Miles

Here is some additional info: engine has no smog equipment, gas tank was recently removed and cleaned (no rust), engine now runs rough at all speeds, when I rebuilt the carb there were bits of rubber hose in the needle valve strainers and fuel bowels. Anyone familiar with Edelbrock 1406 performer carb fuel bowels? I ran the car until it got real rough and then removed the top of the carb to check the fuel bowels. Both had a little over 1/2 in. of fuel. Anyone have a 74 350 sbc engine in good shape for sale in Sacto area? I think I may just replace the existing engine. Thanks Miles

74 350 SBC ran fine until two weeks ago. It started running rough and would die going over bumps. Condition got progressively worse where the engine would run ok for 10-20 miles and then start surging like it was out of gas and would die at idle. Let the car sit and it would run for a mile or two. Next. I rebuilt the Edelbrock 1406 carb to factory specs replacing all gaskets and adjusted floats etc. Car ran a little better for awhile, but then deteriated back to running rough and surging at all speeds once it heated up. Checked timing. The timing mark jumps around. Engine runs very rough and there is a clacking noise inside the engine. Car has power and is smooth at WOT. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Miles

Has anyone had problems with the Edelbrock 1406 Performer carb? Mine chokes up and starves for fuel after hitting bumps or breaking hard. I have had it apart three times for cleaning and float adjustment. Recently I replaced the needle valves and seats and rechecked the float adjustments. Car ran well until my son went airborn over a hump. Following the landing the engine was gasping for fuel and would quit and run in fits and spurts. I am thinking that this on-going problem is unique to Edelbrock Performer carbs.. True?? Thanks for your help Miles

I put the SBC and T5 in IanZ 240Z. You don't have to remove the trans mounts as there is ample room. But DO remember to dimple the floor board for the throw out arm clearance. Miles

Replaced rotor, points, condenser and cap. Dwel is set to factory specs. But when I checked the timing the timing mark is jumping back and forth. I noted that there is some slop in the mechanical advance and a vacume test on the vacume advance shows that it does not move the plate when a vacume is applied. I don't think the vacume advance has ever worked. Up until yesterday the engine ran real strong. Engine runs real rough at idle but revs up ok. Any clues what may be wrong? Thanks Miles

If I switch to an HEI distributor will I have to change the plug wires? Thanks Miles

My 74 350 sbc was running strong when suddenly it started missing like a couple of plug wires got switched or a plug wire came off. There is a deep clacking noise coming from the stock points type distributor. Inspection of the distributor shows no damaged or loose parts under the cap. All the wires are in place. Adjusting the points has no affect on the missing and clacking noise. Also, the engine keeps dying at idle. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Miles

Terry Without the drive shaft installed the trans will spin and you will grind gears when you try to shift. Once you get the driveline in and the car on the gound it should shift normally. I had this same experience last year and thought for sure I had either installed the clutch disk backwards or had a problem with the master cylinder. Miles

Terry Re: pilot bearing Be sure to buy a pilot bearing that has the correct inside diameter to fit your T5 input shaft. I am not sure, but the Saginaw and T5 may have different hole diameters. Check with your local dealer or someone on the forum. Miles

Terry Did you get the dust plate that bolts to the bottom of the bell housing between the engine and bellhousing? The dust plate keeps dirt and road debris from collecting in the bellhousing and clutch parts. I bought the dust plate and bolts from a local Chevy dealership. Miles

Terry Do replace the pilot bearing or you can have problems later and have to pull it all apart again. It is cheap insurance. You can use a pilot bearing puller to remove the old bearing. Mine was stuck and three different pullers would not work. I carefully drilled the top and bottom of the old bearing and then hit the old bearing with a small chisle causing it to break in half and fall out of the crankshaftl. The new bearing just gets tapped back into the hole until it reaches the bottom of the hole. Also, if you are using a used T5 trans replace the oil seal in the tailstock before installing the trans in the car. Very cheap insurance against leaks later on. Miles

Terry I looked at your website pics and I note that you are in San Jose. I bought my 240Z with Scarab set up, headers (homemade, but not through the fender) and clutch slave like yours in San Jose about a year and a half ago. I wonder if there was a common builder involved?? My son and I gutted out the engine, trans and rearend and basically rebuilt the car. I had to use a saws-all to remove the headers and exhaust. When we got to the suspension we discovered that the previous owner had used struts from different year cars so that the rear brakes didn't match etc etc. The previous owner had the same clutch slave (brake master cylinder? )set up as you have in your photos. It caused the fire wall to crack. I am just mentioning these things because we did not catch them until we got the car apart and found many poorly done modifications that were unsafe. We have about $5K into the car and plan to spend about another $3-4K to finish the body and paint work. Good luck Miles

Terry With the MSA mounts the engine is lower and closer to the firewall than the Scarab position. You may want to reconsider leaving the engine in the Scarab position as it will place your T5 shifter closer to the heater/radio controls. My shifter is in the stock 240Z position using a T5 and MSA kit. Also, note Dan Juday's throttle hook up. I reconfigured my throttle linkage like Dan's after the cable kept braking due to poor alignment through the firewall. Works very smooth. Also, you can buy the Camaro slave cylinder separate from the master cylinder. If you want I can look up the P/N for the slave and other components. Send me an email for details, P/Ns etc. Note that the Ford MC is not a perfect fit through the firewall and will require enlarging the hole and redrilling the lower bolt hole. You may want to consider getting rid of the clutch slave you now have as it may not match your Camaro set up and cause firewall flexing and, eventually, cause your firewall to crack. The Ford/Camaro set up I used is very smooth and does not stress the firewall. If you want more info on the Ford/Camaro setup look for posts by Lee Howard on the Forum as he did the original research on this by searching the back shelves of autoparts stores. Miles

I started off with the about the same setup as you have. The SBC was in the Scarab position with a four speed Saginaw trans. I replaced the Saginaw with a 89 WC T5 trans and Camaro bellhousing. I used the original flywheel after having it resurfaced, a stock 89 Camaro clutch pressure plate/disk/TO bearing, a stock Camaro slave cylinder and a starter from a 89 Firebird. For the clutch master cylinder, I used a Ford F150 master cylinder (7/8 in. bore). I had to enlarge the the hole in the fire wall for the Ford slave cylinder, but it bolted in with some refitting of the linkage using a clevis pin instead of the fork. It turns out that both the Camaro slave cylinder and the Ford F150 master cylinder use identical roll pin hose connectors. So I used a Ford F150 plastic hydraulic clutch hose which has roll pin connectors at each end to connect the two units. This eliminated having to modify the connection at the slave cylinder per JTR. I bought the slave unit from NAPA, the hose from the local Ford dealership and the Ford F150 clutch master cylinder from Southern Autoparts. If you choose to use a Tilton master cylinder you will have to modify the the Camaro slave unit where it connects to the hose per JTR or you could have a shop make up a -3 line with the correct roll pin connector for the Camaro slave cylinder and fitting for the Tilton. Click on my website below and you can see the Camaro slave cylinder setup. Miles

I used a WC T5 Camaro trans and Camaro BH in my son's 240Z sbc V8 conversion with a B&M shifter made for the Camaro T5. The shifter has a bend in it. The B&M shifter works great. You can see a picture on my photo site below. I bought mine from a local speed shop in Sacramento. Summit also sells the B&M shifter for the Camaro T5. Be sure to specify it is for the Camaro T5 trans. Miles

Bill I used the MSA kit and it was very easy to install. The tranny mount fits up inside of the driveline tunnel and allows for very easy angle adjustments for tranny-rearend alignment. It takes a little creativity to install the tranny mount and the MSA instructions are very poor, but if you need help one of us can guide you through the install procedure. I used the MSA tranny mount to install a WC T5 five speed trans and it all bolted together without any mods required. You can see pics of the tranny and engine mounts on my photo site below. Goodluck Miles

My R200 diff has developed a lot of backlash. With the car on jack stands and in gear there is a lot of slack in the diff when I turn the right wheel back and forth. The diff clunks in first and reverse if I don't ease the clutch out. How is backlash fixed and is it an expensive job for a shop to correct? Thanks Miles

Terry I used the Camaro WC T5 trans and tilted Camaro bell housing to avoid making a tilted trans mount. I used the MSA engine and trans mounts without having to make any modifications. I had to trim the shifter hole on the driver's side to clear the shifter and used a B&M shifter designed for the T5. The B&M shifter is angled to compensate for the tilted trans. The setup uses a stock Camaro T5 clutch slave and a master cylinder from a Ford pickup (uses the same roll pin hose connector as the Camaro slave). The hydraulic hose is also from a Ford pickup. Using this set up was easy and I have had no problems since installation last year. The most critical aspect is getting the trans and diff angles right to avoid driveline vibrations. You will also need to swap in a R200 differential from a 78 280 Z to handle the V8. If you have any questions email me. You can also see pics of the trans mount on my photo site. Miles

Thanks for the input. I think I'll just buy a diff from the local Nissan recycle yard. They go for about $100-$125 here in Sacramento. Thanks Miles

Solved the problem. Took top off of the carb and found bits of rubber hose in the drivers side needle valve seat screen. Floats were out of adjustment too causing the engine to stall in high speed turns and stops. After adjusting the floats the engine no longer stalls. Miles

I installed an Edelbrock performer 1406 on my 350 sbc engine one year ago. It ran well until this week. Recently the engine started stalling while cruising. The engine sputters a few times and then quits. After letting the car sit for five minutes the engine will start and run a few miles and then sputter and stop. I removed the air cleaner and worked the throttle and did not see any gas spray into the carb. Then I let the electric fuel pump run for about two minutes and then worked the throttle observing fuel spray into the carb. The engine stalls on hard braking and high speed turns. I just replaced the fuel pump thinking my old pump was dying and causing the stalling problem. The new pump didn't help. I now suspect that this my be a float problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Miles

For Dan: I like your throttle linkage. What throttle cable and firewall bracket did you use? I can't see in the picture what cable bracket you used on the carb end. Do you have a photo of the whole setup? Thanks Miles

Recently my L6 pulses or surges. It is most noticable when holding in first or second gear. At first I thought it might be a brake shoe dragging as I just put new shoes, cylinders and drums on the rear. What would cause the engine to surge? Thanks Miles

Per JTR book I removed the rear sway bar. Tire size is 225/60/14. Thanks Miles

Just installed new springs 180 lbs/in front and 225 lbs/in rear with new Tokico performance shocks in our 350 sbc 240Z. When taking a corner at high speed the rear wheels hop to the outside of the turn. Is this a weight distribution problem or are the rear springs too stiff? The car rides really well otherwise. I also have a problem with the rear wheels locking on hard braking. Installing a proportioning valve helped with the wheel lock up. Thanks Miles