grumpyvette

http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/bench.htm you might want to read this carefully

IF you insist on a NEW ENGINE, you have several options IF you are not willing to settle for an available crate engine, and there are dozens of combos available,in the long run the cheapest way to build an engine is to decide EXACTLY WHAT PARTS you want and either collect and assemble them yourself or purchase them and have a TRUST WORTHY local machineshop assemble them for you. but in many cases its far cheaper to pay a little more up front and install a factory crate engine. the other popular option is to buy a complete wrecked car and swap as much of the drivetrain into your (Z) as you can,YOU DON,T need 500hp in a (Z) to have excellent performance! find a late model LS1 corvette/camaro wreck, as an example heres a complete LSI with TRANS for under $4000 http://www.gmsportssalvage.com/ http://www.gmsports.com/album.asp?cat=ENGINES%20FOR%20SALE2000%20LS1%20350 performance is mostly about the power to weight ratio a 400hp corvette at about 3400 lbs (driver included) will have similar performance to a 2900 lb (Z) with only 341hp

"Well I guess I am not gonna do the V-8 swap. A little bit too much money to do, I think. Instead I am going to build a 3.1L turbcharged engine. " TRUST ME ON THIS! YOULL HAVE SPENT FAR MORE MONEY FOR LESS RESULTS IN THE LONG RUN BUILDING A TRUELY COMPETATIVE TURBO SIX here read this, I posted on a differant sight as Ive gained more experiance, and Ive lost count years ago,of the number of engines Ive built and engine swaps Ive done over those years, it becomes more and more clear that the failure to think the process thru,CAREFULLY as to what you expect to accomplish and the results your likely to get, if you DON,T has a huge effect on the results. first keep CLEARLY IN MIND HOTRODDING is A HOBBY thats SUPPOSED to be BOTH enjoyable and NOT your MAIN FOCUS IN LIFE! YOUR CARREER AND FAMILY are FAR MORE IMPORTANT now Im sure most guys start off in this HOBBY with what they can afford in a car and slowly add performance parts to the existing car/combo/platform without much if any long term goals in mind other than " a vague, Im,making the car faster" goal. this comonly results in cars that look and/or sound good but leave alot to be desired in performance. most guys seem to use the (BAND AID APPROACH) I.E. once I install this (part, or modification) Ill see how it works and base the next mod on where I find myself at that point! or put another way, I fix the problems ONLY AFTER THEY BECOME ANNOYING ENOUGHT. THIS approch wastes a HUGE amount of resources and time and MONEY EXAMPLE no thought is ever given to a larger radiator untill the car overheats NOR is a or stronger trans, higher stall converter, and higher rear gear ratio, ever purchased untill the car runs like #$%$%^ without it, once the engine mods are made! yeah, we ALMOST all started that way!! and in part its because most of us, have thin wallets and have only our transportation car to work with. BUT there are other options, and while it takes disipline and planing it can be done and can result in less total money spent and a better combo! and a far more impressive car once your done! TAKE YOUR TIME!,SET YOUR GOAL!, and DRIVE SOMETHING that MAKES YOUR FRIENDS GREEN WITH ENVY ONCE you GET IT BUILT! and yeah it HELPS to have a GARAGE,TOOLS,ETC. but IVE seen some VERY surprizing results from cars built mostly under tarps in back yards on VERY LIMITED BUDGETS over several YEARS. Ive got several friends that take GREAT PRIDE in buying parts cheaply at swap meets, and/or working small jobs to finance thier cars first you need to seriously think about what you want as an END PRODUCT putting a couple hundred dollars a month into building a rusted out chevelle/camaro/nova,ETC. simply because thats what you currently own, if you would really rather own a CORVETTE,CUDA,COBRA,ETC. or building a V6,307,350, sbc if you want a 427,426,572,big block or turbo 377 sbc is wasted EFFORT, WHY POUR MONEY AND TIME TO BUILD TOWARD AN END RESULT YOU WON,T BE HAPPY WITH?? your first goal needs to be deciding on what you really want and the engine/trans combo it should have, and thats VERY DIFFICULT, because MOST of us set the goal higher than we can afford, or settle for far less car than we really want! don,t settle! but be very realistic as to your goals,and take into account the tools, skills,and work area yoou AND YOUR friends are likely to have access too. and DON,T RUSH the process, if you have a limited BUDGET, THATS FINE (most of US DO!) that just means its likely to take longer! and DON,T forget you can usually swap the skills you aquire in this hobby and some spare time you have for parts and money along the way! EXAMPLE lets assume your hearts desire is a 1969 camaro with a 572 bbc crate engine, and a manual trans the ENGINE alone costs about $15,000, the car could be had for about another $5000,-$20,000 depending on condition,and it would be REASONABLE to expect another $4000,to $8000 in misc cost to get that dream car on the road so lets say $40,000,..........thats alot of money!!! yet its not that expensive compared to a new Z06 corvette,and if you spread the expence out over YEARS VS months most guys can/could EVENTUALLY BUILD THAT DREAM CAR! especially if they set THAT AS THIER GOAL, and stick to it VS wasting money on several other projects over the next few years! another OPTION,(not a SMART ONE IN MOST CASES)is to finance the car now and make payments for years,sure you get instant satisfaction, but your also likey to have times when making those payments is a P.I.T.A. THINK IT THRU, HAVE FUN! set your goal carefully, and work to complete THAT GOAL, so you ACHEIVE SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF, NOT, SOMETHING YOU GOT CHEAPLY ,THAT NOT WORTH OWNING. but DON,T FORGET this is NOT THE ONLY ASPECT TO YOUR LIFE!

sorry about the multi post! the computer flipped out

IVE been useing and am currently still useing gear cam drives in most of the engines I build, they ARE more consistant and DO NOT tend to develope SLACK like most chain cam drives, do over time! get the QUIET VS the noisy cam drive! (trust me here! the QUIET drive still has a noticable WHINE when the engines running , the NOISY drives WILL!! make both YOU and EFI INJECTION KNOCK SENSORS CRAZY after awhile! they (GEAR cam DRIVES) are NOT fool proof, YOU NEED to install them CORRECTLY!!! THEY are ALMOST TROUBLE FREE AND NEARLY INDESTRUCTABLE IF INSTALLED CORRECTLY

wheelman thanks YEAH I WROTE IT WRONG! blueovalz your correct that the rod length effects the accelleration , but its just a well tested formula to keep the inertial loads within reasonable limits, its NOT meant to be exact, its meant to keep you from launching parts valve train failures and rod bolts would tend to be the reason for engines failing before cranks and pistons if you stay under that limit! and the limit is there to keep from over stressing the rod bolts. if your not having a lube failure its almost always valve train clearance or valve float that caused engine failures below that limit once a piston contacts a valve for any reason its pretty comon for things to compound and get nasty real fast because pistons can,t compress bent valves without rods breaking or heads cracking ETC.

its NOT the rpms exactly its the STRESS LEVELS you need to look out for and that relates more to the feet per minute (fpm) in piston speed than just the RPMS youll generally want to stay UNDER 4000 fpm MAXIMUM if you want the engine to live a long time and I would seriously consider forged parts if NITROUS, is used or youll be looking to exceed 4000fpm in piston speed even ocassionally BTW 48000/(stroke X 2) = piston speed so a 327 with its 3.25" stroke reaches that at 7400rpm but a 383 with its 3.75" stroke reaches that at 6400rpm thats the PEAK LIMIT NOT THE OPERATING SPEED,or put another way, if you exceed that speed even on shifts,you WILL eventually hurt the engine DRASTICALLY... and in most cases its the valve train that causes you problems before the lower assembly, enter valve float rpm levels even for a second,have the valve train geometry slightly out, use hydrolic lifters over 6000rpm or not have the clearances correct and your engines eventually going to be expensive history(expensive junk!) (here other usefull calc.) http://users.erols.com/srweiss/index.html#jcalc

if your thinking oil evaporates and rust might be a problem your correct! OIL and wd 40 run off or evaporate over long periods http://www.skymartsales.com/lpslabs/ci.asp?OVRAW=lps%20%233&OVKEY=lps%203&OVMTC=standard http://www.lpslabs.com/Products/CorrosionInh/Lps3.asp the PRODUCT designed for that application is LPS #3 your local MARINE SUPPLY (BOATS) will more than likely have a good supply, its a spray on waxy, oil film, grease , that stays in place spray it on ALL unpainted surface metal then place the block or crank in several individually sealed plastic trash bags with(duct tape) if the oil pan is in place I would fill the engine over the crank with oil and place it on an engine stand or off the floor on a pallet or shelf before coating and sealing the engine in the plastic trash bags BTW it says it stops rust for two years.... thats exposed to air!!! in the trash bags I know from experiances its good for over 10 years

OK you just bought a 383 VETTE ENGINE..OR DID YOU???? HOW do you know its NOT a 307, or a 350 the guy sold you? sure it runs ok... but is it really a 383???? since a SBC 383 engine is BUILT FROM almost any 4" bore block by installing a 3.75" stroke crank and matching pistons and rods, the casting numbers will provide very little if any useful info! and you CAN,T depend on whether its internally or EXTERNALLY BALLANCED because BOTH type cranks,ballancers and flywheels could have been used in assembling a sbc 383) youll need to measure the bore and stroke, or at least the voluum of a cylinder to get the displacement, of the engine, now the correct way would be to disassemble the engine, but you can get a very good idea as to the displacement with a simple test. remove the rockers from cylinder #1 and disconnect the battery[/color] pull the #1 spark plug and put the timing mark at TDC, using a 5/8 socket and breaker bar on the crank nut, use a screw in air hose adapter to replace the spark plug from your compression tester(dont attache the gauge) just the hose and adapter(*YOU MUST USE THE TYPE THAT HAS NO VALVE OR OBSTRUCTION TO AIR OR OIL FLOW IN EITHER DIRECTION WHEN THE GAUGE IS NOT ATTACHED) have your buddy help by placing the hose in a quart of oil and turn the engine to BDC , letting it suck oil into the cylinder thru the hose, now slowly turn it untill your back at TDC,letting it blow air and oil back out, at this point the cylinders combustion chamber voluum and the hose are full of oil, NOW do it a second time, this will fill the cylinder WITHOUT AIR,but this time as the piston starts to compress the oil out of the cylinder,as you move from BDC to TDC let it squirt into a clean and empty container untill you reach TDC, a 350 will squirt out approximately 717 cc of oil, a 383 will squirt out approximately 784 cc of oil your local grocery store will have measuring cups/bowls marked in BOTH liters and ounces, the 100ML, 200ml ECT are REALLY CCs (look to pay well under $10) so your looking for about 784ML or 7 3/4 of the way to 800 ml on the measuring bowl for a 383 but a 350 will just push a bit over 715 ml of oil after finding the voluum, remove the adapter and leave the plug out, turn the engine over several times, to force the oil out BEFORE replacing the rockers, then replace the rockers and with the plug STILL OUT spin the engine on the starter several times to blow excess oil from the cylinder, only then can you replace the plug, and yeah, its measy and loud, and the cylinder will smoke for a minute untill the plug cleans itself! but its way less work than tearing the engine down to check!!

heres an old post that covers most of that info if you read the LINKS!!!! "Is it as simple as draining the oil, dropping the pan, unbolting the old pump and bolting in the new and putting the pan back on?" YES AND NO! MOSTLY NO! yes you drop the pan and install a new pump, but you MUST BRAZE the pickup to the pump AFTER first making sure the pump pickup is correctly possitioned to sit 1/2" MAX to 3/8" min from the oil pan floor , or you have a good chance of it coming loose eventually due to vibration,and you must remove the spring from the oil bye-pass circuit in the pump and replace it after the pump cools, you should make pre-priming the pump much easier by putting some moly grease on the gears before re-assembling the pump. adding a BRACE between the pump body and the pick up is a smart move also. fill the new oil filter with oil and the pan to the correct level and THEN turn the engine over with the starter without the coil connected untill the gauge reads pressure before starting the engine. its a good time to use a one piece synthetic oil pan gasket and replace the bolts with studs also. keep in mind a oil pump is only PART of the oil system and getting the oil back to the pan quickly is a good idea, so a windage screen, and a HIGH voluum BAFFLED oil pan is a great idea you might want to add at that time instead of just replacing the stock pan which is FAR from ideal for high rpm performance use!! the oil pump pick-up on a SB chevy pump is usually a friction fit tube inserted into the pump body with an interfearance fit, it has a tendency to work lose over time if its not brazed (welded) to the pump in HIGH performance applications with their higher than normal vibration levels and stress loads but before you braze it you must possition the pick-up so its 1/2" from the oil pan floor with the pump and pan installed, this is easily measured by placing modeling CLAY under the pick-up and installing the pan with just the 4 corner bolts to test clearance issues this is required because the tube can be rotated so that the clearace variers a great deal, if the pickup is closer than about 3/8" it can restrict oil flow, more than about 1/2" clearance and in some extreme cases with low voluum oil pans and it sucks air, if the oil levels low so you need it correctly installed once you get the pick up installed with 1/2" clearance to the pain floor get it BRAZED in that location to the pump body things you might want to read http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=276 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=312 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=423 http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/oil_filter_study/ DON,T BE SCARED OFF ON REPLACING THE OIL PUMP JOB!! ITS a project ANYONE with minimal skills and a few tools can do if you take your time! it makes for a great first engine project you can get a local machine shop to braze the pick-up to the pump REALLY cheaply (under $10 or less in most cases) just use some model clay to determine the correct location/clearance in the pan http://www.melling.com/highvol.html I would strongly advise useing FOUR QUALITY JACK STANDS on a LEVEL conctrete surface thou!! I think youll find these very handy if you work on cars and don,t have a lift BTW the 12 ton stands are PREFERED as they have a MUCH WIDER BASE and EXTRA STRENGTH,(if IM GOING UNDER A CAR I DON,T WANT TO BENCH PRESS THE DAMN THING TO GET OUT FROM UNDER IT) how much is you LIFE WORTH,BUY THE ! THE 12 ton RATED STANDS they are MUCH MUCH safer than the 3-6 ton stands IF ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE FAR HARDER TO TIP OVER IF SOMEONE ROCKS THE CAR! and they DON,T need to be extended to give room under the corvette! in fact they are the perfect height at the first notch when you place them on the frame at the 4 corners of the frame your NOT looking for the LIFT RATING NEARLY as much as the WIDE BASE, and STABILITY plus the extra safety just thier base to height ratio gives 2 Piece Set These super heavy duty jack stands will hold most cars and trucks safely over 2 feet off the ground. Perfect for repair work or storage. Height: 19-1/2'' to 30-1/8'' Base: 12'' x 12-1/2'' Weight: 68 lbs. THIS ABOVE IS RIGHT OFF THE HF WEB SITE http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=34924 second, thing is IVE used a set of four very similar 12 ton jack stands from NORTHERN TOOL for years, with no problems what so ever http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/sto...19&categoryId=0 Torin Pair of 12–Ton Jack Stands 2 heavy–duty steel jack stands at one low price! Double locking pawl and tooth design for extra protection. Minimum height is 18 1/8in. Maximum height is 28in. In Stock Ship Wt. 63.0 lbs Item# 144872 Discount Price... $64.99 Sale Price... $54.99 110% Guaranteed Lowest Price! youll be getting them at a significant discount if they price match, which they should

the first thought that comes to mind is that, if your NOT running a HIGH COMPRESSION ENGINE COMBO, WITH an MSD multi spark ignition with a QUALITY MATCHING AFTERMARKET HIGH OUTPUT COIL that really puts out a good spark or some other similar system your NOT likely to gain much... simply because the stock ignitions DON,T put out enought energy to make much differance (ESPECIALLY OVER 5000rpm) where cutting back the plug tip tends to help the flame propogation at the higher rpms, your unlikely to see much gain at low rpms or low cylinder pressures where the cylinders are easyier to light off, remember the idea here is to expose the max amount of electric arc to the cylinders fuel air mix by unshrouding the arc, at low rpms and cylinder pressures thats not likely to make much of a differance look at it this way at 1500 rpm youll have aproximately .08 seconds between the plugs fireing, but at 6500rpm your down to about .018 or well under 20% of the time in seconds per strike and thats for a whole revolution, if you concider that the cylinder must ignite correctly in about 2-5 degrees of that 360 degrees youll soon see how important a good hot electric flame at the plug becomes, and the rediculusly short time available for it to ignite the mix in the cylinder or put another way, if your not putting out a whole lot of voltage and amps at the correct time the small advantage gained by cutting back the eletrode is wasted effort because you won,t effectively light the charge anyway as to indexing the plugs, Ive always tried to put the electrode on the plug facing up to gain max piston to valve clearance (the plugs in the picture are facing down) many of the things you can do have little effect by themselfs but the total cumulative effect of all the minor mods adds up,making the differance of the few hundredths or tenths of a second you need to win a race!

http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/sparkplugs.html the plugs are normally done (the electrodes cut back)with a dremel tool cutting disk

as in most things there are compromizes made the plenum size, generally youll want the plenum size to be in the 40%-60% of engine displacement range on a V8, and the runner length and cross setional area have a great deal to do with the effective rpm range of the engine,BUT other factors like the CAM TIMING,EXHAUST SCAVAGING, exhaust sytem length and back pressure ,engines dynamic cpr, ETC. effect the results http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/runnertorquecalc.html http://www.bgsoflex.com/intakeln.html

it varies SLIGHTLY between differant years but measured from the block rails its about 8.8" tall in the front and about 9.2" at the rear near the distributor

the main fact SOME of you ignore is why we HAVE the second amendment it the first place! the plain FACT is that the founding fathers KNEW from experiance that the only thing that keeps the government from taking away all your rights over time by constantly rewording and slicing away your freedoms , and TAXING and LEDGISLATING away those RIGHTS bit by bit, is that at some point the general population will rise up and demand justice! WITHOUT THE ABILITY to FIGHT the STATE, (ARMS IN THE HANDS OF THE GENERAL POPULATION )the population is just a bunch of surfs/slaves to the will of the government THE second ammendment has NOTHING to do with hunting!! its got everything to do with the populations ability to resist with FORCE if necessary an OPPRESSIVE GOVERNMENT that gets out of control of the people its DESIGNED to serve ASSAULT WEAPONS are THE TYPE of WEAPON that should be the MOST PROTECTED ARMS. IF YOU DOUBT THAT STATEMENT?? READ WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS SAID! The Federalist Papers: In Modern Language and Indexed Edited by: Mary E. Webster Origins and Development of the Second Amendment Edited by: David E. Young http://www1.law.ucla.edu/~volokh/2amteach/sources.htm#TOC11 How did the 2nd amendment come to be? When the U.S. Constitution was written, there was much debate over whether or not to include a specific bill of rights. Many people at the time believed that if the government made a list of protected rights, then all rights that were not on the list would be trampled. Others felt that it was necessary to include specific freedoms to keep them from being taken away by an overactive federal government. Still others felt that we needed to trust our government to lead us, and not shackle them with things they could and could not do. Originally, the Constitution was approved without a Bill of Rights, then sent to the states for ratification. Many of the states, however, did not approve of a Constitution that did not guarantee the protection of certain rights and freedoms. So, in the process of ratification, many of the states voted for the constitution while specifically listing rights they felt should be included by amendment. Among these rights were freedom of religion, speech, and the right to keep and bear arms. James Madison was largely in charge of drafting the original Bill of Rights. He looked over a very large list of proposed amendments which had been recommended by various states, then he narrowed them down. He submitted them to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, where they passed ten of them, and those ten became known as the Bill of Rights. This story is well told in Stephen P. Halbrooks book "That Every Man Be Armed." According to the writings cited in "That Every Man Be Armed." "Mr. Madison has introduced long-expected amendments…It contains a bill of rights…the right of the people to bear arms." -Trench Coxe (p. 76). 3. What was the intent of the Second Amendment? The intent of these amendments was to protect individuals from government powers. They were meant as a guarantee to the individual state governments as well as the American citizens that the Federal government would not try to take away the freedoms which many of them had so recently fought for. Senator William Grayson wrote to Patrick Henry; "Last Monday, a string of amendments were presented to the lower House; these altogether respected personal liberty…" (p. 76). "To preserve Liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." (Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, and member of the first Continental Congress, which passed the Bill of Rights) 4. Who should have the "right to keep and bear arms." We believe that the Second Amendment right to self-protection and defense of liberty should be granted to all those eligible including everyone of legal age, and those who are not violent criminals.

Ive been contacting all the local guys that have GARAGES similar to what I want built, one factor seems to keep poping up! those guys that contracted the whole job out payed a whole lot more than the guys that pulled thier own permits and sub contracted each stage of the project and schedualed thier own inspections. I know that CONTRACTORS need to make a living too, and I dont have a problem with them making 15%-25% on the project that will cost $50,000 -PLUS but I priced materials and have researched labor rates and it seems they all want to make 100% profit on the job,I.E. if the parts and labor will cost $40,000 they want $80,000 for the complete garage , is this normal or am I just running into the wrong contractors????

Ive built well over a dozen custom sheet metal intakes and IF you understand the relationship between the runner length and cross sectional area , and the plenum volume necessary you can build a good working intake designed to operate in a specific rpm range and on a specific displacement at a specfic RPM range that will work significantly better than most commercial intakes ON YOUR PARTICULAR COMBO but youll need access to a TIG welder and PLENTY OF SPARE time It could easily take a full week to do the job correctly (build one) for just one intake (engine combo AFTER you do all the MATH)

Id like to point out something before you you get to involved in installing a chevy 12 bolt rear assembly the chevy 12 bolt rear while stronger than many other choices is not the best choice in many cases, the FORD 9" is far easier to work on and set up gears in, and the DANA 60 is while heavy almost indestructable once correctly set up with performance components, BOTH are stronger and BOTH have a BETTER axle retention system I destroyed 3 PRO BUILT 12 bolt chevy solid rears in my race cars before I smarted up and swapped to a PRO built DANA 60, after that I had no more failures, now ILL grant you the car had in excess of 700 hp 700 ft lbs of tq and weighed about 3100 lbs but I would NEVER again run a chevy 12 bolt rear

LIKE Tim240z said it COULD be something minor! its best to take the time and find out.......look at this as a learning experiance besides youll probably get out cheaper fixing the problem than starting over with a new short block

labrat , I wish you were MUCH closer, Id just say pull it in and well have a look at that engine! IF your sure its not the gauge, and thats the correct oil pressure readings,the SMART move would be to pull the engine and check ALL the bearings and clearances,yeah a high volume oil pump will tend to boost the pressure reading on the gauge at idle but it WON,T fix your problem, YOU need to find out WHATS causeing the low pressure readings, PRESURE is the result of the volume the oil pump flows and the BEARING CLEARANCES resistance to that flow, if your clearances alow little resistance SOMETHINGS WRONG and needs to be fixed BEFORE major parts failure occures! and with that oil pressure its SURE to happen soon if you don,t fix the problem! HERES some posts that might help (yes you need to look at the sub links too!) http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=276 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=423 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=417 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=403 http://kustomauto.2.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=312

LT4 Corvette Hyd. Roller "Hot Cam" p/n 24502586 279 dur .525" 287dur .525" http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3000/cmspec.html

25534431 Vortec Bow-Tie Large Port Cylinder Head, Complete GM Performance Parts' latest and most powerful iron cylinder head with "Large Port" for Street or Racing. This Vortec design Special Performance cast iron cylinder head features revised intake and exhaust ports and includes 2.00" hollow stem intake valve P/N 12555331 and 1.55" sodium filled exhaust valves P/N 12551313. The deck surface is .450" with 65 cc combustion chambers, 206 cc intake and 77 cc exhaust ports. All Vortec intake ports are taller and narrower than early model Chevrolet heads. The valve cover mounting holes are for both early model flange and late model center. This head also includes intake manifold mounting holes for both early model 6 bolt main and late model 4 bolt Vortec design. The head has screw in rocker studs P/N 12552126, large valve spring pocket machining, and will accept up to .530" lift camshafts without modifications. Heads are identified with the Bow-Tie logo on the exterior of the head below exhaust flange and Vortec logo on top of intake port area. They also feature GM logo cast into bottom of intake ports. Includes valve spring P/N 12551483, valve seal P/N 10212810, and spring cap P/N 10212808. Technical Note: You must use a raised runner design intake mainifold P/N 10051103 (6 bolt mounting), or Vortec design 12366573, 12496820, 12496821, 12496822, and 12499371 (4 bolt mounting) with this head. You can use production Vortec intake gaskets P/N 12529094 (torque spec. 11 ft-lb/ 15Nm) for mounting Vortec design heads or use P/N 12497760 (torque spec. 30 ft-lb) with conventional material when using on early model raised runner or Vortec design intake manifolds, this gasket has both 6 bolt and 4 bolt Vortec attaching holes. Head casting P/N 25534371C.

I ask questions about that dynasty welder on another site and got an EMAIL, suggesting this http://www.welding-direct.com/tig252helsys.html ESAB® Tigmaster™ 352 Heliarc® System, Ready to Weld Package w/ water cooled torch combo Ive asked for advice on purchasing a TIG welder, Im most likely to get a MILLER due to all the possitive comments, but I got an EMAIL suggesting this (above) today, and was wondering about the company,parts availability,equip quality,service, ETC. what can you tell me??

"do you really need to be able to weld outside the shop? " no but its NICE to have the OPTION "I would be inclined to get the one with the Kohler engine - parts seem to be easier to find" THANKS THATS GOOD TO KNOW "Here's an article: " http://www.millerwelds.com/education/tech_articles/articles11.php THANKS, IM JUST WANTING TO GET AS MUCH INFO AS I CAN BEFORE SPENDING ALMOST $5000 by the time I get all the parts PLUS accessories

http://www.welschs.com/trialblazer301g.html the local MILLER dealer seems to be making me a good deal on a TRAILBLAZER 301 TIG similar to the one above plus the necessary extra optional accesories) ready to weld,combo, with a water cool torch, hand control,radiator plus ARG/gas/tank does this combo seem to be a good tool for a hotrod shop? (aluminum TIG use,up to about 3/8" rarely,3/16 to 1/4" mostly , thinner and chrome moly roll cages, ETC.) I like the idea of the generator and portability on a trailer, any bad points? PRICE is not the issue, will this equipment do the job correctly?