wheelman

You have to use special left hand extra hard drill bits to remove a broken ez-out, I avoid them like the plague. BTW: Where in Sac do you live? I was stationed at McClellan AFB for 6 years back in the late 80s. Lived in Roseville for a while then in an apartment complex just off base and finally was able to move on base. The base housing was located in North Highlands close to Antelope Blvd. Wheelman

Clive, Man I know exactly how you feel. There were several times when I said to myself "Why am I doing this again?", but in the end it's worth the effort. It's a common feeling when working on a long term project, there are setbacks or delays and you can't see the end. Like many have said, you're making the correct decision to moth ball it for a while but don't sell it. Give it a while, decide what to do about your future (job, more school or both) and move forward with the important stuff, the car will be waiting. When you come back to it, finish it and can finally drive it you'll be able to say "I finished it and it's a great car". The level of satisfaction you'll get from it is hard to describe. The first drive will put a smile on your face that'll last a week and return everytime you're complemented on your work. Wheelman

Oh, sorry. I always hated that show so forgive me for not remembering the achronym. Wheelman

Just for comparison to the whp Mikelly stated for his LS1 my iron head LT1 put down 274 rwhp @ 5800 rpm and 307 ft/lbs @ 3800. I've installed an LT4 Hot Cam, high rev valve springs, removed the AC, PS, and all emissions equipment. The total cost for my drive train including the upgrades is about $2,000. That's the engine with the mods, tranny (WC T5), clutch, flywheel, bell housing and custom drive shaft. With the power level I'm putting down the car is a real brute, I can't imagine 400 rwhp in a Z, it would be a blast. Another major difference between the LS and LT engines is the weight. With the LT1 in my car it weighs about 2550 lbs with a distribution of 52/48 front to rear. The LS1 swap will actually place more weight on the rear than the front due to the much heavier T56 transmission. Wheelman

A.G., Thats true. My thought was that the high rpms pumped more oil into the valve covers and lifter valley and when I lifted the high vacuum pulled oil in through the PCV but it could be the seals. The next Auto-X event I'll have the wife video tape a couple runs so I'll be able to tell if my catch can helped. If it didn't then I guess it's time for new seals, but I'll wait for a rebuild to replace those. Wheelman

Here is the picture of mine I said I'd post, sorry it took so long. Wheelman

#2 was probably caused by some bad links when Dan was moving things around or the web link was dropped somewhere between the server and Braap's computer so the broken link was displayed by his browser. Wheelman

It's $10,000 Canadian, thats only $6,500 U.S. dollars. I really don't like it though, I'd think of KIT everytime I got in it. Wheelman

Any T5 from a V8 GM car (83-89 Camaro and Firebird/Trans-Am) will work. I used a World Class T5 from an 89 Trans-Am with my LT1 and am really happy with it. It took me a while to find one but the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate and bellhousing will all bolt right up to the LT1. If you go with a T5 make sure the flywheel you get is externally balanced and from an engine with a 1 piece rear main seal. The flywheel I used is a stock one meant for use on an 86-89 305. It's only 15lbs. Wheelman

Let us know what you eventually find. I'm sure you'll enjoy the practice session even if you have a little bit of a stumble. This last weekend our club did the annual driver's school. It was split into 2 sessions with a different instructor in each. The morning instructor I was with really didn't help me much, he races front wheel drive cars and didn't drive mine but the afternoon guy was a big help. I drove the first of 5 runs, he drove the second then I did the remaining 3. He scared the $hit out of me, in a good way. I thought I was pushing the car but found just the opposite. I have a much better picture of just what the car will do now and was able to shave 2 seconds off my already pretty fast times. By the end of the day I had the fastest clean time of all the students. The instructor said he wouldn't change a thing about the car other than to install power steering and said he was very impressed. Unfortunately I now have a thumping sound coming from somewhere. I'm not sure what's causing it yet. I've checked the wheel bearings, CV joints, brakes and don't think it's a diff bearing. I'm beginning to think it's just flat spotted tires (both the instuctor and I locked the brakes several times). I'm going to pull my good rims and run the old Enkies to see if the thump goes away. The tires on the Enkies only have 50 miles on them and I've kept them stored laying down so they should be fine. Because of the thump I decided not to run it on Sunday and Monday. I co-drove my Mustang with my daughter on Sunday and a friend's first gen MR2 on Monday. I found out just how much work the Z is to drive. I normally come home from an event totally beat but was barely tired from driving the Mustang and the MR2. Wheelman

It could be that the low res signal problem throws the injector timing off and one side gets more fuel injected than it should. I'd get the low res problem fixed before doing anything about the counts. It sounds to me like you may have an intermittent connection problem in the opti wiring, especially since you already replaced it once. I remember Tim saying something about a weird stumble he attributed to the opti so maybe the wiring issue has been there right fromt he start. BTW: Not to change the subject but were you able to attend that Auto-X practice session you mentioned? Wheelman

Piston, Did you even put the alternator belt on? I never even considered welding the hub on, would have been a real b*tch to change the timing chain if you ever had to, I guess it's a moot point now though. Sorry for the problems. Yeah a 383 LT1 would be fun, so is that your final plan? You'll have to keep us posted on your progress and get some dyno runs once its running. As for ez-outs, I'll never use them again. I busted one in a bolt when I was a teenager and ruined several drill bits trying to get it out before finally throwing the part away and getting a replacement from a junk yard. Wheelman

I removed the air pump, evap canister, EGR and the solenoid. Been running that way now for about 1 1/2 years. Made 274HP at the rear wheels on a dyno last month. I did retune the PCM to remove the requirement for the EGR otherwise it will throw a code. Piston, I did the same thing on my engine, over torqued the bolt and snapped it off. Fortunately enough of it was sticking out that I was able to work it out with out resorting to an ez-out. I eventually had to redrill and tap the crank and insert a heli-coil to get it put together (don't ask, it's a long story I'd rather not remember). Anyway it is possible to salvage that crank. Wheelman

BrandonZ, Did the guy who bought your hubcaps offer to send you a check for $5000.00, which you cash and keep what he owes you along with a little for your trouble, then send him the remainder? JK, glad you got a good price for them, but it does seem a bit much. Wheelman

TheNeedForZ beat me to a point I was going to bring up. The 180 headers shown on the prior page merge the dual exhaust into a single pipe, won't this smooth out that "exotic" sound everyone wants? I'm going to see if I can get a good recording of my exhaust, I think it has a bit of an exotic sound, see what you guys think. Wheelman

It'll be this coming weekend before I can post any pictures, my wife has my camera and she's visiting friends back east right now. She gets home on Thursday so I might be able to have some pictures up by Friday night. I used 2" PVC pipe, some brass fittings I had lying around from my fuel system and a drain from a coolant catch bottle. Cost me about 12 dollars. I'm going to redo it though. I originally built it with the inlet on the top and the exit on the side, but now that I think about it it would be better to have both on the top. I also used a short length of tubing soldered to the inlet fitting to increase the distance between the inlet and outlet inside the can. That way the oil would have a more difficult angle to turn in order to be sucked into the exit. Moving the exit to the top will make the angle even more extreme plus reduce the chance of oil being pulled into it during hard cornering or braking. Does that make any sense??? Wheelman

I'll take a picture of it. Are you sure you want to drain it back to the pan? From what I've read the oil collected by these things is pretty contaminated with water and fuel. Wheelman

Yeah I think it's normal but I want to get rid of that puff of smoke after a high rpm run. I also looked in my intake manifold tonight through the throttle body and it's lined with carbon deposits. I think a catch can will help to stop more of that forming and may even help get rid of what's already there. Wheelman

Ok, here's the scoop on how the PCV system works on an LT1. First, the hose connected to the valve cover does not pull air from inside the crankcase but provides a filtered air source for air to go into the crankcase. It connects to the throttle body and allows air that has passed through the MAF and the air filter to be pulled into the crankcase. Second, the PCV plugs into a grommet on the left side of the intake manifold which connects to passages in the manifold that access the lifter valley. Third, a hose connects the PCV valve to another port on the throttle body that's behind the throttle plates so it has a vacuum on it when the engine is running. So the PCV system pulls air from the lifter valley into the intake causing a slight vacuum inside the engine block and valve covers. This vacuum evacuates vapors from the crankcase. The vent on the passenger side valve cover allows filtered and measured air into the crankcase preventing to much vacuum from building up. It's possible for positive pressure to build up in the crankcase if the PCV is plugged or there's more blow-by than it can vent. This would cause vapor and/or oil to be pushed through the valve cover vent into the intake in front of the throttle plates. After all this I'm pretty sure the puff of oil smoke I saw came from the PCV system but I'm not sure if the oil went through the PCV valve or the vent tube, both had oil in them when I checked and the engine has 102,000 miles on it. Anyway I'm thinking of putting a catch can on the PCV line to at least eliminate that route. If I still see the smoke I might put a catch can on the vent as well. Hope this info helps some others understand this system, it seems everytime I turn around I find something just a little different about these LT1 engines. Wheelman

OK Deja now I feel really stupid!! I checked out the "other" side of the intake while I was home for lunch today and found the PCV right where your picture shows it. I got so fixated on the hose that connects to the valve cover on the right hand side of the engine I didn't even look at the other side, even though I've seen it a thousand times. Anyway the hose from the valve cover connects to the throttle body and the metal tube the PCV connects to also connects to the throttle body. So the PCV system runs though the throttle body. I pulled the PCV valve, it's working fine, and found more oil which reinforces my thoery that the oil smoke comes from oil being pulled/pushed through the PCV valve into the intake. I'm going to do some more research on exactly how this system works so I understand it and either validate or refute my theory. Wheelman

Ok, nobody seems to have any insight into this. Anyway I did some more research on my own, went out and removed the "PCV Valve" and hose that runs to the intake and found no valve at all. There's an elbow fitting that plugs into a rubber grommet in the valve cover and the hose running to the intake. Unless the PCV valve is inside the valve cover (I don't remember seeing one) or the intake (would be very difficult to replace) there isn't one. When I removed the hose running to the intake it had drops of oil in it so I'm thinking my idea about the puffs of smoke at the end of the straight stretch are correct. I'm pretty sure now that the valve cover was relatively full of oil by the end of the straight and when I lifted on the throttle the additional vacuum in the intake pulled some oil in and subsequently burned it, hence the puff of blue oil smoke. If anybody has any alternate theories please voice them, I'm open to exploring other causes for the oil smoke. Wheelman

You'll get this answer from someone else anyway so I'll give it to right now. Use the search function, it will save you tons of time asking questions that have been answered already and you can learn from the mistakes the rest of us have made. Yes the JTR kit works perfectly with an LT1 using the standard SBC (read 350) mounts. Can't help with the T56 mount as I used a T5. You might consider a T5, they weigh less and can be built just as strong as a T56. Don't be disappointed with the iron heads, they flow about 20% more than the aluminum ones. I have a Caprice LT1 in my 240. I've installed an LT4 hot cam, high rev springs, eliminated emissions, AC and power steering, used a 16lb flywheel and did a custom tune. It put down 274 rwhp @ 5800rpm and 307 ft/lbs torque @ 3800 rpm on a chassis dyno a couple weeks ago. That much power in a light car makes for a very fun ride, you won't notice the extra 50lbs on the engine from the iron heads. My 240 weighs 2540 lbs with 52f/48r distribution. Wheelman

What about running larger diameter rims? Nice looking garage BTW and congratulations on the move. Wheelman

My wife video tapes my auto-x runs for me so I can review them and try to improve my line. At the last event the course was setup with a relatively long stretch where I topped out 2nd gear. I have the rev limiter on the LT1 set to 6300rpm and know I hit it. When I reviewed the video I noticed a small puff of oil smoke at the end of that stretch. I'm thinking this is just the valve covers have filled with oil and a small amount is pulled into the intake through the PCV valve. Does this make sense or should I be looking for problems in other places? Wheelman

Are you sure all the plug wires are on the correct plugs? It sounds like either several of the wires are on the wrong plug, baddly burned or not connected at all. Are the plug wires new? What about the plugs, have you pulled them to check condition and gap? If they're new what plugs are you using? I found 2 burned wires that caused a rough idle and slight vibration by turning off all the lights in the garage and looking for arcing. You'll see a nice blue electric arc if a wire is burned. Wheelman