John Scott

I think 93 started the balance shaft version. up to 92 very similar to the sbc with two internal cylinders removed. Different rods is about it. jtr will place the enigne and trans forward, but no big deal if weight bias and cost is of little concern. Also make it really easy to access every nut and bolt! I can give no input of the efi, but should be no big issue. You can always run a carb, aftermarket mainfold, and aftermarket distributor if needed. Mallory unilight makes one for the V6, but V8 is cheaper with the V6 shutter. Blazer 5 speed might have really low 1st. Every other early sbc trans will bolt up. Electric fuel pumps easy to hook up. When you are ready to upgrade, a lot of sbc parts, and aftermarket bolt up. Have fun, you'll need to do some fabbing, like all, but its a great swap engine.

Just a thought, but instead of using a dyno, if possible find a sanctioned 1/4 mile track. mph is a pretty reliable figure for figuring wheel horsepower, real live moving the car number, compared to sitting on different dynos and type variences. Even with limited traction the number can be put back through the calculators and spit back a relavant number. If nothing else more proof for the claim. for a 2500(?)lb car, 231 hp = 105.79 mph. Give it a try! Nice engine bay, sweet sound!

9? !! Happy B-day Hybrid Z! Better than ever.

'72 240, 383, T56. going on 7 years and still running strong.

Dug up an old visual basic assignment where I used a 240Z (Notice how the Z is kicking the Hotrods @$$!)

I wish!! Currently n/a V8. If I had the $$ no question I'd go turbo over s/c. Procharged V6 was built in '96. Inexpensive build, 7.5 forged pistons, custom blower grind, cleaned up but restrictive stock heads. Eventually made way more boost, (18 psi) than heads/ engine could ingest, but around 14 or so power was nice and reliable on pump gas. No great power maker, but loads of fun.

The centrifugals give you a non-adjustable boost curve. Going up or down in boost requires changing pullies, and often the belt. The low end lack of boost is really a benefit on the street as you'll shred the tires as soon as it hits. Of course, a higher stall or clutch dump solves that issue. Regardless, I still think they're a great power adder, and sound nasty. I love my current set up but some days I really miss the noises and feel of my old Procharger. Sorry wasn't an L series. I still wonder about running a reverse rotation (Ford) unit with a custom bracket for the V8. The air inlet would be facing the front of the car for IC.

Sticking to the idea of budget minded fun to shoot .40 s&w.... I spent a while back shooting 14 different models, high dollar to low. For what I had in mind the Beretta 9000s was a great fit. Light weight polymer frame. There were some build issues with the safty being difficult to operate, a moot point to some with single/doubles, but this ended up driving the prices way down. I found one with no issues, easy to tell the first time you try the safety, as mine operates the safty with one thumb flick. Larger mags available. I like the 9000's thicker grip with the available extendable magazine . Its fed flawlessley for years using anything from Wal-Mart Winchester "white box" budget ammo to Cor Bon. Of course way better guns around, but for around $300 you can have new good compact .40 and save your $$ for the next F40. http://products.berettausa.com/frame_tabellaprodotti_2002.asp?sgmt=30&Model=9000S&descr=1

As always, well put Grumpy. I'm going on 8 years with the same Isky solid roller, Scat, AFR, CC steel roller rocker 383 V8. Always starts, runs on pump gas, mid 20s mpg, corners flat, stops well, and kicks butt on just about anything that is driven on the streets. Yeah, plenty of stories about "street cars" that can better me by X seconds in the 1/4, but they are NEVER seen being driven, let alone drivng to and from, 300 mile round trips to a track. Never breaks, overheats, leak down still in the 2%, revs to 7000+, reliable as the sunrise. You have $$ to throw at your car on a daily baisis, then have fun and push it tell it blows. If not, build one accordingly, but strong and sound from the bottom up and enjoy it for years to come.

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/forums/index.php this might be a place to start for wideband tuning with a carb. The most important afr to nail down is wot. With my cam, idle likes around 13.7:1, light load cruise can go way leaner than stoich. I even brought back a bit of my adjustable vacuum advance to help out here, and wide open a solid 12:5. I've changed my high and low speed bleeds, pvcrs, jetting, and ifrs. Really dialing in a carb isn't changing a jet and turning a mixture screw. If you have the patience it is amazing what can be done with a carb. Screw up and your $600+ carb can be a pile of junk, too. Read read read. Be aware, one guys settings, air bleeds, jetting, etc is going be the same on yours. Right now my 4150HP has the throttle response of FI. Never could have done this w/o a wideband. Engine bays look a bit similar...

Doc, Too bad your visit wasn't closer to race season. Would have been fun to throw in a run to Bandimere for a little 1/4 fun. Gives us heads up next time so we can stock up on your favorite brew.

http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=13fd627d2f1d4a62cb0202bb68f039f0&board=13.0 Absolutly the best info. I've read on blowthrough.

From a carby guy's view I'll chime in on the pros. Reading plugs and exhaust temps is a fine skill to have, but lets say the track conditions are changing rapidly or your dialed in setting in the dyno cell is 2000' lower than the track you're visiting today. A look at the guage will tell you right now what's up. Ditto with the high speed air bleed you just swapped in. Now how did that affect the fuel curve? Many afr guages are easy to set up with a datalogger and record the fuel curve on the run. I run only one sensor so once in a while its always good to pull ALL the plugs and confirm how things are doing, but I found it to be the best addition to my tuning tools yet. Not that I'm not willing to help out a buddy, but I'd never dream of trying to run my guage from another guys car! I'm lightyears ahead of the old make a run and pull the plugs. Hmmm was that surge from a lean or rich condition? Did you know if your carb has a flat afr or a lean or rich hook at the top end? No temp guage is going to tell you that while putting your car through its paces, but a look at the guage will confirm instantly. I installed mine (AEM) in an hour, then ran to the muffler shop to weld in the bung. The guage has allowed me to get into the airbleeds and restrictors and tune it way better than out of box. 14:1 cruise, clean idle, 12:5 at WOT. Easy mid 20s mpg, I love it!

Thanks Grumpy. Been playing with it today, a few bugs in the application, crashes frequently, still a nice tool.

Well, not daily, but regularly. We have snow around here in the winter! Just got back from a final track day. 150+ mile one way. Fun to beat the trailer queens and then drive home. A 383 solid roller carb'd 6 speed knocking down 22 mpg.. at lets just say well over 80 mph. AFR cruise readings were 14-15:1 which keep the fumes to a minimum as well. 7+ years on the V8 now, just performed a leakdown worst cylinder was 3%! Reliable? Good as your effort putting together. No techno marvel, just good parts. No other car can give you the sensation and hands on feedback of the early Z. Long live the Hybrid that gets driven!

Aftermarket T56, .62 6th gear. I agree with Dan, the 6 speed is a bit redundant, but shifting through more gears is a joy to some regardless. My 700r4 suprised me at times. I didn't always want to lose traction 1st to second wot, sometimes harsh downshifts locked the rear. I like to be in charge of when, what gear, and how fast the shift takes place regardless of throttle. Avoid the 6 cyl T5, wimpy rating and as was stated above, too low 1st. V8 Zs do not need granny gear!

Your original question was kind of vague, not referring to any specific application or model.. I'm currently knocking down high 20s with a carb'd 383, and expect it to get better as I get deeper into the tune. Sounds like the LS has a big advantage in efficiency. Obviously a high strung drag engine with 5000 stall and two speed trans will pull down lower numbers, lol, If mpgs are a priority stick with a trans that has an overdriven final gear.

I actually liked the allen heads on my Demon. Easy to keep a small allen wrench in the ash tray and access is better on the back bowls than using a screw driver. My Holley HP needs a small socket hex rather than screw slots. PITA. Maybe my Demon was a bit more broken in, but once a little was exposed past the casting I could spin them out by running my index finger across them, as fast or faster than the holley.

Superior in what way? Cold weather starting, flexibility, wot hp? Properly tuned carb can only fit a comparitively narrow range of conditions. FI adjusts. Most situations FI wins.

Chevy aftermarket with T-5 bell adapter.

I wouldn't expect it to pay for itself in gas savings, but beyond the cost it is the frustration of not knowing what's going on. Reading plugs can't tell part throttle or idle, best 1/4 mph tells jetting for wot. What about cruise or pump shot? I've found that less than 1/8th, maybe 1/16 of a turn on the mixture screw can affect the afr by .5, something not detected by ear or a vacuum guage. Dyno time is around 100/hr and doesn't really simulate running down the road, hot air under the hood, changing air flow. I wanted the Innovate, but found the AEM for $244 on ebay. Page3racing sells a lot of them. Strange seller..but unit OK. I have no datalogging like the LM-1, just the gauge, harness, O2 sensor, and bung. Can be used with hyper terminal, wiring for ems. Reads steady enough for to see what's going on w/o data log. Its really cool to see the difference an aircleaner, exhaust insert, underhood temp increase, and weather conditions make. Makes you appreciate FI, but also how complex a carb really is as well.

Buying an AEM wideband was the best $$ I've spent in a long time. Finally no more guessing if that jet change was too rich or lean, what the WOT is hitting. Was that a lean or rich surge? What I've learned: Take your rules of thumb for running a Holley and throw them in the dumpster. If you are going to live with one of these, the basic set up is usually lacking in many areas. My out of box Holley HP750 ran pig rich 12.5:1 at cruise, regardless of jetting, and had a terrible leaning out 18:1+ at part throttle tip in. Bringing on the PV it would then go to the low 12s. No wonder my eyes always burned. I ran out of time at the track and had made 4mph by going leaner, down to a 79 rear jet, but had no idea how much I should have gone. The 1 jet # / 2000' wasn't even close on my combination. Using this jetting I found I was running 11.6:1 at 2000' lower! Hmmm I remember the BSFC during break in was a low .39-.41. More effecient than I thought? Recently I found best setting to be 68/72 jetting hits a perfect 12.6:1 at wot and a decent 14:1 at cruise. Last year I was hitting low mid 20s mpgs with the 12.5:1...imagine how much better. The overly lean tip in was cured by using some tips found on Innovate's tuning forum..some really smart carb guys there. I had too much rear T-slot exposed which I closed completely, raised front float well beyond level, and reduced primary idle air bleeds by .015. The HP always worked well with the longer duration cam unlike my previous Demon. Readjusted the mixture screws in by almost 1/2 a turn and WOW. It has never responded so well and pulls harder throughout the range. I broke Holley's rules of going past 10 jets, have a wierd 4 jet spread instead of the usual 8-10, and asymetric iabs. The fact a generic carb can be put on a variety of engine configurations and run OK is pretty amazing, but my point is there is a lot you can do to improve. A wideband is the first step and learning what the bleed, emulsion holes, restrictions do would be next. Its easy to hack up a good carb and my settings might melt your new pistons.. so I'm not recommending this to just anyone. Experimenting further I've reduced the idle feed restrctions and found my cam runs very well at idle and cruise with a flat 14.6:1. and can still maintain a 12.6:1 at full throttle. I'm just learning, but with positive results. No more putting up with an unruley carb. Who'da thunk?

Clarification: FFL Federal Firearms Licence. Needed transfer. Sorry about the confusion, I didn't realize so many other FFL acronyms. Thanks anyway

Merlin Pound rescue. Abused and on the kill list for the next day. We fixed him but took 7 years. Living the good life.

Man, you are diggin' in the dust bin. 1 3/4 Rewarders are real nice, super thick flanges. I had mine sent with no collector and turnouts, I sent him the fel pro exhaust gasket # and he made sure of the rest. Cut and tacked them where I wanted and sent them back for coating. Tight to steering so I also did the u joint in my steering...this alone scares most away, but I sure have plenty of room. I run a mini starter can remove w/o dropping a header, and good access to oil filter. I'm using straight plug AFRs and changing plugs is a snap with a craftsman box end 5/8. Nice clearance for MSD 90 degree boots. For a shorty 1 3/4 what more could you want?