mditt8671 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 (edited) OK, I bought a 1971 240Z with a 350 SB already in it from here (71 240Z V8 4 Speed Muncie Manual), the stock heads though were bad and I was able to get a set of Vortec heads with it. It's missing the ignition coil as well as a vortec intake manifold. I'm new to working on engines (besides changing starters, etc) but I'm very willing to learn. I am attempting to put together the parts list, I am looking at the Edelbrock 75164 Performer RPM Air-Gap Intake Manifold. I am trying to follow this guide up through page 3, maybe 4 to get some boosted horsepower. I'm planning on putting the car in some local small-time shows after I get it complete as well. I want the car to be streetable, take it to a few shows and have the engine look good but don't want to go crazy with horsepower. Will the manifold I'm looking at be a good candidate for my build, without deviating too much from the article's guidelines? Any hood clearance issues or anything that I should be concerned about? I don't want to cut a hole in my hood. I pretty much want to do a buy-once cry-once to get around 375-400hp from the SBC. I may put another cam in it, but not until next year or so and depending on whether I think it's necessary. Also, a recommendation for a good ignition coil or other solution? I was looking at the MSD 8203 but I have seen some bad reviews about MSD reliability... Thanks! Edited September 30, 2011 by mditt8671 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Any ideas at all? I want to start ordering what I need but I'd like to know if it would fit... am I safe to buy the Air Gap manifold, I imagine that I'll need to get a different air filter but I'm ok with that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewby Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) I am running the hurricane manifold with vortec heads with jtr mounts and I have about 3 in of hood clearence, you should be fine with the air gap, there were a few people running them. just make sure the intake is for vortec heads. Edited October 4, 2011 by jnewby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 I am running the hurricane manifold with vortec heads with jtr mounts and I have about 3 in of hood clearence, you should be fine with the air gap, there were a few people running them. just make sure the intake is for vortec heads. Thanks! I did some digging around and it seems like I have the Scarab conversion, according to this photo, correct? So I might have more clearance issues than the JTR conversion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerboy Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 It looks like a scarab style mounting to me. If the dizzy is more than a 1/2" off the firewall then it should be. I have a scarab style mounting as well and my air filter is about 4" above the fenders so i'm hoping the jtr kit will let me run a stock hood too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Hmmm. Now I'm debating on what to do. I was thinking about pulling the engine to completely degrease it and do a thorough cleaning and paint job over the winter and also try to remove the rustproofing from the engine compartment. Now I'm thinking that if I pull it out, maybe I should go ahead and convert it to the JTR mounts? I'm probably overdoing this, but I'd rather do it right once rather than put it back together just to redo it in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewby Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 If going to the jtr postion, you will have to run an electric fuel pump (passenger mount interfearence). I had to run a long waterpump, because no alt bracket (tried 3 different styles) would fit the short one. and you will have to run the smaller harmonic balencer (steering rack clearence), not to mention you might also have exhaust clearence problems and the new hood latch bracket(distributer clearence). also you will have to bang out your trans tunnel more. The jtr mounts do postion the engine lower, it does require more work though. summit raceing has all the intake manifolds height listed, so you can measure look on their web site and leave about 2 in to play with of course for murphys law, and engine movement . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyro Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Avoid the air gap intake, as they don't like cold weather at all. Get the regular rpm intake and get a holley 750 cfm 3310 carb (summit racing). A Hei distributor with a built in coil would be best. (summitracing.com). You will also need a low rise air filter. Not sure of the mounting position. Looks to far forward to be the JTR and not far enough to be scarab. The hood release is cut out so the distributor was in the way. I think the guy place the engine there so the shifter would come out in the right spot, as you don't see many 4 speed manual conversions. One of the reasons the JTR conversion was set back was so the T5 speed shifter would come up in the right spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 The carburetor that came with the Z is a Rochester Quadrajet, number 7056544. Is the Holley a better carb than the Quadrajet? The carb looks a little rough cosmetically, I do want to make sure the engine compartment is looking nice so my choice is to buy a new carb like the Holley or maybe I can have the Quadrajet cleaned up and refreshed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 mditt8671: If you ask most people they will say that the Holley is the better Carb. That is NOT TRUE. The Rochester Quadrajet is a very good Carb. The secondaries on that carb are opened based on manifold vacuum. You can purchase books on the Quadrajet to rebuild and modify them. The primaries are small and very economical in normal driving. Step hard on the pedal and the Secondaries should open up and add considerable power. All four barrels have squirters. The holley is crude and thirsty in comparison to the Quadrajet. Clean up and modify as necessary the Quadrajet and you will be money ahead. There is gentleman in the midwest that wrote the book on Quadrajets and uses on to drag race his car. He has a Web site of parts for the Quadrajet. He is a wealth of information on the Quadrajet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyro Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I would rather have a good q-jet than a holley any day, but that is easier said then done. Qjets are hard to setup and even harder to rebuild sucessfully. The guy who wrote the book on qjets (cliff) wants 500.00 and 6 month to get you one, at least the last time I checked. I had some good results with Qjets but not quite there. Beware of buying a "rebuilt" Qjet, as most of these rebuilders hack them up. So I went back to a holley 3310. Can't beat the value, durability, and performance. Only $250 from summit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Pyro: You are correct about buying a rebuilt Qjet. I bought and read Cliff's book on Qjets and purchased some parts from him. I rebuilt and modified a Qjet for myself. It was a bit tricky but not that bad. It worked as it was supposed to and did very well on my 383 stroker on the run-in stand. Got the Qjet thrown in on the purchase of a 350 SBC engine. Also reworked a Holley and it became extremely evident the superior engineering used in the Qjet. The Qjet has so many configurations it is hard to know exactly how to rebuild them back to factory. Good Qjet cores are getting hard to find especially the 800+ CFM configuration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Maybe I'll keep the QJet for now, clean it up and see how it runs; if I can't get it running quickly I can get a Holley in the meantime and tinker with the QJet when I have the time. Pyro, do you have any recommendations for a specific distributor/coil? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyro Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) Get one with adjustable mechanical advance and adjustable vacuum advance. Might also consider getting a smaller cap distributor. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MSD-8360/ Otherwise, a regular MSD HEI distributor will do fine ($140) , but you will need to shorten the mechanical advance slots. You need vacuum advance!!! Edited December 9, 2011 by Pyro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 mditt8671: Also suggest the Crane Cams Distributor with electronic vacuum and mechanical advance adjustable curves. Allows adjustment of both advance curves. http://www.cranecams.com/view.php?s_id=14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surpip Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 how is your build going? seems like you got a great deal on the car duno about that 4 speed tho i bet the gear ratios are horrible. I have my 383 in the JTR position with an RPM Air gap with one of those triangle edlebrock filters and it cleares fine. if you havent alredy the JTR mount is the way to go good luck with rebuilding the Qjet its more of an art form than anything.. i used to tinker with them when i was younger rebuild dosens got pritty decent at it but i have a deamon on my car duno how that worked out but oh well bouth those dizzys are pritty good but if you whant to go cheap you can find a stock HEI in a junkyard for cheap replace the cap an rotor make shure evrything works an that would work well also. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 I've made some headway while I was on vacation; the engine is out and torn down and I have a lot of the parts. I'm documenting my rebuild and the parts that I'll be ordering on a blog I set up for the car: 240Z Build Unless I want to redo the transmission and everything, I'll likely be sticking with the Scarab mount for now. The engine needs freshened up pretty well and someone was pretty hard on the clutch. Lots to do, unfortunately. The good news is that the body isn't bad. I'm adding the Bad Dog rails and Zedd Findings floor pans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surpip Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 looking good gotta love when the adds say "rust free" hu? my 280 wasent as bad just the pass floor pan and part of the rail and small patches on the drivers side if i where you, while i have it all apart and needing a new clutch anyways id get the JTR mounts and find a junkyard T5 the gears in the 4 speed will suck and you be a lot better off with the JTR mount and a T5 just my .02 but looks like you got your work cut out eather way.. have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Agreed on the T5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mditt8671 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Having the engine already out, how much of a job would it be to convert to JTR mounts and a T5? The center console on this conversion hasn't needed to be hacked up the way it is now; would a JTR/T5 combo require cutting the center console? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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