kuntry

aluminum allows for more compression without detonation because the aluminum dissipates heat faster than steel. A tunnel ram is a tall intake with long runners, usually only good for high RPM engines. Basically worthless on a mild engine unless you just want it to look like it will go fast. Stick with a good dual plane intake like the performer or performer rpm. You will have good low end and mid range power, and its a much better match for your combo than a tunnel ram.

your pistons are designed for 5.7 rods. the 6" rods wont work with them. the difference is where the pin sits in the piston. you might want to double check what you ordered and if its the 6", see if its too late to change the order.

makes mental note not to pi$$ off the Doc

Well desktop dyno says youll put out a whopping 281 hp and 355 ft lbs of tq. The main problem I see in your combonation is that the heads, although they are some of the best flowing factory heads out there, also have huge combustion chambers and small valves. With those heads and your piston choice, your looking at about 8.5:1 cr. You definatley dont have to worry about valves hitting the pistons. Im not sure how much performance you want out of this engine, but imo you need to spend on a better set of heads to help the flow and to get a better cr. For example, if you can find a good set of big valve 64cc heads, desktop dyno says youll jump to 332 hp and 383 ft lbs of tq. To be honest with you, Ive never been crazy about single profile cams since I tried a dual profile for the first time, they have been dual ever since. Just for fun, I tried changing a few things with your engine to a combo Ive run and heres what I came up with.... your block, crank and pistons a GOOD set of aftermarket heads (nothing fancy 64cc, 2.02/1.6, gasket matched and screw in studs) comp cams 268xtreme energy cam (224/230, 0.505/0.512 with your rockers) bump up tp a 650 carb run fel pro 0.015 embossed shim head gasket (a little more cr) Desktop dyno says it puts out 384 hp @5500 and 399 ft lbs @ 4500. That would be a nice little motor. I ran that engine in my old camaro for awhile, except that I had the Performer RPM intake. It was a great running motor and was constantly whooping up on rustangs. Hope this helps you a some. If you can get your hands on a program like DD it can save you a fortune in "lets buy this and see what happens".

I dont know what the JTR plates look like, like I said, I was given the MSA mounts with my 73. Im not questioning the kit as much as questioning the factory towers that the mounts bolt on to. Its a whole "weakest link" thing for me. I may be wrong and that thin metal might hold a ton of tourqe, but I just dont see how.

Ill see about getting something drawn up or get some pictures of my friends mazda setup. He has a ford (ewwwwww) 289 in his, but the setup is the same. Maybe someone else here has done the motor plate and would post pics. If not Ill try to have them in the next couple days.

I havent done mine yet, as Im still in the process of running the frame rails. But yes, you can mount it anywhere you want in the frame. Its basically attached with 2 pieces of angle iron welded to each framerail (like bookends), and then a bolt thru all of it. I dont have a way to make a diagram on the comp, and my scanner is broken so I cant even draw and scan one. You can trim if you have alot of excess, but make sure to leave enough so that you dont compromise your strength, remember its only 1/4" aluminum.

Yeah m1noel... sorry about the hijack. The 2 things Ive learned doing wiring..... dont cut untill you tripple check yourself and LABEL, LABEL, LABEL

I forgot to add... with the motor plate, you can set the motor basically anywhere you want. One of the reasons I decided to go this way was that I heard that I would have to "massage" the firewall for an HEI dist to fit. Im covering the firewall with a piece of aluminum diamond plate to cover all the holes Im not using, plus a bit of dress up. I didnt want to have clearance issues with the aluminum. Plus it keeps motor mounts out of the way for headers. Im not trying to hijack this thread, but it is titled "my thoughts" which is what Im giving. It just seems like those stock motor mount brackets on the crossmember would barely be strong enough for the origional 6, much less the 383 Im throwing in there.

just a regular motor plate from jegs. since Im redoing the from frame rails, Ill have a solid base to attach it to.

I was given the MSA kit with my Z, but after looking at the mounting a little closer, I think Im going with a motor plate. Just doesnt seem like that thin metal attached to the crossmember is going to hold much power. I know the plate is going to transfer some vibration, but Id rather be safe than sorry.

Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a little.....

I honestly have to go back and see what this thread was about to begin with....lol.

you make boobs bigger??????? I have found my new hero

My buddy has a Dakota that would prolly pull anything you can hook up to it. Of course, its not street legal, and youd have to have a hell of a drop hitch to hook anything up anyway...lol. It has K5 axles, and a transplanted chevy TB V8 with a th350 tranny. On the upside, it does a great job of crushing junk cars....lol http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=40065562&imageID=665031298

Just curious, but the universe is a vaccum, so to add volume to it, wouldnt that make you a blow hard? Or if you mean increasing the amount of vaccum thats already there,, wouldnt that mean you suck? J/K man, saw that and couldnt resist.

Hey yall... I was wondering if anyone could shop this car again. Except I want to go with a metallic green/black instead of blue/black. And if yall dont mind, Id like to see it done both ways, green/black and black/green. basically the same colors as a Monster energy drink. It doesnt have to be perfect, just an idea, so I can decide which way I want to go with it. Thanks guys

if they didnt hate you.... you wouldnt be doing it right.

I just watched the clips on YouTube from the HybridZ races. Great job by everyone on the team. I do have one question tho... and Im NOT second guessing anyone here... just curious. It seems like everyone on that show sprays... why didnt yall throw a bottle in there? I really think yall could have taken it with a bottle. But it was still an awesome job by the build team and Garretts driving.

Got a chance to see this car in person tonight. The dash is AWESOME!! Definately going that way with my dash. His bodywork is coming along great, just enough filler to do the job. Going to be a SWEET ride when he's finished..... NOW, about that V8 swap...lol.

Hey, was just curious what you thought of Desktop Dyno 2000. Ive been using it for awhile now and been pretty happy with it. Just not sure about its accuracy.

oh, I have a few pics of the progress here. I still cant figure out how to put them in the order I want. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/kuntryboyracing/#page1

Thanks guys. I went out sat morning and bought 40' of 2x2x.125 square tubing. I figure theres no sense in backhalfing a car without getting some structure to the rest of the car. Ive cut the inner upright out of the front frame rails, along with the dimples where the crossmember attaches. Im going to notch out the bottom of the tubing and weld in a piece of flat stock a bit thicker than the factory sheetmetal to attach the crossmember to. Ill order the rear frame from Jegs at the end of the week. Hopefully Ill have the front end finished and the frame rails ready to go when it gets here. Ill also have to cut off my ladder bar susp and get the 4 link pieces welded in place. I guess another deadline is getting pushed back. I had origionally wanted to have the car on the road by Halloween, then it looked more like Thanksgiving. Now Im going to do my best to have this thing running by the end of the year.

Looks good, I was thinking of doing the exact same thing.

My HF helmet has worked just fine since Ive had it. I took it to work awhile back and the welders up there were impressed with it. Guess they thought like most people... that cheap means junk.. at least this time its not true.