gretchen/jason

For all the searching ive done i can not find the spring rate . I bought them from MSA and they dont know either . All i know is they ar Tokico progressive rate lowering springs . They measure 12 inches long unistalled and i get about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of squat on a good launch . The spring has a number on it i havent been able to locate yet it is 5022-r Jason

Well my thermostat " electronic" unit will spike sometimes ill be sitting at a light hovering at about 180 degrees then it slams its self to 220 degrees and stays there untill i get moving . The car never boils over i have a thermostat a laser pointed one and the outlet temp on the upper hose " i have those chrome flex hoses " reads 175-180 and the inlet hose same style reads 75-85 degrees . Oh this is a v8 conversion . I cant for the life of me figure out where to put a in line filler neck " any pics would be a great help . My highest point on the radiator hose is roughly 7 inches higher then the filler cap on the radiator as i keep the radiator just low enough to not hit the hood when closed . I know a inline filler would help but i just cant picture it in my head as where to put it i have a supercharger and a watter neck that moves the hose towards the drivers side cylinder head about 2 inches and the kneck points straight up . I can add pics as soon as i find my camera Jason

I would say im trying to controll total squat . As it is it squats down very easy not much effort needed . the front raises up nicely i was told by someone that if i stiffen up the rear " keep it from squating " that i would get better traction when i launch . Not really sure ive never dealt with this issue before . Jason

Nope it doesnt have a loop in it just a straight shot . As for running it to my intake i have one vacuum port for my brakes and i dont want to tie into that . Good to see im not the only one with this problem . Jason

I guess i should mention i have a supercharger no vacuum ports what so ever but one thank god for the power booster for the brakes . Ive even made my z look " non catalytic converter " as i converted mine from the donar car meaning i found a z that didnt come with a cat so certain parts are missing of course . Being that its a 383 sbc alot of stock parts are missing . Jason

Well ive vented my fuel cell the roll over vent through a plug in the spare tire aera . Ive sealed it from the inside of the car problem is my garage smells like gas in the morning . Is this normal or shold i restrict the vent some how . Rite now its just a dash 8 an line with no filter or anything on the end of it just a open ended hose about 3 feet long . Ive even thought of venting it behind the Z emblem near the rear quarte window but want to get rid of the gas smell how do i get rid of the smell ? Jason

Very nice almost looks like it belongs there from factory . Say is that carpet new . Where did you purchase it and for what year model . Im looking for carpet that covers the entire trans tunnel with no cut outs . Been thinking of going to homedepot for carpet . Jason

Huh im not sure but my 77 not a 2+2 had a hole for a ash tray in the back of it when i removed it makes ya wonder . Jason

Yes mine has a spot pluged off above the oil filter looks to be if i had to guess a 1/2 inch plug maybe smaller . Thanks i wasnt sure about that spot . Jason

Well im running block hugger headers and using grade 8 locking bolts for the header flanges but it seems no matter how good i place the gasket within a few miles i end up with leaks . Ive cut the flange to seperate the header into sections . It seems so far im replacing the gasket around the number 7 and number 2 exhaust port so far ive done the # 2 three times and within 50 miles a leak appears . Im just using the stock gasket and nothing else im sick of going to the auto store to get gaskets are there any fixes to this issue . Jason

So the question being to keep rear end squat to a minamum would it be bettwr to get stiff springs say from AZ car or the tokico adjustable struts . I have new KYB struts in the rear and tokkico lowering springs all about 1 year old . Im trying to stiffen up the rear end to eleminate squat to get better tire grip/grab . The front end raises up fast enough allready so its ok on that end . Jason

I cant use the oil pressure port by the distrubitor on the drivers side of the block as my intake manifold is in the way of the port " supercharger intake manifold " Is there someplace else i can access a oil port to hook up my oil pressure gauge or are there some sort of adapters for where the oil filter is ? The engine is in the car and running id just like to know my oil pressure . Jason

Makes sense to me now i figured as much but wanted a opinion before i started changing stuff as far as pulley size . Up here at 6,000 ft above sea level im running a 10 -11 lb upper pulley just to get 5-7 lbs of boost so ill see about changine the crank pulley thanks for the info . Jason

Thats a sweet frame conector . It would be nice someone could measure the under side of a miata frame rail to frame rail and compare it to a z who knows ya might get luck and have to make very minor adjustments to the sub frame conector . That would be sweet if it would fit a z . Next time a miata shows up at work for a free oil change or we get one off the truck to put on the lot ill measure it out .. Jason

Wasnt sure what thread to use as this is mainly a question about a 383 . I did a short rod 383 5.565 rods forged pistons etc . I have a weiand supercharger and when my 383 was a stock 350 full throttle gave me roughly 7 lbs of boost . I havent quite hit full throttle yet 3/4 is about all but the boost doesnt seem to kick in as quick i hit about 5lbs . Is it the stoke that is changing this from a 350 to a 383 ? Only difference is now im running 3:54 gears instead of the 4:11 gears i had before i can say this though the 383 without even using any boost is a lot more fun then the 350 ever was . main question is does the displacement have any affect on the boost ? Jason

Not to cut in on this thread but to answere MULL quetsion they do add about 1 1/2 inches and im running a 11 inch wide tire on a 10 inch rim and they are tucked under the fender nicely . Say you got those from John the ones i ordered dont look near as nice and dont have the " wheel well lip " like the ones in youre photo Jason

So my story starts as this . Bought a crate 350 from Jegs 7,000 miles latter with a weiand supercharger running 4 lbs of boost the oil pump pickup tube fell off bummer . So i yanked the engine sent it to a " Recomended person at a machine shop " To build me a 383 . Gapless piston rings forged pistons etc etc . I got the engine back 800$ Latter . I sent it to another machine shop because i didnt have time to build it . Found out i was handed a hack job so it was redone for !!!!!!!!!! 1,900$ as nothing was balanced and i had two bad rods . Well to the pont . I drove my z supercharged 383 to work monday the 25th . i didnt even create any boost think man this thing is bad ass alot of power . Got to work " i work at hyundai " just tofind i had cylinder 1 and 3 crossed they werent even firing . Man i redid the pllug wires man with no boost at all under 2,500 rpms with 295/50/15 tires it gets squirley man im in love all over again . Just a update of all my horriable experienceses if i spelled it rite and the final outcome man i love my z . Jason

Good idea no PCV just run the breather to the air filter some how hmm seeing as i have only one vacuum port . Ill try it and see what happens . Jason

Im running a weiand super charger on a SBC i have no place to hook up my brake booster except for one port which is for the PCV valve . I was thinking on getting the electric vacuum pump for the brake booster but wanted to see if anyone had a better idea . Jason

Nice write up there . I used a 1 piece once before worked good easy to install. This time for my oil pan i didnt use a gasket !!!!! Yes i said no gasket except on the ends of the pan , at work " i work for Hyundai " we dont use gasket on the engines except for the valve cover and intake manifold . We use what we call " ultra grey " a fancy rtv silicone gasket goo . So after man many oil pans and many many trans pans with no gaskets and no leaks i figured id try it on my oil pan . Only time will tell as i havent put oil in the engine yet . Jason

Just sick makes me feel slow after watching that . Jason

Well im hoping all goes well . I did stamp id numbers on the block and the end of the crank to make sure i got back what i gave them and i did . They do work for my company HYUNDAI as im a mechanic there we send oure heads to them and sometimes short blocks and they run fine . hopefuly i recieved decent machine work . Only time will tell Jason

Well i do know the pistons are forged pistons from speed pro as i had them leave the heads off so i could verify they installed them and they did . I had the " stock 400 rods " marked before i gave them to the machine shop and i recieved the rods i gave them in a box when i paid my bill . The pistons ran me 530$ i ordered them my self for the short rods 5.565 and had them sent to the machine shop after they located them for me .One reason being i had allready orded gapless rings that fit the 5/64 3/16 ring grooves as i didnt want to spend anothe 350 $ on rings as i couldnt return the ones i had ontop of a set of pistons so i hunted down forged pistons that fit my rings and the short rods . The rods they took care of cost me just over 200$ through the machine shop so i cant say much for the rods as i dont know where the aquired them . I ordered the rod bolts myself from JEGS and bought the other parts my self also from JEGS , aka the flex plate i ordered SFI aproved and the damper i ordered SFI aproved 200$ damper 120$ flex plate ARP head bolts timing gears etc etc . They charged me 1,220 to assemble the short block 220 was for the rods plus machine work . they installed valve seats valve springs complete balance of the rotating assembly etc etc . All i did was put the heads on myself and install rockers and push rods at work . I cant say anything about the rods hopefully i didnt get riped of twice as the previous machine shop didnt balance the crank and i had a bad rod i wasnt told about untill the second machine shop told me about it . And the heads didnt have and valve seats installed in them from the first rebuild . I spent 700$ at the first machine shop and they didnt assemble anything so i sent it to a different machine shop to be " checked out " And bang another grand latter. So far ive used 3 different machine shops in this town that were highly recomended and got taken twice once was on the L28 3.1stroker . They didnt tighten down the camshaft towers and i broke a camshaft and smashed a few valves . The other being the 700$ for my 383 . Hopefully the third time was a good one as this 383 has been built twice assembled once and hasnt been in my z for over 7 months man what a drag . Jason

So i talked to the machine shop and they used i quote " a stock style forged rod " not a eagle h style forged rod but it looks like the stock rods as one of the rods from the 400sbc was 25 grams to light to work with . Then i decided do i really need to go to 7 grand i said not really when i had a stock 350 with the supercharger i rarley left second gear and i allready beat who i was racing . That was with only a 330 horse engine . I was told with the 383 the cam i selected and the heads i shold at least hit 400 horses with 4 lbs of boost . So i went with the basic forged rod they recomended for what i would be doing with my z . Oh and they are the 5.565 rods i thought they were the 5.7 i was wrong . Thanks for the replies . Jason

Well no NOS but just 7 lbs of boost from the super charger i had on it before i went from a 350 to a 383 . The machine shop builds boosted and NOS powered engines they said as long as i dont use over 11 lbs of boost i will be just fine . Heck if i end up with the 440 horses they say ill have who needs NOS . The stock crate 350 put 290 to the tires the engine was only rated at 290 to the crank shaft . My compression before boost will only be 8:1 as it was all measured out . Jason