A. G. Olphart

Your idea sounds good... let us know if there are any problems due to vibration. I've got a baby Miller (110 volt) so settings likely won't translate; on mine I'd try #3 and about 20-25. As you've likely noticed, weld speed has a lot to do with heat & feed. For sure play with scraps of the same thicknesses before trying anything real- saves a lot of grinding and/or hole plugging. I'd keep most of the heat/arc on the flanges (by holding closer to perpendicular on them) due to the disparity in thicknesses. Keeping the system aligned is obviously paramount. A person could try slipping the flanges over an existing installation. (Requires mandrel bends?). Slip pairs to where they will live-- or pairs might be placed as a system is built-- bolt the pairs together with washers slightly thicker than the saber saw/hack saw blade between them and tack/weld to the pipes. With the bolts removed & washers tapped out, the system could safely be cut apart & the welding finished with the system down.

Are you certain that it isn't a matter of wire sizing/placement or a weak battery? To keep the fuel pump and ignition as hot as possible, they should not be taken off the 'battery' post of the starter, but from wiring that is hooked somehow to the positive post of the battery. (This eliminates the voltage drop of the big wire going from battery to starter while engine is cranking). A good ground strap to the body from the battery's negative post (as well as a healthy negative battery cable to the block) is also needed. Finally, squeaky clean battery posts/connectors have less voltage drop. OK, so you already checked all this... guess I just like to type.

If you have the full T5 setup and it will handle the torque you expect to make, that sounds like the preferable solution to me. Coming up with bellhousings/adapters is one of those tasks that is simple in concept but can prove difficult in execution. Know how a lathe dog runs off a face plate? (If not, imagine a rotating dinner plate with a 'U' shaped notch in it. Picture a bicycle crank rotating around the same center as the dinner plate. Insert bike pedal into the notch in dinner plate. Now when the plate turns, the bike crank has to turn also). Sounds like there is some sort of crank type mechanism that rides on/against the clutch fingers (Long or Borg & Beck style clutch, not diaphragm) to spin the transmission's pump. There has to be some interesting kind of throwout bearing arrangement fit in there also. Durability/longevity and runout/vibration might be a problem for a street car. If I were seriously considering a Clutch-flite installation, I'd find my answers and locate ALL the components before shelling out $$. Happy Hybridizing 8) !!!

You are about to drop off the page, so I'll chip in with a suggestion, although it may not be too much help... Why not give Canfield a call & talk to them? They should know, and also be able to explain why a couple of the steam holes are not drilled in the head. Those bother me more than big holes that are half open. (The picture shows both steam holes drilled in the center, but only one of two in the other spots). To quote the Canfield web site "Customer is KING at Canfield, we appreciate the opportunity to furnish you with your cylinder head needs. In fact if your not satisfied, please call 1-330-533-7092 and ask for John, as they say "The buck stops here." Sales 1-330-533-7092 Fax 1-330-533-7063."

Sorry Georgia, but I see Warren's logic: This is where you find people who are interested in Chevy's. Forum header position can't change that. For actual forum fit- 'Buy/Sell/Trade' looks the closest. OK, Somebody yell at me .

Hey Tim- That's My pile of crap! Don't Knock/NOK it. (And I doubt if it's coming in at under $3K).

I doubt if you could break the transmission part of a Clutch-Flite since they were built to race (727s were STOUT and are inexpensive to rebuild). The key part(s) would be the clutch/pump drive mechanism Mike referred to... somehow they drove the automatic's front pump off a standard transmission style flywheel and clutch. The price sounds like a steal if all the parts are there and useable. It would be interesting to know how they controlled runout on that pump drive. You may, however, need to find the rare 3.364 diff to have decent highway manners- no OD. BTW- you couldn't really consider this an automatic in the usual sense, as there is a standard clutch in lieu of a torque converter- no fluid coupling involved.

We aren't talking jail time, but the ability of society to get the attention of the rich. Do you think Bill Gates would give a damn about a $2500 or even $25000 ticket? That kind of money to him is like pennys and dimes to you and me. The issue of selective enforcement for fund raising purposes could be a real problem, esp. if the government had California's finances.

Brad: Do you reinforce yours to limit high speed flex, or is it not a problem with the one you chose? And--- Have you got a good source & part number? Some day I'm gonna have to buy one of those things.

Changing steering racks isn't something I'd undertake lightly... If only because I'm uncertain of all the effects it might have on steering geometry. I do believe one does run the risk of inducing bump steer in quantity, depending on how much the arcs traced by the tie rod ends change. Is there any way you can modify your header? Depending on what else is around, 3" + Mods might be enough room to add an elbow and avoid the current steering setup.

Scottie, you are not at all 'stuck' with the spoilers you have!! I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands should you feel the need for a change .

Are you absolutely cetain that this is an ignition problem??? (Maybe Harry Coincidence has visited your garage). Lots of black smoke genereally indicates excess gasoline (stuck choke or other carb malfunction). Does your 4BBL manifold have a divider, so the front 3 cylinders are fed from one half of the carb & the back 3 from the other? If so, that could explain why 3 work & 3 don't. If you have 3 strong sparks & 3 weak sparks... Is this a points distributor? If yes, check point condition & gap-- (Sorry, I've never actually run a Z, just collecting parts for a hybrid). Luck---

No... But I remember Jimmy Clark.

There is another one also- you might give this guy a shout & ask for racer references or such... limitedslip@hotmail.com. Their product is called Retrofit limited slip. Here's most of a letter sent me: "About three years now in testing and usage of the chosen components. It took quite some time to determine which material to use, and experimentation with a host of possibilities. It has terrific wear characteristics, being designed for our purpose and living in an oil environment. As example, we redid a diff for a client a few months ago which had been in operation for about a year, in very extreme use. He ruined his transaxle with lack of oil. The Retrofit unit was in great shape. Wear was not really visible. He reported that it was still working fine. His diff and other parts were galled from oil starvation. Depending upon an owner's desires, we usually apply initial setup at around 75# of breakaway torque force, some less as with small cars like a Mini I have, some more as with drag race only applications. We do not yet have a complaint from ANY user. Lots of good feedback, though. We've done many Z's. One customerin FL calls every now and then with glowing reports of his autocross times, versus before installation. He also sent a picture of his Z. I have extensive racing experience and am aware of the strains placed upon drive trains. Your application is actually less taxing than many. The front wheel drive, front engine cars are more abusive to diffs and such, as you might well imagine." HTH--

Ed- Unless you have a polarity sensing electronic meter, it is always a good idea to start out with a higher scale than you really need. If you hook things up backwards, the meter tries to go the wrong direction (generally into a limiting pin). On a higher scale the needle doesn't bounce as hard. Voltage is the electrical equivalent of pressure, and is often measured in reference to 'Ground' (in a car, that is the car body/frame). Modern cars are negative ground (-) conventionally the black lead. You put the red (+) meter lead on the circuit you are checking, and if you read battery voltage there, it is "Hot". With a volt meter you are looking for circuits which are still "Hot" when they should have been disconnected by the ignition switch. (Note that not all circuits are necessarily turned off by the ignition switch). What you are really interested in finding, however, is not voltage, but current (the electical eqivalent of fluid flow), which is measued by inserting your Ammeter in line, so that it is part of the circuit. If you have a good sized current flowing when you have everything turned off, Don has given you an excellent troubleshooting hint. Much easier to see if a light goes out (you could also use a smaller 12 volt bulb) than to try and read an ammeter each time you pull a fuse. HTH, sorry if you already know this stuff.

You aren't going to suck through a gear pump, not like you can a fuel pump. If you hook your pump to the 'go back to the engine' side of the adapter, you could feed it from a gallon jar or such. Fill the engine and prelube at the same time, assuming the pump builds enough pressure. Would require ABSOLUTE cleanliness to avoid putting trash directly into your bearings. . Might take a while. I'd still squirt some oil into each cylinder before firing and just turn it by hand to get everything wet. Oil does stay in tight places, so you likely would be safe just starting it up... but I'm cautious by nature. I prefer the 'spin the engine with the plugs out' method as it has less chance of adding trash. No/very little load on the bearings without compression and firing pressures..

More on lubing cam (if you want to try it)... It isn't quite as simple as my earlier post indicates; if LT1's are like 1st gen SBC's, the valley area is solid- no holes through which the cam may be seen. Besides pulling the intake you will also have to pull the valve covers, loosen the rockers, and take out each lifter to butter it's bottom. (No mixing of lifters or push rods please). I know it is a lot of work, but I (personally) would do it to limit the possibility of wiping a cam lobe and sending bits of metal through the engine. That could get expensive. At 30K the cam and lifters have been mated, so it might be safe to fire it up without fresh lube... I can't swear either way. The higher the spring pressure the bigger the chance of killing the cam. Good luck- Ben

I wouldn't fire an engine dry after that long... Pull the plugs and spray a batch of oil into each cylinder. If it turns freely, consider leaving the plugs out, shorting the high voltage to ground, and then spinning the engine with the starter until oil pressure has been up a while. Then you can wash the oil from the inside of your fenders, put the plugs and wires back on, and fire it up. Downside of this is still no lube on the cam lobes. Depending on your mood, you could waste a couple of intake manifold gaskets in order to squirt a bunch of oil/assembly lube on the cam before initiating the above procedure. Maybe this post will draw out an expert to tell you how it really should be done.

Another topic about which I know nothing... So I'll give you some free advice. If you can find a good 5.7 liter Vortec headed truck engine cheap, it could be made to produce decent power. There are a couple of head casting numbers... the word is to avoid the ones ending in 906 as they have hardened exhaust inserts which hurt low lift flow. All require machining of the valve guides for decent lift cams, and must either use 'rail' type self locating rockers or be machined for screw in studs and guide plates. To run a carb they need a special aftermarket intake manifold. The roller cams used in these engines are not cheap (but takeouts may sometimes be found--- people switch up when ordering a roller cam crate engine). Quoting Grumpyvette:"remember vortec heads are meant to produce good low and mid range torque NOT HIGH RPM HP if you want over 400hp-420hp your better off with bigger port,better flowing heads". So your truck engines/heads are a possibilty if you are looking for a street engine. Go elsewhere for an out & out race engine. That said, they do fit on early blocks and are cheap. (Factor in the machining; Sallee Chev and others may still sell the heads with the machining done). For approximate power attainable look through the combinations shown here for Vortec headed engines (#78 is one): http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html Someone else can fill in the other side of the equation.

The only clue I can offer is that my local library has quite a few wiring diagrams. I go in and look at/copy them for my vehicles, and go from there. The 260 should have had a tach wire going into the engine compartment. If you can get a diagram, it should show the color of the wire, allowing you to find the loose end and put it where the diagram specifies. Did the 280 have electronic ignition? If so, then you may have to study two diagrams to see if the tachs hook to the same place. Good luck!

As another non engineer (differential calculus was a bit much) may I suggest disconnecting the hot lead of the alternator overnight & seeing if the drain goes away. (If a diode dies it can drain your battery pretty fast... obviously for this test the battery must remain connected). Once you are sure the alternator isn't the problem and if you need to drive the car, just pull the negative battery cable each time you shut the engine off. Assuming that your battery is good and that the charging system is in fact charging, this should allow you to use the vehicle. A bad leak/drain may even give you a little spark when you pull the cable. Were I to use a meter to check for current draw, I'd start with the highest ampere setting on the meter and work my way down (trying to avoid blowing a meter or meter fuse in a relatively high current drain situation). Chances are fair that if your wiring were the problem you would have warm wire(s) and/or melted insulation.

Saw a 3 rotor rotary at Rising Sun engines a couple years back.

Sounds like you started with one problem and may be creating another... Blowing black smoke is pretty much THE indicator of an overly rich condition, like the choke is stuck closed (your original problem?). Your second problem may relate to the distance you are jumping your test spark. Some people use 75V/ mil (75Volts/ 0.001") as the actual break down voltage for air... at 1/2 inch that would be about 37500 volts, and while your ignition system should do that, the spark may have taken an easier path. If it punches through a bit of insulation it may permanently short out your ignition system. (Some ignition systems don't take kindly to open circuit testing, and I'm a bit of a wimp, so I try to hold my test sparks at about 1/8"). (This really should have gone in ignition and electrical)

Moog and TRW are both old line manufacturer's names & had good reps. Who bought whom, or do they both now belong to someone else (Federal Mogul?) As to mixing progressive and straight wound springs front and back, I personally wouldn't do it. I can just picture in my mind the back of the car sinking a bit before stabilizing going into each corner. Somehow that seems worse than the whole side dropping a bit and then getting more solid as the stiffer part of an all progressive setup comes into play. You should be able to look at your current springs and determine their type. If all the coils are evenly spaced, they are straight wound; if one end of the spring has coils spaced further apart than the other end, then they are progressive. Logically, progressives will give you a little better ride, but a bit more body movement before they stiffen up. I think the racer types mostly liked straight wound springs. Too bad the search function is dead for the nonce- real racers have discussed these before, and not being a real racer, I just let it slip by.

Mike- Maybe try Pat's calculator to see what difference .004 makes? http://members.uia.net/pkelley2/DynamicCR.html Oops... you need to cc the buggers, don't you- that isn't a thickness change over the full bore diameter. (Or you could figure the chamber area at the head surface and go from there). How's the surface finish on the heads?