pparaska

so sorry to hear this! I agree with EvilC, do it ahead of time to know the numbers , go to th shop and start doing it, get the owner to come out and watch.

Frank, I'm very sorry to hear about Ross. You and your family are in my prayers. If it's not too much trouble, please pass along to Ross my desire for him to know that he touched me and many others in the Z community. He was always receptive to ideas and did due diligence in his engineering and business dealings. I can thank him for many products I bought from him, sage advice, and just good, thoughtful communications. I always enjoyed messaging and talking to him. I hope you and yours can find the joy that is Ross in all of this. Best Regards, Pete Paraska.

Mike, I found the source of my confusion There are 2 different designs for the EPS (click link to their catalog page for these) One design is for pre-oiling and is low flow (PN 24-270) The other is for surge control and high flow (PN 24-271, 245-273, or 24-275, depending on which pressure range you want) I'm betting that the low flow one used to be the only one available and the text that mark quoted from their troubleshooting page that talks about the EPC not to be used for surge control is from a time when they offered the low flow version only? Word to the wise - be careful buying an EPC if you want to use it for surge control - make sure it is the 24-271, 273 or 275 (which are high flow versions) or is the 24-270 version that's been converted with their upgrade kit, 24-271K, 24-273K, or 24-275K.

Mike, is your reason for the Accusump surge control or pre-oiling? It seems that since this is a race car, you'd want to not be using the EPC at least in the normal fashion, since the flow is too slow for surge control?

I gotta say - Matt is making a lot of sense here - it seems you had the 383 sorted pretty well, except for oiling, but that's going to be an issue to solve with the LS as well. I'd be sticking with the 383 for a while to get some track time, and gather EVERYTHING you need for doing the LS swap while you are driving the 383 on track.

Mike, really sorry to hear that. Can somebody come by and move the trailer to a more secure location for you? Take care and stay dry.

Mike, ya got nuttin' on the Woods Brothers, but that's pretty awesome. Any idea where the sparkly stuff came from? Main or Rod bearings? Cam? And any idea why you had metal to metal wear like that? I understand the weight issue - my Dart block added another 50 lbs to the engine compartment. Not sure how much ended up on the front vs the rear tires. I'm betting that in the short and long run, it'll be easier and cheaper to debug the oiling issue and just put the old school SBC back in than to re-engineer the car for the LS, although I fully understand the reasons to want to go that route - if my 406 ever comes out again, an LS will probably replace it. Sorry to hear that your Fall track plans got set back - or is the P-car going in it's place

Mike, you had me going there too. Good one. The Z is going to be a much less expensive track car, but you know that. For a track car, I can see the desire for custom long tubes. Also, you have no reason to NOT go solid roller. I've run one the street for years with no trouble and no real need to be checking clearances any more often than a Track car would dictate. I probably check clearances every 1000 miles. It's not a big deal and I actually enjoy it. Just make sure you go with a good lifter design. I like the Isky's with the bushing in the roller versus the needle bearings. I'd think about going for some larger diameter pushrods, even if you have to go to offset lifters and machining of the pushrod holes in the heads to do it. The "new" experience of the top end builders say to go with stiff pushrods, even if it means more spring pressure. I'd be looking into T&D or Yello Terra shaft rockers too (I love spending your money!!!) to ensure valvetrain precision and durability. As for the LS versus SBC, I agree, you have all this stuff engineered for the SBC, changing would be expensive int terms of up front costs, and debugging. You can make plenty of power with the SBC, and make it reliable. Remember the oiling issues you had with the vette? Well, you have to fight the oiling issues tracking both engines, by going away from the OE stuff, and there's a lot more years of experience doing that with the SBC, although I'm sure the oiling issues of the LS on track have been engineered too. If you get into it and see any cylinder wall issues, I am saying just forget the OE block and go with a Dart block. 50 pounds more weight but a MUCH better choice for a track car. Mine's worked out well. You gain oiling upgrades among other things that just make sense on a track car. Love spending your money! Just kidding. This stuff is relatively cheap (Dart block, shaft rockers, etc.) compared to the German Car stuff you are used to buying, but will make the car more reliable and bullet proof.

Wow - wonder what happened? Really sorry to hear about this as it hosed your fall plans. But think of it as a chance to do some updating and bullet proofing, only looking towards advances in longevity and peace of mind. What comes to mind for me also are dyno pulls with detonation that couldn't be heard, but weakening the ring lands. You were making great power and it sounds like you were pleased with how it ran, so I would only be looking to upgrade for longevity in the build. Maybe the only thing to change otherwise during the rebuild is the installation of some knock sensors and some instrumentation/datalogging for them? You can use GM knock sensors in the coolant drain holes just above the pan rail (either side) a la LT1. Go with some high end pistons while you are at it (sorry, Mark), to keep away from this issue even if it wasn't the cause. Anyway, there have been a lot of OE and competition advances in rings and cylinder preparation in the last 10 years that you may want to look into while you're fixing this. The pistons will probably have to be replaced, so why not grab up some of this technology while fixing it? A bit more power to be had, but more importantly, less oil burning and the subsequent fouling of the combustion chamber, longer life, etc. Oh, and less emissions, (couldn't resist). Enjoy Nags Head!

Yeah, that will help!! BTW, what was in the mustache bar, and what are you installing?

Mike, I agree with RebekahsZ - you might try a copper gasket - I've had good luck with the thin ones with a bead. And yeah, make sure those flanges are flat. Note that a non-flat gasket (like the beaded ones) will cause a too-thin flange to bend out of flat when heat and tight bolts are combined. @RebekahsZ: I used to use Stainless bolts here and that galled together. Even high temp anti-seize was not a sure bet to keep that from happening. I went to Grade 5 bolts and brass nuts and this worked well (with high-temp anti-seize). But they still come a bit loose. Split lock washers work for a while, but the heat takes the spring away from them. The OE's use actual springs under the nuts in some applications to keep things tight. I've never gone that far.

I have an old-style SBC with a Sanden 508 compressor, sitting just in front of the driver's (Port, not Starboard) cylinder head. I welded a piece of 3/8" ID tubing to a 6 inch or so length of 1" angle iron. The tubing is long enough to fit between the ears of the compressor, and a long bolt goes throught the ears and the tube. The angle iron is bolted to the top two engine mount bolts that prutrude through the JTR steel mounting plate for the driver's side of the engine. I bought a turnbuckle type of adjuster from street & performance for the top. I bolts to the top ear of the compressor and a lug on the water pump (long pump). Sometimes, you have to be an old hotrodder and just make the stuff yourself (and save some money!) Here's a link to a page of engine compartment shots that show where it's mounted. http://alteredz.com/TrialFit.htm

Mike, Glad things went that well on the shakedown II run! How did the motor fair with the running-out-of-fuel issue? Any damage? I suppose you'll be able to tell with another pull on the dyno. Hope all is well with the car and everything.

Mike, that's awesome!! Can't wait to get a ride!!

You would need to hide the GPS antenna well from the prospective theif's eyes, but not the sky.

Check my webpage for how I fixed this. http://alteredz.com/turnsgn1.htm

@RebekahsZ: the holes for mounting the bumper are attached to a bracket that is welded to the hat-section frame "rails" that run on either side of the spare tire depression. The rear panel and a stiffener behind it are very close by. This kind of like a monocoque construction and fairly strong. There's nothing stronger in that area of the car to connect to.

Mike, it's looking quite menacing! I'm glad to see you're making so much progress! The front tires look so freaking huge - that is going to be a blast to drive!

Glad to hear the wheels are coming in soon. So what was the leak all about? From the bearing retainer perimeter against the case, or from around the shaft in the retainer?

Mike, understood - maybe have a good body shop do all or some of that (fixing Jim's car, and making copies of the flares if others are interested). You'd probably enjoy doing the mechanical work instead of the body work to get the car ready (for delivery to Jim) anyway. I know what you mean about time, working on cars and driving them - I have trouble just getting time behind the wheel of my Z where I like to the most - on the track.

I like the design of the look as well. Maybe pull a mold off them before you cut them off to make tire clearance adjustments underneath? You'd be saving the artwork and creating the rest of the flare "part" for a new flare that was designed with cutting back everything for clearance if they were installed. Maybe sell a few sets to recoup your investment of time and materials for creating the molds, etc.

Been there too. If you can fit a deflector into the valve cover and have it TIG'd in place that might help. I didn't do it that way - I got a hold of some Mil-Spec RTV (Dow 3145 I think it was), and cleaned the cover and new grommet with acetone, then RTV'd the grommet in place. That fixed it. Glad you won't have to pull the head!

No, the guy that built your shortblock built my original 407 c.i. shortblock. That was 2 sets of pistons and 3 cams ago! I had that deck plug weep a bit on a 327 build. It was an old 64 block that had a pressed in cup plug, no threads. I made sure to use a decent (but not too much) sealer before I put the had back on, after cleaning all the oil off the surface the plug made contact with. Your block should have a threaded plug there - but maybe it didn't get any sealer and/or didn't get tightened enough. I was kidding (well kinda) about different heads. I'm sure that thing is plenty fast as it is. Just add a Whipple charger later if it needs more beans.

I'd be looking at the "plug in the top of the deck where the hole is drilled for the center cam passage" Been there, removed that (cast iron double hump) head while it was in the car to fix the leak.... Sorry to hear you need to pull that head, but at least it's aluminum. Are you sure you don't want to upgrade something (better heads?) while you are turning wrenches? (evil laughter)

Nice! So is the M3 the funny little honey's new ride, since you're replacing her little white 3? I remember your M Roadster - took it for a quick drive, and I fell in love with it!