gretchen/jason

Very helpfull . Thanks for the info , i claim to know everything but can fix anything just kidding . Im a learning mechanic at Hyundai 2 years under my belt any bit of info helps . Jason

Paints with certain ceramics in them not totaly ceramic but just headder paint . Im only going off what i heard on tv sorry if its confusing . Its supposed to be the paint at the auto stores that resist heat like up to 500 degrees kinda like what ya paint a BBQ Grill with . But white Good post BRAAP the show also stated that al those chromed out engines all nice and shiny hold in heat more so then a painted engine . All of this is probably some myth someone started along time ago . I dunno i just wanted oter opinions on the subject is all . Oh i do have a friend that ceramic or sorta jet hot coated the entire outside and inside of his 4 cylinder V Tec block . It cost him a cool 1,500$ but he was told " sorta like the paint deal " That the engine would run cooler coated inside and out eh who knows as he spun all the main bearings after 200 miles as he forgot to torque the main bolts left them loose i should say . Jason

One question what is a claimer motor . Ok onto the 383 i was told i could just use the rods in my 350 if they are the 5.7 rod how do i measure them to find out . And if they are 5.7 rods then i could use the pistons that are there to begin with seeing as im rebuilding a crate engine with only 7,000 miles on it . It just had some bad ring blow by then the oil pump went out . OOPS only problem is i took the pistons out and never bothered to mark what cylinder they ccame out of thinking i may have to bore the thing 30 over . Jason

Good point there ,which is why i refered to BOATS . I grew up around boats and the marine enviroment and the reason boats are white is to reflect sunlight ,same goes for boat tops or covers ya never see a black boat top .Me and my grndfather tried it once . One year we had a blue canvas top it was ok when we were in the Bahamas . Next year a white top made it much cooler when fishing therefore the LIGHT reflectivity . Then of course ive never heard of pistons giving off light as a source of heat . But the TV show only said heat reflectivity they never mentioned a light source inside the engine block . Who knows maybe the ceramic coating just helps shed oil faster so the hot oil doesnt stick to the underside of the manifold . I may try to paint to objects and see what happens . Ill direct a heat source at only the painted side then take temps of the unpainted side one with paint one with out and see what happens . Kind of makes ya wonder why roof top shingles arent white if white reflects heat so good ?

Well i was watching the usual Horsepower TV show this weekend and saw something i never heard of before . Painting the underside of a intake manifold with white paint to keep the manifold itself cool . Now the paint is the stuff at any autostore like the black headder paint they sell just white . They claimed and ive dealt with this on boats before that the white paint reflects enough of the internal heat from the block to keep the intake air charge cooler then if not painted . Then they went on to say that some racers paint the outside of the manifold flat black to disipate the heat from the top side of the intake . Has anyone tried this at one time . Of course ive heard that painting a engine block black helps disiapate heat faster then say if it was orange or something . I figured id give it a shot to my blower manifold who knows if it works or not i sure dont but whats 6$ going to hurt i figured seeing as im in the middle of a rebuild anyhow . Jason

So im doing a 383 build up . Ive been looking at pistons and name brand and forged or cast is not the big question i have but ive seen pistons for SBC 350,s of course then ive seen pistons for a 383 . Well ill be using a 5.7 length rod im my build up but what is the difference in a piston for a 350 compared to a psiton for sale for a 383 ? Are the pistons different in height or is the conecting rod pin in a different spot . I thought they would all be the same except for overbore sizes of course . Jason

Now if i stick with the 5.7 rods and dont get 30 over pistons will that still work just wondering as rings will cost me almost 300$ . I had figured on getting new rods as the stock ones might hold up for only so long dont wanna rebuild because i was cheap . Jason

Sounds like the 5.7 350 is a better choice i assume id have to bore the block 30 over though or at least that is what ive seen in the 383 assemblies in the catalogs when they use a 5.7 rod it gets a 30 over piston .I will look into this a bit more about rod length . I wish i could get the poawer like icewtr has with no power adder but i failed to mention i live at 6,000 ft above sea level . When i ordered the engine it was posted as 290 horses and 310 ft lbs of torque . When i dynoed it it only had about 230-240 horses thin air maybe or maybe the carb set up who knows thats why i added the boost . A 7 lb boost pulley only produces 4 lbs of boost here so i added a 11 lb pulley and got 7 lbs of boost . Jason

So my 350 sbc oil pump locked up on me so i figured rebuild time is at hand . Just happens i have a friend at a machine shop who just happend to have a sbc 400 crank that he turned for a 383 swap .Oh and im trading my 400 for work on the 383 . i only paid 100$ for the 400. One quick question before the main question . I was hitting 300 horses to the tire with 7 lbs of boost and lots of ring blow by . With a 383 how much more power could i expect to see ive been told a 383 is good for another 30 horses or so . The main question .................. Now he sugests using the sbc 400 conecting rods seeing as i have a whole set from the sbc 400 block i just bought . Or if i use the rods to a sbc 350 id have to get different pistons . Which way would be the better way to go ? He claims if i use the 400 rods with the stock 350 pistons i have to make sure not to rev it over 6,500 rpms but im assuming if i use the 350 rods get oversized pistons i could rev it even more . But seeing as ill be getting a cam with a 6,200 rpm limit im sure the 400 rods would be ok but this is why im asking as im not to sure . Plus i needed the rebuild due to piston ring blow by with my supercharger hopefully gapless piston rings will solve that problem .

Well i was cruising along and minding my own buisness and i heard a loud rattle then a minute latter all my rockers started to rattle so i quickly went home , i was only about 3 blocks away . I took off the valve covers fired up the engine and no oil so i thought great the oil pump went out after only 7,000 miles on a new crate engine . So i droped the pan the damn oil pump was cracke in half and some pieces were in the bottom of the pan . I havent had anyting but problems with this Jegs crate 350 . Or i just have very bad luck , but on the lucky side i do have a SBC 400 being built to very tight specs . Jason

I was looking around under my z without the fuel tank and noticed on the passanger side of the car a sort of frame rail or boxed in aera going from the rear sub frame to the wheel well from the frame looks to be about 12 inches long . Then one from the wheel well towards the rear of the diff looks to be about 4 inches long . Now ill be hacking into the part going towards the passanger side oh id say ill be removing about 4 inches of the thing to create a box for my fuel cell to sit in . Will this be a issue as far as strength . The total aera ill be removing is 23 inches from the tail light towards the front of the car . Then from the very outer edge of the wheel well on the drivers side ill be going 24 inches towards the passanger side maybe less i need to look at it again as my fuel cell is 17 inches wide 17 inches deep . Jason

So im asking if i have a cam say with a .460 and a .450 lift with a 1.5 ratio rocker arm what happens to those numbers with a 1.6 ratio arm ? I know i get more lift but how much lift i know there is a fromula for this but i cant seem to find it . Jason

My highway top speed well what i cruise at is 55-60 MPH i have hit 110 for a brief second though . As far as 1/4 mile goes " i roughly marked off a 1/4 mile on a back road one day " I hit around 100-105 MPH . My red line is 5,500 and i hit that very quickly 55 mph gets me at 3,700 rpm . Im running a SBC 350 supercharged 7 lbs of boost 750 cfm demon blower carb with a 26 inch tall tire with 4.11 gears and a TH350 auto trans should have used a 700 r4 !!! The engine still wants to pull even though i run out of rpms ive hit 6 grand once and went oh crap i better let off . This is with a stock setup except for the supercharger cam lift is .450 intake and .460 exhaust with a 114 lobe seperaition . Not sure of the duraition. Changing out the heads this weekend had some ported way crazy . 1.5 exh valve flows 230 cfm with a .490 lift intake flows 280 cfm with a 1.9 intake valve same lift should be fun . Jason

I saw the same Horse Power TV show and if i remember corectly they gained 30 horses around the 5-6 thousand rpm range nothing down low though just in the higher rpms . Dont quote me on this though . Jason

So ive noticed from a few people i know with V8 z cars is they dont like how massive a B&M shifter or Hurst shifter looks in a z car . I somewhat agree as i get the " Man thats a big shifter " at car shows . Mine doesnt look as big as in some z cars ive seen as my dash is hand made and i shoved or made the dash shorter towards the windshield about 3 inches closer then stock and isnt as tall on the face of the dash . Could one cut out the top of the trans tunnel say just to the width of the shifter and drop the shifter down the hole and of course have the hole boxed in . Kind of like putting in a fuel cell without any sacrifice to strength . I guess that is the big question strength . . Ive done measurements on my z and i could lower the shifter enough to where all ya saw was the shifter boot and the chrome trim around the boot . Oh this is for the automatic shifters of course . Jason

So im looking through the racing catalogs summit and such and see a tire size i like 275-60-15 with a tread width of 10 inches compared to what i have now of tread width of 8 inches . Problem is when i go to say good year or firestone they have that tire size but the tread width is like 7.5 to 8 inches instead of 10 inches . Am i missing something here or maybe is the catalog wrong . Or does it depend on the type of tire . Im looking around town as i can get a real saving going through the dealership where i work and save as much as 40$ per tire . Jason

For jt1 The heads had lets say a major port job done to them just a 3 angle valve job is all on the valves but i got valves with "skinny " stems to for more flow . I wish i had a way to show how the guy ported the runners and such but he calls it the Waterfall affect . Something he showed me against a stock head , and told me about how the air slams against the walls of the runners . He then grinds the piss out of them and kind of makes the air want to follow a pathe he created so itthe air flows in or our and kind of goes ofver a ledge like a waterfall towards the valve . in the case of the exhaust its backwards of the intake of course . I watched him bench flow one head and he injects a colored powder into the air stream and watches how it flows through the runners and around the valves very cool i must say . if it looks as he called it " sloppy air flow" he grinds some more . Took the guy 3 months to do it not bad for crap what did i pay 400$ for the port job , not including the springs and valves . He only installed springs with a .500 max lift i may go a bit stiffer not sure the cam i want to use only has a .490 lift should be good enough on a small block 400 . Jason

Ah yes i was told about the " steam holes" I checked the heads i have and they allready have the steam holes in them lucky me i guess . My intended use is street /strip . I do drive it to work everyday also and i dont bother to take it on the highway . As of now i have a stall converter with a 3-3,300 rpm stall . When i had the stock gears in my z i think they were 3.54 something like that , the rpms would rev to about 3 grand before the trans reall started to grab . I now have 4.11 gears for the 1/4 mile setup and the rpms go to about oh 2,800 before the trans starts to really grab. I also agree with Drhunt . I have a friend who is a ex Indy car cheif mechanic he worked with now lets see if i spell it rite Jaque Lazier and he knows a few things about engines and such . He has helped me out a little bit . And thanks to the Hybrid z members for theire advice also . Jason

I did find a crank that uses 5.7 inch long conect rods . Also found one with 5.565 but couldnt find any rods for that anyplace so it seems id use the 5.7 rods . As for heads i have a set that i had reworked . I forget the measurment of watter presure the guy used but it was set for my altitude 6,000 ft above sea level . The head flowed 250 cfm with a .490 lift with a 1.94 intake valve and 230 cfm same lift with a 1.50 exhaust valve . Ive been told that these are good numbers not sure im not so up to date on these things but the cam i was going to get had a .500 intake lift and a .530 exhaust lift due to the supercharger . I was told i needed to worry about exhaust flow not intake flow so much . Ill check the casting numbers but i figured if im hitting 12.9 seconds in the 1/4 mile with 300 or so wheel horses then i shouldnt need to go over 500 horses . Or at least 12.9 is what my G Tech meeter is telling me " The ones in the catalog is what i bought " They are somewhat accurate id figure maybe a 13.1 1/4 mile . Heck last car i owned pulled 17.0 in the 1/4 130 crank horses in a 3,300 lb car . With a bit of NOS of course . Jason

Been off line for a bit i see this got juicy so to say . Doesnt bug me guys post what ya want i learned a few things from all of the replies . Oh well you will see my other thread i decided to dump the 383 stroker idea and bought a SBC 400 block i figured more cubes = more power . But i have a few questions in the other thread just on pros and cons of a 383 verses a 400 sbc . Jason

So i picked up a SBC 400 block for 100$ , still has the stock bore size 4.00 . Although its a 2 bolt main i figured id have the machine shop make it a 4 bolt main . I was thinking of doing a 383 stroker but i figured 400 CI would be better then 383 . Id like to know if a 383 would have the same /more /or less torque then a SBC 400. Ive noticed that heads for a 350 are the same for a 400 sbc . Is it just bore size that makes it a 400 CI block or stroke ? Like i said i just figured bigger cubes means more power , then since i have a supercharged 350 and since it fits of course on a 400 i figured a supercharged 400 would be way way better then a 383 . Im sure i know the answere to my own question im more looking for pros and cons of a sbc 400 verses a 383 stroker Jason

Same her my hood " Aftermarket fiberglass cowl scoop " Barley fits with a custom intake . So i bought another scoop to add on top of mine to make it 7 inches tall to clear the smallest air filter i could get with still keeping enough CFM air flow . Jason

Ha i was asked once if it " my 280" was a old honda !!!! I have a sticker on the rear hatch glass that say 350Z in numbers about 5 inches tall . One guy said to me " Hey ya know that isnt a 350z dont ya ? I relate the 350 to the cubic inches of the block and the Z well its a z . Im thinking of scraping it off and changing it to 280SS or 280Zss or something different anyways . Jason

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/10221975/Jan06_06.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y52/10221975/Jan06_01.jpg Here is a pic or 2 ive removed the air box set up as its not snowing here anymore so i can take the hood off and watch people almost get into a accident as they stare at my z when i drive by . Seeing as i have the only running V8 z in colorado springs that i know of it gets lots of attention . and the usual crap My dad or cousin or back in the day i owned one with a V8 etc etc is alot of what i hear . Jason

Hey Bartman Runs hotter with the JTR rad huh . Is it just a stock 350 like a first gen or like a LS1 or such . I do know certain engines like hotter temps but i was running a 180 degree Thermostat with the JTR radiator and i couldnt keep the temp below 210 sometimes i got to 205 but mainly 210-220 degrees . And thats with the hood removed and the outside air tempature around 80 degrees . I used the same electric fan on the new radiator as i did on the JTR rad . The new 2 row cross flow radiator never gets over 185 degrees now . This winter i accidently put a hole in my radiator stupid me not paying attention to what i was doing . Well i keep the JTR radiator as a spare so i took out the 2 row and installed the JTR radiator . Now this was in the dead of winter and in the mornings it was about 24 degrees outside . Where as the 2 row on a morning like that kept the temp about 170 degrees the JTR rad bumped it up to 190 strange but i had to use it untill i got the other one fixed .