dr_hunt

Yup, it happens to most everybody. Today I came home and found that my wife of 5 years had left me taking over 20K cash, which included cleaning out my bank accounts, loaded her stuff and headed out in my 99 Dodge extended cab diesel truck. I'm stupid, I know. Back in August, my boy had worked for me all summer and I paid him $50/day, so he had earned 4K. He stashed the cash in his piggy bank and was looking to buy a jr. dragster, unbeknownst to my wife. Instead we found the 260 z on EBAY. So, we bought it, actually he bought it, with some help from me, but he clicked on the bid button. So, he and I go to get the cash from his bank and head to benson arizona to get it and guess what? The 4K is missing. My wife denied knowing anything about it. My boy cried and cried, wondering who stole his cash. Nothing else was missing from the house, so I figured, but I really didn't want to know if you know what I mean. I replaced the cash, enought to buy the car out of my savings and away we went to AZ. Voila, we got the z and the pic of the first day home is posted in the album here on hybridz. I replaced the rest of the missing cash, some 2300 bucks and we started buying engine parts. Well, I got carried away and together we spent another 10K on his car but we have had a blast with the help of a sponsor and a 20K budget. Ok, then I got a christmas bonus of 2500 bucks and I had 800 cash saved and both were in the safe. Only she and I knew the combination, so on New years eve, I go to get some bucks to take her out to dinner with and you guessed it, it was gone. 3300 bucks gone. She swore up and down that she didn't take it and I was about done at that point, but I was trying to figure out how I could get a divorce without loosing my entire life's work. Some new years, huh! I'm stupid! So, today I come home, I work out of town, unexpectedly to get a tap and die set and a set of left handed drill bits to remove some broken bolts and the back door to the house is open, I go in and just about everything is gone. Stupid me, I call the cops thinking I'd been robbed, then after that I find a 4 page note. She admits to taking the cash and you guessed it another $8700 from our checking account and 1200 that she had stashed over the year, so I'm penniless with 4 to 5K worth of monthly bill checks out there floating in the mail. So, I'm stupid! Let's add that up, 4k+3300+8700+1200=17,200 plus my paid for dodge truck that is worth probably 15K. I know, I'm stupid Ok, so for the only smart thing I ever did, I never put anything in her name or combination of names and the 99 dodge I bought before we got married, at least that's what my lawyer said.

I can about guarantee you it's a 350c. One of the plugs should have two pins and the other should be 4 pins and I think they are even different colors (white and black). The two pin, if my memory serves me correctly, is for the lock up, one is for ground, the other is 12v juice when you want it to lock up. If you forget to untoggle it, it'll die when you stop the car, which will remind you to untoggle it and restart. The trans takes the same components as the 350 with, I believe minor differences in gaskets on the valve body for the lockup, maybe the input shaft is different, It's been too long since I rebuilt one, so I'm alittle fuzzy.

Well, I tried to post, but that didn't work, gives me a dead link. But there are some uploaded to the gallery. My boy was pretty excited to get that car. Too bad he's going to have to wait 6 years to drive it. Now that I think about it I should have bought him one when he was 2 or so, so that it'd be well broken in by now, he he!

Thanks magnum, tim and everybody else. This ought to be bad. I'll try to do this today so you don't have to anticipate too much. later

I think what you have there is a THM350C, which is a lock up version of the 350, came in many 80's models rwd cars in the effort to improve mpg's prior to the overdrives becoming mainstream. My '84 Monte SS had one in it. The plugs on the side are for shift input to the computer and the other is for lock up, you'll need the plug in connectors If you don't use the plug in's then the trans will work but not have lockup in the converter. B&M makes a lockup switch so you can have lockup. Your call, there, IMHO I'd use a regular thm350, or probably better a 700r4, 200r4, 4l60e or even better 4l80e so you'd have overdrive. I run a powerglide in my boys z, but it's really race only with minor forays to whoop street bootie.

Thanks for the advice guys! I took two pic's but I can't get them to post with the . How do you get the pic in there? I did a search for how to post pics and all I get is threads saying to post pic's so I'm not sure. Do the pic's have to be on a web site or can they be on the hard drive of my computer? Dynomax bullets, eh. I run race flowmasters on my monte with a 406 14:1's AFR 220's, Comp roller 270/276 .675/.675 104LSA, on alky even with a cross over pipe they are extremely loud for the street. The flowmaster 40 series I've heard on HP TV on sundays, I've never heard the dynomax bullets, but just so happens I was looking at them in the Summit catalog last night while trying to fall asleep, beats counting sheep. I'll try to find some on EBAY today. Also going to call the muffler shop today and make an appointment to run 3 inch pipes. So, out the back or in front of the rear wheels??

Do it. You can't loose. Fix it up and sell it if nothing else for 75K or more and then move. Real estate is very profitable if you do it right and find folks like this who'll sell on contract. Jew them down on the down payment, be a horse trader, life is short.

Just got the z going this afternoon. The 12 gallon tank it had was full of rust, so I don't have the new fuel system in yet, so just ran gas carb with a funnel filling the vent tube on the primaries. Trans works in forward 2 gears, don't have trans brake hooked up yet so I couldn't try reverse. No leaks, sounds good. Now it's time to get the fuel system done and take it over to the muffler shop to run from the S&S full length headers out the back. Thinking of going with the race one chamber flowmasters or with some flowmaster 40's on the outboard sides behind the rear end and cut outs right behind the collectors for race? Do you think the race flowmasters would be too loud. Engine is 358 cu in (3.5 stroke), 13:1's, AFR 220's, crane solid roller, 250/260 .640/.666 on a 108LSA. I can run alcohol or race gas just by switching carbs, so I run race gas on the street mostly. Alky only after I get home from the races to empty the tank. I'm going to race it on gas first, to see what times it'll do, then switch to alky and see what a difference it makes.

I think mike is right. For some, not saying you are this way, but a little power in the wrong hands goes along way, We've all seen it on the news, and some in person sad to say. If your really seriously interested, and I've known severeal old timers that were and are now retired, take seriously the vow to "serve and protect", not "bust ass and arrest" and several that are using it to extend their racial hatred of blacks, hispanics and what they refer to as "low life scum". Law enforcement officers are the "judge" in the field. Do that, with compassion for Law and a desire to "help" the people. For instance, I had a bolt bin in the back of my truck that was shrink wrapped to a pallet of bolts, nuts, washers, etc. that I just bought for 1300 bucks. While driving down the interstate the wind was pushing the bolt bin against the tailgate, effectively stretching the shrink wrap. The latches broke, I have replaced them, so the tailgate would close again and for court. The bolt bin flew out and onto the freeway at rush hour and remarkably and luckily nobody hit it. However they didn't stop either, so there I am on the inside median stop lane, even with this bolt bin in the highway and nobody stops. Dial 911 to get assistance in removing this obviously dangerous obstacle before a tradjedy strikes. Up drives Officer Walker with the DOT. Another vehicle stops to assist. He stops traffic in the inner two lanes closest to the median and orders me and two guys to carry the bolt bin to the opposite side of the road across 3 more lanes of moving traffic. We do not, instead we hustle it over to my waiting truck across one lane of stopped traffic and put it in the back. To which he cites the two helpers for failing to obey a federal officer and me for an unsecured load, while not even looking at the broken latches on my 3/4 ton dodge. Moving the bin across three lanes of moving traffic in the opposite direction of my truck was not in the best interest of my safety or that of anybody else in my opinion. The bystanders just stopped to help and they get tickets as do I. Court day. The bystanders and I show up, the officer does not, despite three phone calls from the court clerk who actually talked to him all three times and reminded him that he was late for court. Judge let us all go and cancelled the tickets. Just another example of complete BS, wasted time, wasted court resources, productivity, and endless harrassing crap from a bad example of law enforcement. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the message, I don't mind you following your calling, I just ask that if I meet you on opposite sides of the fence, that you do your job and treat me with the same respect that I will treat you and that you follow the letter of the law with compassion. David

It depends on what you want to do, now and in the future. To do it right the first time and only once, the engine should be completely disassembled, cleaned, honed. rods resized, crank reground or newer crank used, use new bearings and rings, check the guides and seats in the heads and reassembled as necessary, and you can take this time to upgrade cam. Undersize cranks aren't that big of a deal as long as they are not less than .020 undersize for performance applications. Most people shy away from alot of undersize ground cranks, but in this type of application it'll probably work fine for quite some time. If you want to patch, then patch, just don't expect all the metal that's circulating in the oil passages to be removed and expect the potential for the same problems again. When you buy a gasket set they come with both so why not pull both heads, tank the block or at least wash it by hand and do the oil galleries while your there. But you will have to resize the one rod for sure. IMHO I'd wait, you seem to have the capability to do it well, scrape up a few bucks, do it right and have a smile on your face longer, rather than posting here again on what went wrong.

the only studs that are mentioned in this thread that are torqued are rocker arm studs. Head studs are not torqued, screw them in finger tight. The other guys are right about sealer. Moly is the way to go, but not imperative. Some aluminum head manufacturers call for 65lb-ft torque due to expansion qualities of aluminum

Yup, the number 3 tube actually hits the steering shaft on mine but not enough to bother with. The collectors need to be bent down alittle and out, I agree. I made my own mounts alot differently than JTR's so I don't have issues there. I run a double kick out 7 quart pan (both sides), no issues there.

Probably as equally as important is the compatibility with angle plug heads, which is the norm these days. I had to grind 1/4 inch off the number three sparkplug electrode, on the wire end, just to get it started in the threads in my afr 220 heads. I had some clearance problem with the frame where the T/C or radius rod is on the passenger side. A torch took care of the 1/4" fitment issue. Now the collectors aren't exactly lined up for a straight shot past the powerglide trans, so right off the bat I'm going to have to do some bending right after the collector flange. So, I guess also an issue is compatibility with different transmissions. I'm going to assume that an automatic is wider than the manual trans options, so that should be a consideration as well. Just thoughts in hopes of trying to end up with a product that will be more universal. I'm in for a set of 2".

I'd say go with at least 1-7/8" primaries at least. 1-3/4 is ok for small engines or low rpm, but really anything over 5500 or 6K begs for larger primaries. The guys running 383's or larger really beg for larger primaries. I'd like 2" also. I have S&S headers in the 1-3/4 full length. They could use a little tweaking to be "just right".

I built my own, and I believe that most of the guys on this forum did the same.

I think from what I've seen these days as far as driving goes, it should be a warning sticker on the inside of all windshields for all urban and city commuter's vehicles should come with a warning; "DRIVING TO AND FROM WORK IS NOT NASCAR"

What is something like this worth?

280zone, I need it and I'm in NM.

When the thread length exceeds the diameter of the bolt, the threads shear strength, "holding power", typically exceeds the tensional strength of the material. Exceptions to this are influenced by thread pitch, thread depth, type of thread and material of the host of the threads and bolt, stud, etc. If you have more than an inch of threads, then there should be sufficient material to "hold" a balancer bolt which is what 7/16 or 1/2 inch fine thread. Studs always hold better, due to the lack of shear when tightening, which can gall threads. The harmonic balancer or the crank obviously has a problem. I doubt that heating the balancer will completely solve the problem since it takes so long to install it and the heat sink area is ever increasing on a large mass. Measuring tools would definately help. A dial bore gauge would tell you more about the balancer than feel. A mic on the crank snout in several directions would also provide usefull information. I'm not sure what the interference fit should be, but .0005 to .001 would seem sufficient to me. I've encountered this problem several times and I always try the balancer on another crank first, if that works, then I work on the snout so I can use the balancer on another crank later on. Of course if you don't care about the crank or balancer then you could resort to the "bubba" method of a brass plate and a MFBH.

If it excessively rich, the go with blue oval, if it's lean then go the other way. In any event, you are going to have to buy a power valve or two. Find out excactly what power valve is in it, then put the vacuum gauge on and put it by the windshield somewhere where you can see it while driving. Notice the vacuum reading when you encounter stumble or hesitation, both may seem about the same if you arent' used to diagnosing this type of problem. This'll tell you what you need to know whether it is opening too soon or not soon enough. Try changing power valves one way or the other and repeat.

Well, if you lived in the same state, i'd come over and show you all I know about qjets and when you get it right, they work awesome. People just need to know how they work, they are infinately adjustable from jetting to air valve setting without buying secondary springs. I have a pile of qjets and parts, so if your looking for primary or secondary hangars, rods, or other pieces, let me know. When setting the primary metering rod depth, lower the adjustment about 3/16" of an inch, leans out the primarys at cruise part throttle only, sure to see a mpg increase over the stock setting, there are several ways to do this depending on year of carb. 3/4 turn from just touching on the air valve for sbc's. Change hangars, rods and cams for tuning secondary fuel rate. Read the plugs. GM has a list of rods and their relevance to rich or lean for both primary and secondary rods. As well, they have cam sizes, rates, etc., Read the directions that come with the kit, if you have questions, ask. Sometimes, somebody already screwed up the carb your working on and it is hard to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it. David