grumpyvette

just one suggestion... get the better springs and clearances machined on those vortec heads to take advantage of their potential hp or buy heads that already can handle the increased lift and durration youll need to make good power If your not able to do the head work yourself, a good machine shop can add the correct springs and do the machine work to allow a .550 lift on those heads for about $250 or less (sometimes much less) so don,t let that kill your project!! a good roller cam ,intake, gaskets and carb will cost at least $750-$1000 total so your looking at adding 15%->25% or less to the total cost to do the job correctly. your only other reasonable choice is buy the intake and carb but get 1.6 ratio rockers added to give the stock cam slightly more flow and add headers to help the effective flow range rpm.

Grumpy, Does the rod ratio effect piston speed? or does it only effect piston dwell time at tdc and bdc? Curtis theres two ways to look at that question,first look here, 5.70" Verses 6.00" Rod Length Comparison Chart http://www.iskycams.com/techtips.html#2005 as you can see the aceleration away from tdc with the longer rod is slower (longer dwell time as you said) but if a engine is spinning 5000rpm with either rod length the piston still needs to cover the entire stroke length in a set time frame 1/5000th of a minute or 166.66 times a second so the longer rod puts less stress on the piston,a better rod ratio, less ring drag and skirt to bore friction due to that better rod angle but the piston still covers the same total distance in the same amount of time and unless you match your cam timeing to take advantage of that longer or shorter rod ratio theres little power benefit to be gained other than some friction and engine stress benefits that the longer rod provides and because the piston pin location must be higher and the piston skirts tend to be shouter with the longer rod the pistons tend to be lighter. now if you read what ISKI says you will think theres not much advantage but hes tying on purpose to not match the correct parts and cam timeing to PROVE HIS point that without properly matched parts there really not enough differance to worry about.

here this may help http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/editorial/article.jsp?id=49798&%20viewtype=text and no the 200r4 will be slightly weaker than the 700r4 simply because some of the major parts are smaller. and theres plenty of tranny shops that will tell you they can build a 700r4 to handle 600ft lbs of torque or a 200r4 to handle 500 ft lbs of torque (but ask them for how many full power 1/4 mile passes they guarantee in writeing and watch them squirm around the answer!)and after you smoke the tranny with just a 450 ft lb engine see how many will stand behind their work and rebuild it for free! best advise is get a huge tranny cooler and everything guaranteed in writeing!! AND CHECK THE FINE PRINT FOR "IF YOU RACED IT ITS NOT COVERED EXCLUSIONS" ANYPLACE THAT TELLS YOU THEY CAN BUILD YOU A HEAVY DUTY RACING TRANSMISSIOM BUT WON,T GUARANTEE THEIR WORK FOR A YEAR IS (B.S.ING) YOU OUT OF YOUR MONEY.

the 200r4 is a good choice also but theres not quite as much high performance parts available for it.

guys the reason they say that is if you don,t use a rod vise when removeing the rod bolts and you just used a hammer and drift punch to back the bolt out of the rod its extremely common for the rod to be stressed/slightly bent durring the bolt removal process. now if you only removed one bolt from the rod while its still on the crankshaft you have a slightly better chance of not damageing the rod while your backing the bolt out because the crank journal tends to absorb some of the stress as you tap/beat it out of the rod. you can AVOID ALL THIS BY USEING 7/16"CAP SCREW RODS or useing a rod vise.BUT WHAT EVER YOU DO DON,T DO WHAT I SAW ONE GUY DOING.....heating the rods with a torch and then putting the shank of the rod bolt on dry ice so it just pops out of the rod as that DESTROYS THE BOLTS HEAT TREATMENT/WEAKENS THE BOLTS BIG TIME!!!

look here http://www.marchperf.com/contents.html#Brackets

if its within my data base, just ask and thou shall receive! http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/700R4p1.html

denny411 is correct here.... seeing your rods, crankshaft and partial oil pan in the rear view mirror thru a cloud of oil smoke at 160 mph is a fine indicator that your over the RED LINE!!!

Shock96 those canfield heads are only $800 bare or $1150 ready to run, look here, http://www.canfieldheads.com/sbc_2600.html TFS-30400003 Chevrolet: 327-350-400, 64cc, 1.46 in. diameter dual valve springs, 23 degree cylinder heads ... $1,045.00 (the heads with the better springs) and while you make a valid point that a 350 will make less power "With the Z, they extra torque is nice, but a lighter hit will preserve the chassis and still have tremendous performance" the cost of your build and mine will not be far apart and I think you will agree as to which potential could push the car faster and if you don,t want all the power available you could just try not pushing the gas pedal down not quite as fast or far.(yes I am aware Im power crazy, but hey getting to 175mph is a big grin even at my age)(the wife frowns on me finding a mistress so I get my grins where I can

ditto ellobo97 advice on the years and yes local yards will also have them and you can use the lock-up feature without a computer control or with it as they make small control stand alone chips and manual controls or you can make your own.

the best way to get reliable hp is great flowing heads and large displacement. now the best way in the long run will be to build a 383 (10/1 cpr) with a set of canfield 220 cc heads and a good cam like a CRANE #113821 that combo will get you about,435hp/440 tq with a 750 carb, 1 3/4" headers and a victor jr intake , all of which you should be able to get for about,$3600-$3800 its a hot but streetable combo.

no they came in other cars than corvettes but corvettes are one of the main sources,look here, http://www.corvette-specialist.com/yard2.html http://www.actionsalvage.com/97Firehawk.asp http://www.contemporarycorvette.com/wrecks.htm http://www.ranchochevy.com/ http://www.gmsportssalvage.com/ http://www.hpsalvage.com./

"What sort of redline do you think I could get with a 327 using stock steel crankshaft and a full solid roller valvetrain setup?" the formula holds, 48000/6.5=7385 rpm, now those solid roller lifters won,t float if the spring rates rocker ratios and the cam profile you picked is correct so thats your red line... (if )your useing good forged rods with ARP rod bolts and forged pistons because at almost 7400 rpm cast or hyper pistons will be at or past their strength level for long term use. and stock chevy rods will also be close to their strength limit.

personally I would never have run anything but a m-22 muncie in the old days but the engineering has advanced so far in the last few years that theres no reason at all not to take advantage of the 700r4 with a lock-up converter from a wrecked vette. not only does the torque converter and low first gearing add to your launch from a standing start the overdrive ratio allows great top speed with lower engine rpms and an auto provides a good level of engine over rev control thats not available useing a manual trans.look at the ratios,and other info,PLUS THE 700r4 is much cheaper on average to install, rebuild, and purchase than a manual 5 speed trans and they are stronger on average too.(yes they bolt up to vortec v-8 engines) http://www.geocities.com/z28esser/ratio.html http://www.autotransinc.com/stall.htm http://www.geocities.com/z28esser/length.html http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/trans_dims.htm http://www.drivetrain.com/gmt56inst.html

since no one else has directly answered your question about determining the red line, red line(the rpm level you should not exceed without expecting to eventually do damage to your engine, this does not mean you can run at red line without problems, it means if your STOCK engine gets to that rpm but rarely it should be ok.) It is determined by the weakest link in your engine (usually rod bolts, or main cap bolts streaching enough for a bearing to spin) mostly by two factors,critical piston speed and valve float rpm, your engines RED LINE is just below which ever one is reached first. now valve spring pressure, lifter type, (hydrolic flat tappet,solid flat tappet ,mushroom base flat tappet,hydrolic roller, solid roller )lobe profile on your cam and valve train weight , use of rev kits etc. and harmonics determine valve float, but on stock engines useing roller or flat tappet hydrolic cams about 6300-6400rpm is going to be valve train red line. piston speed is about at a reasonable max with stock components at 4000 feet per minute, now rpms alone do not have as great an effect as stoke x rpms in figureing piston speed. example 4000fpm(feet per min.) is 48000 inches per min. if your stroke is 3.48 like in a 350 chevy the piston must go up then down in each dirrection once for each rpm(revolution per min) so 3.48x2=6.96 so 48000/6.96=6896 rpm, in this case the valves are more likely to float before the rod bolts snap from inertial stress, but lets try a 383 that has a 3.75 inch stroke,3.75x2=7.5" so 48000/7.5=6400 rpm max for the rod bolts(about the same as the probable valve float rpm. btw long term highway cruiseing speeds should be kept to 2000fpm piston speeds for best engine life. and if youve got an all forged ,light weight rotateing assembly thats fully ballanced in a 4 bolt ARP stud block, solid roller cam and a rev kit 4500fpm is not all that hard to achieve safely. and yes I am well aware that some guy at the track regularly turns 7500rpm with his 350 chevy,STRESS IS CUMULATIVE ,ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMETHING SNAPS,A VALVE FLOATS ,A VALVE SPRING BREAKS ETC. AND THE MORE TIME YOUR ENGINE SPENDS AT OR JUST OVER THE RED LINE THE GREATER THE CHANCE SOMETHING EXPENSIVE WILL HAPPEN!

heres where you buy those basic tools http://www.goodson.com heres part # s-350g....sp-600....chr-16....vsc-500343...vsp-823...vss-1500....vp-343....mvs-130

read this first;yes it is important to read and not skip over the link http://www.vettenet.org/torquehp.html NOW I POSTED THIS BEFORE BUT IT MIGHT HELP HERE TOO the formula for hp is (torque x rpm / 5252= hp) that basically reflects the that torque is cylinder pressure during the power stroke times the number of strokes per minute times the leverage(stroke) now if we take a 4000fps max piston speed and 1000psi cylinder pressure for both engines we find tha the 383 has a 6400rpm max piston speed a 12.7sq inch piston area and a 1.875" leverage arm we find 76200000. psi of cylinder pressure available to do work spread over each min.(3200 power strokes)(yes Im aware that the cylinders don,t really fill 100% at top rpm) now with the 377 we find a 6896rpm max piston speed, a 13.5 square inches of piston area and a 1.74" lever for 80676405. of max cylinder pressure available,over each min thats a 4476405. psi of cylinder pressure available (spread over 1 minute and 3448 power strokes) that the 377 has for an advantage(thats about 5.5% advantage in work force available for the 377 over the 383 (or about 191 extra power strokes per minute if your useing the 383 power strokes as a base measure)) , thats WHY the 377 is used more than the 383 as a racing engine now its very likely that if you don,t take advantage of that extra higher rpm torque range of the 377 that a 383 geared more to ITS IDEAL TORQUE RANGE will run with or beat the 377. if you take a 3600 lb car with a 3.08 rear gears the 383 is likely to win, but put 4.88 gears in a 2600 lb nova and theres no contest the 377 will win. BTW you can have some of the advantages of both combos by building a 406 sbc(4.155 bore x 3.75stroke)(3200 x 13.5 x 1000psi 1.875=8100000psi of cylinder pressure spread over 1 minute (3200 power strokes)thats the torque of the 383 and the power of the 377 + 1% because of the larger displacement

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Cylinder_Heads/Vortec.html I just went through this for the 10 zilionth time replaceing springs and machineing the guides so I could install a .545 lift cam on a hydrolic lifter, vortec head 383 for someone, so you guys might also use the info there are several things that effect the max lift your heads/springs/retainers can handle other than (spring bind) look at the diagram here. http://www.cranecams.com/master/vsprings.htm .read this http://www.hotrodheaven.com/comments/messages/9058.html now with cheap springs its usually the spring coils stacking up and (binding) that limits the amount the valve can be opened but the bottom of the retainer hitting the top of the valve seals/valve guide comes in as a close second in the race to cause clearance problems so you must check that too! just adding the better springs that are normally rated at either .540, .575, .600 will give you more clearance but in most cases Ive measured the retainer /seal clearance will limit you to about .500-.510 if your just changeing the springs, and yes it is possiable to gain some clearance by useing special .050 higher notch valve locks that move the ratainers alittle higher on the valve stem but if you want to do it correctly and don,t have the measureing equip. just take the heads down to your local high performance cylinder head rebuilder and have him machine the valve guides for the .600 lift clearance and have him use these valve seal,(Hi-Performance Teflon Seals) (Machining Required) read this http://www.cranecams.com/master/vmisc.htm and this http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/ar79842.htm http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/Fast_Burn_Cylinder_Heads.html IM not knocking the vortecs performance they are some of the best cast iron heads chevy makes Im just saying your money can get you more head per dollar spent elseware. vortecs are great heads for building torque and hp in the 2500rpm-5000rpm range useing cams with about .460 lift max(big surprise, they are truck heads designed for max torque/hp in that rpm range) now lets look at the costs versus power available, if your going to use them (as is) you have about $450 in heads and $175 in an intake or $625 to run the heads correct? oh wait you forgot the guide plates or the self aligning rockers $50-150 more if non roller rockers are use so your up to $675 minimum and dont forget another $100 or so for changeing to screw in rocker studs if your going to run that engine hard,oh wait if your going to run that engine hard you will really benefit from a larger lift cam so thats another $80-175 to get better springs and the valve guides cut down to allow a .550 lift cam to make this car fly, so were up to about $800- $900 with the pocket port job ,even if you do that yourself.now do you see why the other aftermarket heads that flow more and include the other stuff and run stock type intakes are a better deal!heres a few good deals (depends on what your looking for)but keep in mind its the TOTAL COST not the initial cost and the TOTAL HP POTENTIAL that matters http://www.midwestmotorsportsinc.com/mms.nsf/pages/Specials (look at the IRON EAGLE HEADS) http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin....enbr=76 http://www.flatlanderracing.com/index.html http://www.canfieldheads.com/sbc_2600.html http://www.trickflow.com/product/prhomefeature_index.htm after looking at all the options.. there are better choices but do your RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING PARTS AS TO WHAT WILL AND WHAT WONT WORK!!

http://www.recycler.com/com/chevy_only/page2.htm#350375 http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=128&pid=103 http://www.sdpc2000.com/cart.asp?action=prod_detail&catid=130&pid=383

there is really not enough info here that can be used for a valid comparison of the listed parts you will need to list the type of cylinder heads , the port size if known, the brand of cam (altho the specs, match the comp cams xe274h)or the timeing figures and if you want the best guess at improvements the amount of nitrious (100-200-300 hp ) you want to use and the piston material(forged, cast , hypereutectic) plus rod length.and rocker are ratio. the transmission type and rear gear ratio, car weight, and intended use would help to,

altho the smog police wont like it much venting the tank will help. and yes there are two types of regulators but after years of trying to get consistent fuel pressure with the dead head type (with no success) and always haveing flawless performance useing the return line type ,I just use those.on high performance cars a 3/8" feed /5/16" return line minimum works, on any car thats raced 1/2"feed,3/8" return lines are almost mandatory.I gave up on manual fuel pumps also as a good high voluum electric fuel pump is much superior.

Ziggy if your regulator works fine with no return line your fuel pump is most likely putting out less than 7 psi at the carb, a fuel return line almost always makes the system work more effeciently and if your pump puts out over 10 psi at the carb location its almost mandatory.

someone e-mailed me this , you guys may have a use for it. http://www.sonic.net/~kyle/gmhei.html

look here, http://www.centuryperformance.com/fuel.asp and yes you need a fuel return line, how most fuel pressure regulators work is by allowing an fuel over a set pressure to flow through them so what you do is feed fuel to the carb but just before the carb (tee/split)the fuel line so that all the fuel can return to the tank but first must pass through the pressure regulator , this insures at least the pressure you set the regulator to will be available at the carb inlet because the regulator will not allow fuel to return to the tank at any less than that pressure, yet all fuel over that pressure is free to return to the tank (this keeps that carb inlet fuel at the set pressure reading.)

look here. http://www.midwestmotorsportsinc.com/mms.nsf/pages/Specials MWMS Claimer Pan Combo Includes: Claimer Pan (left hand dipstick only) High Volume Oil Pump High Volume Oil Pump Pick Up $79.99 (they also have models for right hand dipstick for $20 more) or here http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.asp?ZTM=cadefjgb&GHOME=www.mi dwestmotorsportsinc.com&TITLE=Midwest_Motorsport you can get a very good 7-8qt pan for under $90-$126 and most are 7" or 7.25" deep to sit low in stock cars, I bought one, added a extended sump with trap door gates for extra oil control for 9.5 qt pan only 7" deep for my vette and it fits fine with headers ETC.