grumpyvette

congrats, BTW youll make all the contacts you need if you look around carefully to build your own car to far nicer standards that you ever could before getting that job!

ok first most fuel air gauges come with an oxygen sensor and detailed instructions on where and how to weld a bung into the header collectors next, learning top accurately read sparkplugs and use of a infrared heat gun, and detailed knowledge of how your carb works will go a long way toward tuning a car correctly http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1820&p=4706&hilit=edelbrock#p4706 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=773 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=634

if you care so much about what other people think about silly un-important stuff like that, your never going to be happy or get everything YOU want in life, IF you want to sit on a bunch of wood balls forming a mat under your butt....well its no ones business but yours, and if any buddy comments negatively...tell them what I would......"HEY here,s $2 ....why not go buy yourself a LIFE!.....because you obviously don,t have one!"

OK first thing the current crank WON,T bolt into the 400 block with its larger main bearing diam. WITHOUT bearing spacers or custom thicker bearings yes with those it could be done. you'll also need to drill the steam holes in the heads to match the 400 block and buy new pistons and re balance the assembly, and Im not sure if your particular rotating assembly is a one or two piece rear seal version but the 400 surely is the older 2 piece, now since your only looking for 400 hp that's a great deal of expense you could avoid I can easily give you a parts combo to get you to 400 hp with the 383 if you will tell me about your current drive train, compression ratio, and all components Id let you know what needs to be changed

in an ideal world youll want to keep the oil temps below 240f NOW 250f IS NOT LIKELY TO CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS SINCE YOUR PRESUMABLY CHANGING YOUR OIL AND OIL FILTERS FAIRLY FREQUENTLY, but the lubrication properties of the oil and shear strength tend to degrade above 240f faster than below that level, IF it was my car Id swap to a LARGER oil cooler WITH AN INTEGRAL ELECTRIC FAN http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRM-12318/?image=large I use this one now ON my corvette it was the auto transmission that needed to the cooler more than the engine because I installed a 10 qt custom built oil pan and it had a factory oil cooler but once I mounted that trans cooler where the spare tires normally mounted(there was no room up front) I found BOTH the engine oil and engine coolant temps also dropped a few degrees, because the transmission was not adding a heat load to the engine coolant keep in mind oil needs to exceed 215f to burn of moisture that forms acids that are bad for the bearings, Ive always tried to keep the oil in the sump in that 215F-240F range, a large capacity baffled oil pan and a decent oil cooler can do that, but youll need the electric fan if you can,t locate the cooler in direct air flow http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=296&p=361#p361

drop back to basics, don,t assume you did anything correctly until you verify, its been done correctly. first remove plug #1 and your valve covers and the distributor cap stick a large ratchet/socket on the crank bolt and stick your thumb over the #1 plug hole rotate the engine until you feel compression building the rotor on the distributor should be approaching the #1 plug, now watch the timing tab and damper mark, it should line up at the TDC (TOP DEAD CENTER) marks , if its lined up with #6 and you get no compression on the #1 cylinder when the TDC lines up the engine needs another rotation,if you get compression on the #1 cylinder when the TDC lines up with rotor pointing at #6 the distributor 180 out) and the distributor needs to be pulled rotated 180 and re installed. now verify you have 4-5 psi of fuel pressure, verify youve got more than 12 volts at the battery, and your getting spark at the plugs once the distributor cap and wires are installed, verify the firing order , use a timing light,and once it starts back off each rocker nut at idle until the rocker clicks than tighten slowly just to the point it stops clicking and then add 1/4 turn of preload. verify the carb float levels are correct, and the throttle blades open fully,verify theres spark at all the plugs and verify the firing orders correct, and NO YOU CAN,T ASSUME ITS CORRECT UNTIL YOU VERIFY EACH STEP this linked info should help http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=609&p=810#p810

get the tank/gauges theres really no contest in weld quality between MIG and flux core

I always head to local salvage yards looking for the trucks , impallas and camaros etc for brackets, since this is presumably a performance build Id strongly suggest no less than two 3/8" ID lines,be used and a decent return line style fuel pressure regulator with a manual pump is fine http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=211&p=247#p247

please post a link to the exact cam your using, but with only 9.5:1 cpr, a 600cfm carb and 882 heads your almost certainly in the edelbrock dual plane air gap range and Id doubt the 1" carb spacer to increase plenum volume, will help unless its the 4 hole design

congrats! on the good deals

"I repaired floor pans in my 240 with my friends cheap welder, and it was a real pain in the ass. I thought I had no welding skills, turns out it was just a really crappy welder." thats a very VERY common experience with the cheaper migs

youll be MUCH happier in the long run with a 220volt 180 amp mig from LINCOLN,MILLER,HOBART or HTP LIKE THESE yes IM well aware they cost a good deal more! they are WORTH A GREAT DEAL MORE! and don,t forget the shield gas and gauges, MIG welding REQUIRES those, and its usually SUPERIOR and cleaner than FLUX CORE WELDING http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/migvsfluxcored.asp http://www.htpweld.com/products/mig_welders/mig_160.html http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_180_autoset/ http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=K2473-1 http://www.brwelder.com/indextemplate.cfm?file=shop/detail.cfm&ID=1022&SubCategory=10

drain the differential, refill it with the correct lube and carefully inspect it for leaks especially at the axle bearings and pinion areas, if the differentials run that hot its probably already damaged, try the new lube but ID start looking for a rebuild kit or new salvage yard rear differential

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34924 at some point its just not all that much cheaper to build things that are lower quality, those stands are fine! Ive had six of the 12 ton jack stands in near constant use for MANY YEARS, trust me! I agree that much of what HF sells is crap, those stands are an exception, go look at them! they are stable, massive and decent designed stands, and yes it helps to have two floor jacks because at the low , first notch setting they are still fairly high from the floor, giving you plenty of access under a corvette or (Z) http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26

most guys use the front intake coolant passage mount location or an adapter and use one of the threaded holes in the cylinder heads, theres not going to be a huge difference in any case

step one, take a deep breath, do some serious research before doing anything else, this will get you started http://www.amazon.com/Turbo-Real-World-High-Performance-Turbocharger-S/dp/1932494294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248655632&sr=1-1 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=636&p=850#p850 http://www.joby.se/corvette/mods/2005-10-16_turbo/ http://www.joby.se/corvette/mods/2008-01_turbo/ http://www.montygwilliams.com/ http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=1256 http://airflowresearch.com/articles/article021/A21-P1.htm http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=1215

It sounds like you've re-used defective lifters from what your saying, all lifter bores ooze some oil, thats what keeps the lifter bores lubed, but the lifters are only supposed to flow oil up the push rods if the rockers compressing the valve springs, now that assumes you have the correct clearances, if your using 1.6:1 ratio rockers on the stock heads without elongating the slots and the push rods bind slightly the seals broken between the push rods, rockers and lifters and they leak, if you used Pontiac lifters the oil feed band is in the wrong location, they fit, have the same bore and length, and look very similar, if you adjusted the lifters to tight they won,t work correctly. I don,t know the oil viscosity but if its 60 psi at idle your viscosity is too thick for the clearances or your using a high volume oil pump with a defective bye-pass circuit http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=126 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=196

Ive always wondered how guys keep a shop looking like that if they have a constant line of personal projects, friends, cars, several engine build ups and neighbors cars being repaired in the shop, I feel good if I sweep the shop out a couple times ,daily and wash the floor occasionally, and use high pressure air jet to dust off the hard to reach areas a couple times a week, only thing I can assume is your a better mechanic, or youve got a clean up crew,or your either a dedicated neat-nick or theres not a constant stream of projects with zero down time

if your just getting started equiping your garage,start with the basics,obviously youll need hand tools, but get a decent air compressor http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100083906&N=10000003+10002016 and a few air ratchets, http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100210348 get a die grinder http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=99698 light http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200309803_200309803 cut off tool http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=65065 get a decent welder http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_180_autoset/ and get a lift or http://kwiklift.com/Options.htm jack stands http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34924 floor jack' http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200345429_200345429 get a basic drill press http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100037270 a press http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200326415_200326415 youll be amazed at what you can do with basic tools

http://www.powdercoater.com/home.html

http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm http://brassmein.com/articles/weldingrods.htm http://www.cpwr.com/hazpdfs/kfwelding.pdf http://www.safety-council.org/info/OSH/welding.htm http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1669 well worth reading thru, yes you'll need to actually read thru the info!, but failing to do so could KILL YOU, so take the effort

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201018/My-cars-jet--Or-turn-garage-door-work-art.html?ITO=1490 I LOVE THIS ONE trespassers welcome hes expensive to feed I think it fits my shop fronting on a large pond in Florida rather well!

don,t leave a NOS bottle exposed for easy view from the outside of the car, get a cheap nylon gym bag and carefully adapt it to cover the nos bottle it both lower the chance some cop will give you a speeding ticket if your pulled over and lowers the chance the car will get broken into

logic NO!, but the skill and effort used, the tools they have access too,used to produce the car are amazing

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=21116 look thru all 19 or so pages of this