 here in the US. Trick Flow has a decent street head from Summit for $895. Obviously shipping is an issue. The GM heads can be made to flow well, but they have dated combustion chambers and unless you have 64cc heads, you lose 20 hp right off the bat. The David Vizard book (How to build and modify SBC cylinder heads) is an excellent source with specifics on porting. Time and money make the aftermarket heads look like a good deal. Good luck with your project!

I don't remember, does the T5 have a synchronized reverse? If you go from a forward gear quickly to reverse does it still grind? How fast is the idle? A high idle can cause rotation of trans components even with clutch disengaged which will cause gears to grind on engagement. Are you familiar with this particular trans? Could be worn out from someone driving with failing hydraulics in the past.

I admire your persistence! Either manifold choice will be fine. You may want the Victor JR. to knock off some of the low speed torque as traction is going to be a bear anyhow. I've run lots of different intakes and haven't really been able to ascertain a "seat of the pants" difference in any of them.