Kevin Shasteen

Okay, I finally made time to relay the numbers. First, the only engines listed were American V8's which included Chevy, Ford, Mopar, Olds & Ponitac..sorry AMC guys-looks like you've been left out again. Okay: 5 engine classes which include 7 different measurements and I'll list the measurements from A-G, and they are as follows: A: Top View, Front to Rear of Engine from front of Water Pump hub to the rear of engine where the distributor or the valve cover interferes w/the firewall B: Bottom View, Front to Rear of Engine, again from the front of the Water Pump Hub to the rear of the engine to the back of the block/oil pan housing C: Frontal Top View, Side to Side as if you're looking at the engine from the front of the hood w/the front clip removed & the engine sitting or snuggled in the chassis. This particular view is specifically measured from the top of the valve cover from its most outer extreme distance to the other valve cover & its most extreme distance (the extreme distance on each valve cover would be the point on the valve cover that almost touches the inner fender well). D: Frontal Bottom View, Again from Side to Side as in "E" w/the difference being the point which is measured here are the exhuast manifolds: from the extreme outer distance of one manifold where it almost touches the inner fender well/suspension/steering components to the other exhaust manifold's outer most extreme distance. (Measurements include stock exhaust manifolds only & do not include headers of any kind). E: Side View, Top to Bottom Measurement from the bottom of the oil pan sump to the intake manifold plenum (stock intake manifolds: "plenum" being the base that the carb or throttle body sits on). F: Side View, Top to Bottom Measurement also taken from the bottom of the oil pan sump to the top of the carburetor where the air filter housing rests on the carburetor (again-using stock carburetors on top of a stock intake manifold). G: Side View, Top to Bottom Measurement also take from the bottom of the oil pan sump to the top of the air filter housing (again-only factory air filter houstings were implied). Now for the engines and their actual measurements (all measurements were given in inches)...drum roll please: I.) Chevrolet Small Blocks: 350/383/406 A:26.5, B:27, C:19.5, D:26, E:20.5, F:25, G:27 These engines have a stock rear sump & their starters are on the left side of the block II.) Chevrolet Big Blocks: 396/427/454/502 A:30.5, B:30.5, C:22 D:27, E:23.5, F:29.5, G:33 These engines have a stock rear sump & their startes are on the left side of the block III.) Ford Small Blocks: 302/351/400 A:27, B:29, C:20, D:22, E:22, F:25, G:27 These engines have a stock front sump & their starters are on the right side of the block IV.) Ford Big Blocks: 427/460 A:30, B:32, C:23, D:27, E:28, F:30, G:32 These engines have a stock front sump & their staters are on the right side of the block V.) Mopar Small Block: 360 A:29.5, B:29.5, C:20.5, D:25, E:23.5, F:28, G:31 These engines have a stock front sump & their starters are on the left side of the block VI.) Mopar Big Blocks (Wedge): 383/400/440 A:29, B:30, C:23.5, D:29.5, E:24, F:28, G:30.5 These engines have a stock front sump & their starters are on the left side of the block VII.) Mopar Hemi (True Elephantitis): 426 A:32, B:31, C:28.5, D:29, E:24, F:28, G:31 This engine has a stock center sump & its starter is on the left side of the block VIII) Olds Small Blocks: 350/400 A:28.2, B:28.2, C:21.5, D:26, E:20.2, F:25, G:27.5 These engines have a stock rear sump & their starters are on the right side of the block IX.) Olds Big Blocks: 455 A:29, B:31, C:22.5, D:26.5, E:24, F:27, G:31 X.) Pontiac Small Blocks: 350/400 A:28.2, B:29, C:22, D:27, E:26, G:31 These engines have a stock rear sump & their starters are on the left side XI.) Pontiac Big Blocks: 455 A:29.5, B:32, C:23, D:27, E:28.5, F:33 These engines have a stock rear sump & their starters are on the right side of the block. *NOTE: Its obvious not all displacements were listed-if you're displacement isnt listed, simply pick the small/big block series engines your block is related to & you should be in the ball park as far as measurements for your engine. Hope this helps. BTW...I didnt copy this (tongue & cheek) I actually searched the salvage yards & measured each engine after I removed it. But, just in case some cheap attourney doesnt believe me...each & everyone of you may send a small donation my way for my lawsuit relief fund! Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

GrumpyVette, About the cooling trick for the cyl.heads; were you talking about running the line from the sensor (in the cyl.head) to the radiator cooling tanks that are actually in the radiator? (Good Idea/never thought of that). If that is what you're talking about; then the line would initially run from the cylinder head, to the radiator coolant inlet, from the radiator coolant oultet to the water pump(?); yes/no. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Hey Gary, Congrats on the beginning stages of your swap; wish I could say the same. 300'ish horsies should be a breaze & should pleasantly wake up the performance of your Z. A "Best of Hotrod" magazine article I have did a budget build & compared 3 bare bones camshaft grinds from Summit. They picked a 350 block out of a wrecked nova on "New Years Day" so they got it for nothing...had minimal machine work done & used the cast iron cylinder heads which were bone stock except for milling which broght the comb.chambers down to 76cc. The cam they chose had spec's of 224/234 Duration at .050 .465/.488 lift and a 114 LSA. They also searched & found a complete rebuild kit for the cheapest price available. The pistons used had 4 eye-brow reliefs in them. All in all they spent $1367.15 in parts & machine work while using their own labor. The dyno run of the cam mentioned made 343 lbs.ft @3900rpms & 304 Hp @ 5200rpms. Vacuum at 800rpms was 12.7 In-Hg. BTW: this was done w/out decking the block which gave them @ 8:4.1 Static Comp.Ratio. If you wanted about 50 more horsies you could use the same cam & deck the block to increase the comp.ratio....or even buy some GM alluminum cyl.heads; not the expensive ones but the poor mans alluminum cyl.heads. Make sure you go w/a AOD trans or a 5spd if its a manual trans. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Hmm, I'm not really up on alluminum water pumps; but PAW is chock full of alluminum water pumps w/coolant pipe fitting passages already on them. What brand name water pump are you using? I'ld get the tech line number for the mfg of the water pump & ask them exactly what they expect you to do about your heater core situation. I'ld also call Edlebrock & ask them for suggestions on the heater core return line; same thing on your brake booster...surely Edelbrock QC would've thought of every possible carb being used on their manifold & not covered up the vacuum port for the manifold line(?). Maybe someone else who isnt still an inliner & has come across this before can chime in. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Davy..that was one book I never found at the bookstore and for one reason or another have not ordered it: will one of these days just to add to my collection as I always thought of it as a valuable book as well. John(!), now you tell me about the "URL"...Doh! I definately did not see it when you posted it earlier. Oh well, now we have it on record as a quick reference for those who dont want to buy the book or cant afford to buy the book and something comparable to your URL (more heads are better than one...so are more listings/charts better than just one chart). The shorter "A" dimension on the SBC must've been for the short water pump; who knows-that's what it said tho, go figure(?). The book only indicated the 360 SBM & didnt include any other SBM's. I'm not that familiar w/SBM's. As for any book data; there's only one way to confirm anything...actual hands on experience. I'ld only use the measurements as quick reference & not hard data simply because they only measured factory intakes (which factory intakes) & factory exhuas manifolds (which factory exh.manifolds, factory carb's/air filter housings (which ones?)...ect, ect, ect. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Free is Free; I agree w/the others-take the 350 & rebuild it. W/the $300 you saved by not buying the 327 you can buy the intake/carb & cam (almost depending on parts you choose). The 327 is a nice topic & would be cool retro-wise but there is no replacement for displacement. The 350 is more readily available & parts are a dime a dozen. If you decide to go w/a 3spd auto-that's fine as long as its just "to get it going" as 700trans are becoming rather affordable as well; plan to find a 700 once you get your car running...you will want the overdrive! Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Your valve covers were the first thing I noticed when I pulled up the picture...I LIKE Very Cool Indeed. I could also see your Z off to the side; looked like the Z was wagging its tale in appreciation of the V8...dont keep your Z waiting too long! Kevin, (Yea,Still a "Jealous" Inliner)

Sorry Jeff, no LT5 here...I'm still a lowly inliner. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Lone, I like the Mad Scientist idea; at least as a Mad Scientist I have a chance of taking over the world..., BoooHahahaHABoooHahahahahah (internet version of the mad scientist laugh)! Kevin, Yea,Still an Inliner)

Good sight Pete: very informative. I liked his "BOB" invention. I actually put together a jig of my own to recover oil from the "Bottom of the Bottle" of quart oil bottles: it worked fine...not as pretty as his: but mine worked just as well. Hey, does that mean I'm Rocket Scientist Material? Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Glad to hear it guys; couldnt've any better choices than you two. I've been trying to stretch my brain cells to include EFI; I like it-still learning tho. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Definately from one extreme to the other. I too have never see a low profile manifold from the factory which is as low as that last manifold. The second manifold may have been from a 289HiPo Falcon. MuscleCar Magazine did a special this last month (may have been last month) on the alledged HiPo 289 Falcaon. Apparently all these years there were rumors that a HiPo 289 Falcon was mfg in very short numbers...but no one (no public expert-who claims to be an expert) had seen one at that time. Turns out that HiPo 289 Falcons were made...in very small production numbers; but never in the USA, only in Canada. MuscleCar's article included a Restored 289HiPo still owned by its original owner...somewhere in Canada. I'm not a Ford guy so I'm not sure where to look for the Ford emblem & Ford Part#'s; but I didnt see any on the second manifold...maybe an aftermarket unit(?). That would be a nice intake for a SBF on someone's project, Its powerband would surely be in the 3500-4500rpm range. Its definately a conversational piece to be that old & still apparently in that good of condition as well as being so unique. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Pretty nice & well documented build...except he didnt mention his Piston's Dish.cc's nor his comp.ratio. He did mention his cyl.head combustion chamber's were at 69.3...that should yeild about 14:1 comp.ratio. What I found even more interesting was his graph under the "427 Specifications" link on his VE% indicating that 90+% was only reached at .300 cam lift while all other cam lifts above .300 was below 85% margin; his graph indicates he tested, I believe, three different cyl.heads for his engine. I wanted to mention the VE spec's his graph indicate simply due to the fact that many of us, at times, on this board [think/feel] we or they are running at 95 or 100% VE. This guy spent boocoo's of dollars & he isnt running 100% VE except at low lift. Anyways; I found it interesting & thought I'ld pass it along. Kevin, (Yea,Still a ,NON-427V8, Inliner"

Jimbo, My Holley books (I have three of them) indicate possible Vacuum Sec. problems as follows: 1) As you already mentioned "Over Carburation" AKA:Too large of a carb 2) Improper Vacuum routing/port choices 3) Too Heavy of a Vac.Sec. Spring 4) Vac.Sec. Throttle Linkage binding 5) The Secondary Butterflies are binding against your Intake to Carb Gaskets & therefore even tho you may be getting vacuum to the diaphram the butterflies are jammed against the base gaskets & wont move..thus you think you have diaphram prob's when you actually have base gasket to butterfly problems. 6) On some Holley's the Vac.Sec. has a bleed off venturi w/a check ball inside the bleed off passage; if this check ball is stuck on its seat (from the carb sitting on the shelf in the warehouse for too long: or for whatever reason) then your diaphram will just bleed off its vacuum & never open...even tho it's getting the vacuum signal as designed. Questions: 1) What Vacuum ports on the carb did your route to what ports on the engine/distributor? 2)When you installed it; did you manually work the linkage including the Secondaries w/your fingers as you slowly torqued down the carb bolts...if you only work the linkage-the primaries will only open as there is no vacuum to the secondaries w/out the engine running-therefore-as you're initially setting up the carb you've assumed that both primary & secondary butterflies are not binding...but you have to manually open the primaries w/one hand while manually open the secondaries w/the other hand..then & only then have you confirmed that neither primaries & secondaries are free of any binding....hope this was said half way inteligently. 3) When you changed the Vac.Sec. Springs what color spring did you install; my books indicate that the [white] spring is the lightest. If you install the [white] spring & still dont feel the secondaries are opening then IMHO your Vac.Diaphram is not the problem, rather, a restriction to the linkage or the vac.signal to the diaphram is the problem. 4) When you test drive your car & floor it; does your car bog/hesitate in any way, as rpm's build? 5) As you accelerate-what rpm do you accelerate to? 6) What intake manifold did you choose/along w/the specs of your camshaft & cylinder heads! If you're running a large cam, Single Plane Intake, Large CFM Heads w/a large carb that is improperly tuned...you may not be getting the vacuum signal that your carb requires to open at lower rpms! You may have to accelerate to 5000/6000 rpms before your Vac.Sec's get the signal they require inorder to open: dont do this on a new engine "WE DONT WANT ANY SPUN BEARINGS". Bigger is not always better. 6b) Even w/a high Static Comp.Ratio-things look fine...but Dynamic Comp.Ratio may be bleeding off to such a degree that your Vacuum Signal isnt strong enough to open the Vac.Sec.Diaphram at a lower rpm: You'ld have to gauge the signal below your carb to prove "what signal" is actually being fed to the base of your carb. Easiest sollution would be to do what someone on this thread mentioned earlier....borrow someone else's carb that is known to work & see if you get the same results as your carb. If you get that feel of monstrous power & its obvious the borrowed carb's secondaries do open...then it should be obvious that your carb was either defective or improperly tuned to your engine. Hope some of this helps. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

JohnC, It wasnt so much the lawn chairs the officer was laughing at as much as it was your Hawaai'n short/Bermuda shors & the Martini's in between the lawn chairs that probably got'em going! At least that's the picture I got while reading your story...too funny. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inilner)

ellobo, If I remember correctly didnt you have a pair of cast iron heads about a year ago that blew a gasket? Are you the original owner of that V8? The heads you have now; did you purchase them new? Are you the original owner of those heads? Could possibly be that either the engine is not square from the previous owner (providing you're not the original owner) & possibly the cyl.heads have been agressively milled by a previous owner (providing you're not the original owner) & thus one or both of those aforementioned possibilities are contributing to your intake leaking. If the heads have been milled excessively by a previous owner to increase the comp.ratio then the intake would need milling as well. The other possibility; your block not being square-may contribute to a leaking intake as well. The only way to check for non-squareness of cyl.heads is to check them when they are off the engine w/a straight edge & feeler gauges. The only way to check for squareness of the block is...well to be a machinest & to have extremely expensive tools specifically for that purpose: you can check the deck the same way as the cyl.heads but to crank centerline to crank centerline squareness involves expensive tools. Hope you figure it out; prob's like this can wear on a guy after awhile. Let us know what you find out-your solution may help someone if/when they find themselves in the exact same predicament. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

I can see the potential; I think the color scheme would flow nicely...just thinking out loud or have you made your mind up? Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

The heads you'll "Need" all depends on your expectations & the parts you use to build your engine...which in turn effect the airflow prior to the intake, after it enters the intake/mixing w/fuel, combustion chambers & the exhaust. Every part on the engine effects airflow; your question, albeit in earnest, is too general to give a thorough answer. What I can tell you is that Corkey Bell's book says that any "Stock Set Up" can handle a 7psi boost w/no other modification. Your cylinder heads will effect when your peak power is reached, while your pistons/cam/intake/Fuel systems determine how quickly you reach that peak (broad powerband -vs- peaky powerband) & the turbo you choose will determine how efficiently your engine's peak power is amplified & how efficiently your engine is "Launched" toward that amplified peak. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Mike, Are you wanting a cam for racing or hwy cruising? High Lift, Long Duration & narrow LSA all point to a high rpm power band & a peaky power range. I agree w/the aforementioned posts; you'll have to comprimise on the duration & LSA as your current cam is causing the cyl's to bleed off prematurely at lower rpm's..thus your low rpm surging. We all want hwy cruising when its convienent & we want all out racing when its required: but you cant have your cake & eat it too (I hate it when someone tells me this). Your cubes, your cyl.heads & pistons wont allow low rpm curising if your using a cam that compliments the rest of your package: it all boils down to "how fast" you wish your engine to reach peak power. If you want a cam that allows low rpm cruising then you'll have to use a cam w/a wider LSA which will give you a broader power band...but then you're comprimising your cyl.heads ability to breathe: answer-smaller heads...but then your diminishing your high rpm peak power & your ability to get there quicker...but then your: and so on, and so on. A wide LSA, comparable lift & moderate duration equal a decent low rpm power range but a wide power band. Just the opposite will give you a crispier/faster reving engine w/a peaky power band at the cost of low rpm power. Unfortunately if you want both-your gonna have to purchase a set of 4 valve Arao cyl.heads....come on-cough it up! Their only $5k! Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) [ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Kevin Shasteen ]

Congrats Scotty on your find...and getting it home in one piece. At least, with all the exhaust, you shold take comfort in knowing that no mesquito's followed you home! Your work zone should be an insect free zone, (smirk: humorously I jest). Good poem, sounds like the wheels are turning as the imagination goes wild w/mod's. Keep us updated. Another lost soul (your inline Z) has found its way home & anxiously awaits the V mod! Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) [ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Kevin Shasteen ]

To each their own; that's what this board is for-so everyone remotely interested can do their own research multiply their research by their own ability to fabricate/modify & factor in the amount of time you have to put into it...that's called an informed decision. Sorry to hear you've chosen not to go the V8Z route but I am glad to hear you researched it yourself & made an inteligent decision which is personal to you. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Vacuum Lines are something the aftermarket manuals seem to steer away from like the plague; I dont know why they, 9 out of 10 times, wont give any vacuum diagrams...but that's the way it usually plays out. In order to get a good vacuum diagram of your engine you will usually have to buy a Factory Service Manual for that year/application. Try B&N or any book store for that matter & look in all the manuals that have ford V8's...not just your type Van Manual. Sometimes a truck manual will have more info (even on the engine) than a car manual will w/that same driveline. Dont leave out your local Library; I once checked out a local library & to my surprise I found a book soley written on Vacuum Lines for all makes/models past 75 to present; I was totally shocked. Keep looking & dont give up; manuals w/vacuum lines diagrams are like needles in a haystack...you know they're there, somewhere-you're just not exactly sure which haystack you'll find them in. Dont forget the 2nd Hand Bookstores..I've found some good manuals in those stores as well. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) [ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: Kevin Shasteen ]

I couldnt see it; I got the "Sorry,this site is temp.unavailable" screen. Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner)

Jon, That's what I've envisioned my scoop looking like except I'ld want the hood scoop intake opening to be slightly smaller/kinda lower profile-ish if you will; something similar to a Viper. I like it...couldnt really tell about the side vents; did you leave them alone or alter them too(?). Kevin, (Yea,Still an Inliner) [ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: Kevin Shasteen ]

And all proud respectful Weenies stood & in unison said, S--A--L--U--T--E! As they tossed their HP calculators in the air in celebration (but not too high as they wanted to make sure they could catch them prior to hitting the ground & breaking). Kevin, (Yea,Still a Weenie of an Inliner)