John Scott

SCCA? Who, where is MIkefonebooth? Sorry, you lost me. JS

OK, I've decided my budget will never allow me $2K on the brake upgrade. With the obvious improvement of the Toy 4x4 calipers, this seems the most logical direction. Does anyone know if you can buy a complete rebuilt assem. I mean everything ready to bolt on the car. I could go salvage yard digging, then spend the time going through them myself, but having them ready to go would be worth the time savings and extra cash outlay. Mike K, didn't you mention once that high perf. pads were availible? Which master is the prefered unit? Any recommendations on a proport. valves? JS

When I swapped in the 4.3, the change in PMI was amazing. The response to steering input seemed instantaneous. I'd love to see a comparo. with the V6 vs V8 vs L6 in twisting through the cones all with identical suspensions. I know which my money would be on JS

Myron, can't wait to hear how it runs now. Three weeks? Congratulations early! Do you know what "model" your're getting? JS

Previously, I was told these weren't availible so I'd have to suck up and by the master/slave unit form the Chevy dealer. I asked Auto Zone and they said they carried a replacement Slave. I didn't ask about the T56, but if they carry it for the T5, maybe the T56 is availible too. It is the pin retained fitting, but could be tapped as the JTR manual recommends for the plastic slave. The Ford Master is a 7/8 bore that uses the same hose fitting as the stock T5 slave. Search through the archives for T5s for JuJu. Only he can explain, in his unique style, the process. (Lee, I miss your posts!) I'll give my impressions of the swap when I'm done. I've found a few minor snags so far. JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited September 05, 2000).]

Shannon, the easiest way to run a T5 with the 4.3 is use the model for the camaro or firebird. These will bolt up directly to the 4.3 and can use the camaro flywheel, clutch etc. The truck models are weak and 1st gear too steep for the Z. The Z trans is also too weak and would be a nightmare trying to figure out clutches, bells etc to work. Using the later WCT5 will eliminate some of the inherent weaknesses of the T5. JS

For those of you that haven't already found one, there are aftermarket slave cylinders made of metal not plastic. If you are running the T5 or the aftermarket T56 with the T5 bellhousing you know the dealers rip-off by selling the master and slave as a unit only. Brake ware (Bendix) offers a metal replacement with bleeder pn: 10380. Wagner pn: F126869, Raybestos pn: SC37821. Verify pns. I got mine at Autozone. BTW I'm giving JuJu's Ford master and line a try. So far everything is a piece of cake. Drill one hole a little higher and you have a 7/8 master that uses the same press-in line as the T5 slave. (Ford hydraulic clutch line). JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited September 05, 2000).]

Ditto...What Pete said. An immediate stumble is usually caused by the wrong squirter, if it leaves hard then stumbles a little after you get on it is usually running out of pumpshot. I've seen the fixed timing setting. Sounds like you hang around some WOT diehard dragracers. JS

Centerforce directions say to use manufacturer's specs, but don't include them. Being the weekend and a holiday I figured no one will be at their tech line. I now others are running the dual friction. What did you guys torque yours to? Help! my time is limited this weekend! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited September 04, 2000).]

I can't find the torque specs for the pressure plate bolts in a Chiltons or the Chevy power manual. (Found the flywheel @ 60 lb/ft.) I'm using the lightweight nodular Iron flywheel and a dual fric. Centerforce clutch. Same as the SBC Thanks! JS

Call the tech line at comp cams early (from my experience, techie burn out is a problem late in the day) Have your vehicle specs ready, weight, gearing, compression, carb, intake, heads, etc. and they will give you a cam recommendation. See if it is similar to the one you installed. Also might give you advice on advancing or retarding. I could never find an off the shelf grind to fit my needs so they have custom ground my last two. Two thumbs up! JS

! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited September 02, 2000).]

Pete, many people advance their cams 4 degrees to give them more low end power. This of course is a small sacrifice from the "other end" Since long duration cams are somewhat lazy off the line the 4 degree advance helps out a little. Comp cams, by adding the 4 degrees into the grind eliminates the hassle of adding an offset bushing or using an offset key on the crank. When you install it straight up, dot to dot on the gears, it will be like advancing it 4 degrees. It sounds like you have 8 degrees in your installation. I'd try the 4 degrees first. Most applications I've run into use the straight up or 4 degrees advanced. I think the 8 degree will hurt your top end. The 327 is a top end performer. The difference in grinds here is interesting. My little ol' 262 cid has: .474/483 lift 228/232 duration @ .050, lobe seperation 114. I also had the 4 degree advance in the grind. (When I degreed it it was a little closer to 3 degrees.) I really wish I had that quick change timing cover. This allows one mor way to really tune in the engine. JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited September 01, 2000).]

Its amazing how much more initial timing a big cammed engine likes. It really wakes them up. Are either of your cams advanced, or were they installed "straight up". I know someday another V8 will be in my future, so I want to hear every detail about the rides! ...rain rain go away JS

Matt, I'm sure there are some really good books written on the subject of Holley tuning. Most of us have experimented trial and error. I had many over carbureted hot rods 'till I figured that the biggest one on the shelf didn't always make it go faster. Double pumpers will make more power due to the instant opening of the secondaries (rapid pressure drop). This allows a denser initial fuel/air charge over a vacuum secondary carb. which needs to wait for engine vacuum to open. They're great for stick cars or higher stall autos. I've always found them a bigger pain to tune, especially if you are running one too big for the engine. Some really basic rules of thumb are 1.6 cfm/hp. And the ol' formula: Engine cid X Max RPM ______________________ 3456 Either way gives you a pretty conservative carb size. Lighter cars with steep gearing and healthy engines can go bigger. You'll see everything from 600s to 850s on smallblocks. CFM wise 600 is a pretty good selection. Out of the box jetting and PVs are usually pretty close. Its your job (And half the fun) to fine tune them. I don't know much about the 305, but fuel in and out is everything. The biggest gains I've seen in hp came from head work. The first time I spent a boatload of cash on a professional porting, polishing, cc ing, the gains were nothing short of incredible. High comp, big carbs, headers, cams, etc are all limited to what flows through the heads. I'd say $$ spent on heads for a performance project is money well spent. My 2 cents. JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 30, 2000).]

Mike, please no pats unless we've solved a problem. I know too light of advance springs will cause the timing to bounce around at idle. Shooting for all of it in by 3000 is on the money. If anyone gets ahold of that carb tuning video, post the information. My tips come from 25 years of car magazines! The Holley really hasn't changed too much. I think its a great performance carburetor with the dbl. pmprs., though having more perf. potential, being much more fickle. My favorite carb. was the old Q-jets. With a few modifications they really performed well on mild street engines. Much of the fine tuning is going to be trial and error. This is a fun part of performance car ownership. I've spent lots of time on my favorite stretch of long flat blacktop trying powervalves, timing, re curving etc. Access to a wheel dyno or the 1/4 mile would do wonders. I wouldn't discount having a professional do the tuning either. With the ultra high hp some of you are running its going to be tough from the seat of the pants dyno. When I change to the smallest pulley, I know I gained a huge amount of hp. My 0-60 times were much slower due to never hooking the tires in 1st and 2nd. Fine tune the accel pump(s)/ squirters for the launch, 60 ft. then jet for max speed in the 1/4. I've heard of over 20 hp gains found in correct jetting. JS

Interesting ideas Speeder. Personally, I'm dissapointed with all the bad news with the Z's aerodynamics. I really don't want to substantially change the looks of the 240. I've decided to leave the 160+ mph ventures to people like Mike and others who have top end competition in their sights. I am seriously considering the BRE type spoilers, but not much else. An occasional highway joust with the local GTS would be fun, but I don't foresee any Silverstate races in my future. Still, A car that can negotiate the speed bumps at the mall and then go challenge 200 MPH exotics sounds pretty cool. Keep us posted. JS

Dang Myron, your engine specs are impressive! No wonder you're breaking things. I don't want to tout myself as a carb. specialist. I've read lots of articles over the years and been pretty sucessful doing rudimentary tuning on mine. I would think on a street engine I would leave the primary side powervalve in. Drag cars can get away with out PVs, when the only throttle position is wide open. Start with your vacuum reading at idle and put in a PV 2 numbers lower. The vacuum reading should be done IN GEAR for an automatic. I need to correct the way to read the #s on the PVs. Looking at the face of a PV divide the face into four quadrants with the letter in the top left. The letter is the Month code A-M with J for Sept. Directly under the letter is the Year. Across from these on the right is the pv's vacuum opening, for example 6 over a 5, meaning a 6.5 in. vacuum valve. I have 228/232 duration @ .050 on a tiny engine and manage 7 in of vacuum. I bet with a big V8 your idle vacuum is going to be higher. Start with the stock jetting. With the back plug in keep your secondary jetting about 6#s higher (some go as high as 10). Then go out and have fun with that Gtech! Quicker usually means you're going in the right direction (0-60) but for sure, a higher mph reading (1/4) is more hp. If this carb. doesn't seem to do the job, I wonder if an 850 or small Dominator is in order? Good luck. That has to be one hair raising ride when that beast is tuned. JS [ [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 27, 2000).]

Phil, You'll need to fabricate your own mounting system. Scottie GNZ will be the man with the answers for locations and potential hp on the Buick. JS

I used to mix and match with my 11.5:1 455. Toluene was avail in bulk at the local paint supply. It and Xylene need to be mixed with at least 10% or greater concentrations to have any effect. These are heavy hydrocarbons so you may need to lean out the fuel system a little. At really high concentrations problems can occur due to its low RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure). Usually a cold start issue, puddling in manifold, but better for resisting vaporlock. Lethal fumes! Lung, red cell, and brain damage! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 20, 2000).]

Only 5 hp from ricerocket stickers? I had fun blowing away a Mitsu 3000 Twin Turbo with "TURBO ENGINEERING" slapped on with 10 inch tall letters! He must have figured each letter was worth about 10 hp! (It really was a nice ride with a really cool sounding pressure relief valve) I have a really small chevy bowtie just below my rear hatch button, also found the small "supercharged" emblem off the New Buick looked pretty cool right under the 240. Neither stand out, but it's amazing how many people seen in the rear view start to point and smile. Its all in the name of vanity. Its nearly impossible to hide a V8 rumble. The 4.3's 2 1/2 to 3" exhaust note doesn't really fool anybody either. I'd say its like war paint, meant to intimidate the enemy. Go for it! JS

I was figuring on about 2800 with driver. I know mine weighs 2770 with me behind the wheel. This is also using prestage's recommendation: rearwheel is .8-.85 less than flywheel. My neighbors 377 figures in at 371 rear wheel, 463 flywheel, pulling 11.2s @ 118 @ 6000 ft. I'd say your pretty close to his. Go to www.prestage.com and plug in your #s. Its all for fun anyway. What it is, is what it is. www.gtechpro.com I think, is their address. Some love the thing and others won't give you a nickel for its data. BLKMGK, have you ever had your gtech to the strip? If so how close was it to the tracks timing? I know the trap speeds are going to read higher with the gtech. I'm still shooting for 0-60s in the 3s! Maybe with the T56. JS

Yo Frogman, Not to doubt your claims, but I think your underestimating. According to carmath on Prestage, you are closer to 377 rear wheel, or 445-470 flywheel hp! 120 mph @ 4600 ft would have a NHRA correction to sea level to 127 mph! That would figure to 525-558 hp. YEEEOOW! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 16, 2000).]

I've had my sights on a Supra running around town. 4" exhaust and sounds like a formula racer. Never seem to be in the right car! I've got a lot of respect for the imports: Toyata, Nissan, Honda, etc have all made their lasting impression on me with their durability and performance... Anyway, start with a Z. Anything that enhances performance from there is an open book. Silly me haven't read our mission statement. Usually just jump into the forums. What can I say...It says it all JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 16, 2000).] [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited August 16, 2000).]

If Mr. Clean wants to put a Supra engine in his Z, then by all means look into it. I don't think anyone here has "silly" ideas. I think there are many powerplant options some of us haven't considered. I'd rather not get into the bickering of what does and doesn't belong in a Z. Eveyone will have a unique opinion. I think many of us can give good advice for the tried and true, and obviously some will be easier and cost less than others. I you do decide on an unconventional swap, do your homework. You will probably be faced with more headaches than average. If no one ever tried something different, we wouldn't have this great site. JS