280zwitha383

Well, I would question the people doing the testing really. The first thing I would do is see if anything is pulling the batter down (which something probably is): http://www.international-auto.com/index.cfm?fa=ad&aid=331

How much are they at harbor freight? There's a HF in about 20 minutes from me and I really don't mind a little inaccuracy, just a good idea of what's going on would be fine. Oh yeah, in between my first and second post I found this site that describes how to make your own: http://vmaxoutlaw.com/tech/leakdown_tester.htm

I would start by checking your fluids. White smoke is usually coolant burning. If you keep running out of antifreeze but don't have a leak then that's why (it's leaking into the engine and being burned off). Now the reason it is being burned off is the question. Usually it's either from a blown head gasket or cracked block or head. ASSuming one of those, you're losing power because you're not building compression (because you have a crack in something or a blown head gasket that is leaking air). The ticking you describe is not good either. If you're getting coolant in your oil then you're losing your lubrication and destroying your entire engine (bearings,cylinder walls, cam, lifters (are they called lifters in an OHC engine?) etc.). What you need to do is check your fluids. If you've got oil in your coolant or coolant/gas in your oil then you need to stop driving it and fix whatever problems you have. You might look at getting a junkyard engine to replace your current one as someone has probably not taken care of it. This might also be the time to consider a different engine if you know what I mean.....

Really? Ok. My tools and a few cars are not here at my house so sometimes I have to ask silly stuff that most people would just go out in the garage and look at.

Sell it while it will still drive. I hope you didn't pay very much money for it

So is this valve/flap something I could see if I had a filter in my hand? Can you get a NAPA filter anywhere or just from NAPA? What other filters will work (right)?

4L80 is overkill for that engine in a Z. You shouldn't have to worry about it going out though. You might consider changing the cam on that engine before you drop it in but it should be fun regardless. Yes, Vortec engines are bueno also but not the "best" and not just because you can't say that. An LS engine is better in my opinion.

Well, my '81 got none of the good stuff. No power locks, no t-tops, no R180, no speedo. It is noticeably easier to push (lighter) than my '82 before the engine swap of course.

I learned the hard way. After I hit the jack out from under the car my hand was sandwiched between the strut and some other part (it's a fuzzy memory and I was about to dirty up some good underwear). I managed to roll over (I had to twist my arm) and with the other hand I managed to take the arm out of the jack, tighten the screw and jack the car up. I was amazed once I finally got out that my hand wasn't broken. I don't think I was far enough under the car to be killed if my hand hadn't caught it but it's possible. Needless to say I always use jack stands now.

I was watching that thing as well. Around here, that's a steal.

After I read a little more about it I realize that I definitely need a leakdown gauge because I need to figure out what percent I am losing and I need to have the cylinders at TDC which of course made sense to me in the first place but it still doesn't make sense how a compression gauge holds pressure. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a check valve because when you unscrew it from the head it blows out. So....

So I'd like to do a leakdown test on my 383 but I don't have a leakdown tester/gauge. I do have a compression gauge and I'm wondering why I couldn't just use that. I mean the cylinder holds pressure after you build it by cranking the engine and you have the gauge to see what's going on. Why would you need a gauge that hooks up to an air compressor? The other question is: Why does the cylinder not lose its pressure when the exhaust valve opens? I'm sure this is very simple and probably something I should know but it just doesn't make sense. For that matter when the intake valve opens why would the pressure not simply go back into the intake. I'm missing something very basic here. Thanks for any insight.

(edit: it might keep going into 2nd from 3rd because....) The kickdown cable on the thing is stuck I guess because it doesn't return to where it should be and if you pull it there's only maybe 1.5" of cable left. The transmission also leaks (a lot come to find out sitting in the garage) and the dipstick is broken off so who knows really how much fluid is in it. The dipstick broke off right before where it has that slotted bend in it I guess to keep it stable in the shaft. Anyway, I tried to use that as a reference point with another dipstick I had that was obviously longer (probably went on a truck) but it didn't seem to come out right. Me and the wife are going to put some old heads that I know are good on the engine tomorrow and see if the compression problem isn't in the valves (who would get that lucky). I'm pretty skeptical but since we got the Corvette I have actually been able to get her out and teach her some stuff about engines (read: she really likes Corvettes). I know what you're talking about with the gearing. This things actually does decent in 1st and 2nd but 3rd will just barely keep you at speed. Heck my truck used to have 2.73 gears in it and it really didn't have a problem with 3rd. 1st would go up to 55 pretty easily which was funny and it was fun to kick into second going 60 or 70. I actually wish I didn't put the 3.73's in it. That sucker is too heavy to race unless there's something serious under the hood and then it's kind of foolish to have it in there and not a much lighter car. With the corvette I think I'll enjoy it especially if I get the 350 vortec in it with the FI. If I can get close to 20mpg I'll sell my '81 280ZX and make the corvette my dd. ASSuming I can afford insurance for it

It should be: "(all other things being equal) there is no replacement for displacement" A bigger SR engine WILL make more power. A bigger VG will make more power (than the VG30). Just because a smaller engine makes more power than a larger engine doesn't negate the old adage. The smaller engine probably has (a) better flowing head(s), intake, exhaust, piping, more advanced timing and A/F controls etc.

You can set the timing pretty close by ear. I did a compression test today and one cylinder was at 85 psi. I only did the odds but 1 was 125, 3 was 110, 5 was 85 and 7 was 120. IMO the car needs a dual plane intake with the weight (3500+ lbs) and close to 3.00 gear ratio and the VERY tall tires. I don't know what the gear ratio is for sure but with the power the engine is making it won't hardly go into 3rd without letting off of the gas. If you barely try to accelerate it will kick down into 2nd. I would like to keep the thing street friendly and get some good gas mileage. Looks like I've got a new candidate for the 350 vortec...

You are right. My rubber was slipping.... I dripped a little white paint on the pulley when I marked it and wondered why it wasn't still lined up with the notch. I put another mark where the notch was and it moved again just by bumping it over with the starter. Found out I can turn it by hand pretty easily. This sucker needs a rebuild anyway from the looks of it because I've got my timing in the ball park and the carb is clean with atleast close to stock jets (floats are set right, gaskets look good, PV holds suction, blah blah) but it just doesn't have the power it should. I'll do a compression test and take the valve covers off and make sure all the rocker arms are even moving, much less adjusted. Someone put a Victor Jr on the thing so I hoped they had put a cam in and knew what they were doing. Anyway, thanks for the help. After I put a good distributor on it and it was still moving I was really starting to wonder what was going on.

It's too bad because they're so cheap.... Goes back to the old saying. And I'm not talking about: ancient Chinese secret "we noa make good hair dryer"

That's what I thought too about the weights. I guess I'll piece together another distributor like you say and give it a shot but shoot I replaced the shaft with the weights and mech. advance part with what seemed to be a better one. It couldn't be the module could it? I don't know what else to look for really.

My '81 is almost the exact same car. It has a r180 also...

So I bought this '77 Corvette and threw a timing light on it (HEI) and there's no notch on the balancer (visible). Moved the distributor around a lot and found the notch. I set it to about 10 degrees and it started moving up a little bit and kept going. So I retarded it back to 10 deg. and it started going down in the same way. If I set it it will always move but the rpms seem to stay pretty constant. The weights were pretty worn out and it didn't really seem to return to where it should be (the mechanical advance part). So I replaced to whole assembly with a junk HEI and still the same. Please help!

Shoot, if I could get one with the pocket change I have then I would in a heartbeat. I love the way the 70's look. The newer vettes are equally attractive to me because of the performance/efficiency. I don't even think about 60's corvettes. There's just no point. There's substantial something. They are pretty large cars really. They don't look that big until you get close to them. I think it gives them some presence really. I'm considering fixing it up when time permits and possibly selling it to pay off my wife's SUV. I'm getting attached to it already and I've only had it today.

Well I found a 1977 Corvette for what I consider a steal especially for around here. So I'm up late because I can't sleep thinking about picking it up this morning and I'm thinking about all my options. I've pretty much talked myself into selling the 280ZX with the Corvette's 350/350th and putting my 383/350th into the vette. I was wondering how the performance would be because I figured they were a little heavier. Searched for "1977 Corvette curb weight" on google and they all say 3500-3600lbs. Hmmm, sounds high. Type in "1982 280ZX curb weight" and they all say 2800lbs which most people claim they are anyway. BUT, 700+ pounds!!! Holy crap. Don't they figure 1/10 in the 1/4 for every 100 pounds? So 7 tenths?! Oh man.... Do those things really weigh that much with fiberglass bodies even? There's really nothing on a vette you could take off to lighten it besides the spare tire.... Maybe I should start building that big block I always wanted....

You don't use it?! Why not?

If I was going to build a lightly boosted sbc, I would start out with a late model 350 block that already has a roller cam (they handle the added pressure better than a flat-tappet cam) and go from there. That's just my opinion.

Your point is well taken concerning the Q-jet (in my simple mind I never would have thought a 4 barrel could get better mileage than a 2 barrel but it makes sense even though it might not be realistic). However, how could a carb with huge primaries (as I improperly stated) ever come close to a two barrel? That makes less sense than thinking that a person thinks that a Q-jet has huge primaries. People make mistakes. No reason to imply that they shouldn't be posting.