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Edelbrock crate engines, newbie help pls


Russ

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Hi,

 

Not being able to find a suitable good vfm British engine for my Z I'm looking to get a Chevy block. I am quite taken by the Edelbrock crate engines as its seems a nice off the peg option and the 'crate' should make shipping safer smile.gif

 

I'm not that hot on engines and so this is going to be a good learning experience I hope. I was wondering how complete they come? What would you guys recommend transmission wise? How do these engines rate and are they reasonable value for money? I'm after the best bang for my pound, or buck rather :D

 

I think I may go for the Fuel Injected Performer RPM E-Tec 9.5:1 Engine, fuel injection may hopefully increase economy a tiny amount. Not really being able to ring Edelbrock or go look at the engine it would be nice to know it'll fit with work smile.gif

 

Anyone any experiences? What trick bits can I fit? Does anyone have a dyno for one of these please?

 

Argh so many questions smile.gif

 

Thanks v much,

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Guest greimann

The Edelbrock crate motors are a fairly new offering from them so there might not be too many people here that have actually used one. Edelbrock is certainly a well respected name in the automotive aftermarket. The basic short block is all GM parts and the top end is all Edelbrock. A great combo in my opinion. It looks like they come with just about everything you need. Just plumb in a fuel line and wire up the distributor. You will have to provide your own alternator and bracket. It will definately fit a Z. I think it would be a good pop for your pound! smile.gif

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Hi,

 

Looking at http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/crate951_injected.html

 

5.7lts, thats gonna be the biggest cc engine in the whole south west (here smile.gif ).

 

To be honest most the spec is gobbledi goop to me, it mentions an inlet manifold, do I then have to source throttle bodies or whatever for this or is it all there?

 

How different is the mounting gonna be? I'm waiting for the uk Z club to get a shipment of JTRs V8 manual so I have nothing to reference :(

 

I guess if I get the manual and get the engine in I can then look to what cooling and transmission I will need?

 

Argh lets cross bridges when we come to them smile.gif

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Guest greimann

They don't make their table very readable, but I think I have a recommendation for you: Engine #46120. That package comes with a standard rotation, long style water pump that is the most common water pump configuration. The motor comes with cylinder heads, intake manifold, EFI and throttle body, valve covers, distributor and oil pan. A very complete package.

 

It will have the standard Chevrolet mounting bosses, so it will work with the JTR mounts. The transmission options are fairly broad, depending on what you want. You could use a 700R4 automatic, or T56 6 speed, just to name two options.

 

You will probably need to buy the rubber isolators for the motor mounts, and other accessories like exhaust headers, alternator, pulleys, flywheel / flexplate and many other littel bits and pieces that I can't think of right now.

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Hi,

 

Thanks v much for that smile.gif I'm gonna go for a very similar spec engine but built here I think, as its cheaper to get the edelbrock bits and do a copy here than get one shipped.

 

Thanks for that, gonna start thinking about it more seriously v soon.

 

Just gotta get myself some JTR mounts smile.gif

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Russ,

Where are you in the UK? My Mom is in Southampton, I just got back from there a couple of months ago (on holiday for 3 weeks). I lived in Kenilworth (West Midlands) for 2 years, and when I was just back there I remembered why I moved (bloody awful weather) puke.gif

Tim

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Hi smile.gif

 

The weather hasn't been that bad lately, it all depends on what you want, I couldn't handle the sun all the time, sounds silly I know. Least our air quality is v good, we don't have earthquakes, no volcanos and the flooding isn't THAT bad smile.gif

 

Southampton is about an 1 1/2 hours from me here, in Taunton Somerset but when I go back to uni next week its 30mins from me in Bournemouth.

 

I think if I had to live in the midlands or up north for two years I'd wanna leave the country too tho smile.gif

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There are almost as many sources for Chevy small blocks as 305's in the local pick and pull- here is an alternative source to consider:

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/sales.html

 

Good luck... this is just one place I bookmarked against the day I can afford to start my conversion.

 

When you purchase your engine any reputable dealer would presumably also sell the bits needed to get it up and running, or at least tell you what you will need.

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Hiya,

 

Thanks for that, loadsa engines!

 

Trouble is I'm in the UK so to warrant getting an engine shipped over that I cannot see or even shake the hand of the seller, well it would have to be from someone with a v good reputation that is used to shipping world wide.

 

Hence the Edelbrock crates looked like a good deal until my friend pointed to the Speed O Motive deals, all they want is a pair of pretty looking rocker covers smile.gif Just gotta try to dig out the bad report on them.

 

Thanks.

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Hi,

 

Yeah one company that springs to mind is Real Steel, I have their catalogue and its full of lots of goodies but they only mention low output pre built engines.

 

I guess ideally I'd find the spec and part numbers of a combination that works well and is proven and build it myself or just bite the bullet and get something good shipped.

 

Cheers

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Russ,

Have a word with those guys and see if they can bring something in for you. They will obviously tack a markup onto the price, but if they have a whole container of stuff coming in you will likely save a BUNCH on freight, and as a dealer they will get a price break, so all in all, you may get the package cheaper than bringing it in yourself.

Worth a phone call at least.

Tim

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Hi,

 

Yeah thats a good idea thanks smile.gif Only problem is I have yet to find an engine as a whole that I think is good value for its output. I do like the Edelbrock engines but when you compare it to other engines which offer higher output for less money...

 

Hmm

 

Maybe it would be good to get the details of an engine build that works really well and replicate it over here, swapping parts for better grade components as I see fit etc.

 

Thanks for your help,

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  • 2 years later...

Hi Russ,

 

A few months ago I was absolutely convinced about American muscle in my sleek Datsun 240Z: it just had to be an awesome package. In search of some solid information I contacted someone in America who had actually built a V8 Datsun (don't be fooled: many people think they know alot about this conversion, but only few have really built a reliable, powerful HybridZ of which all the parts have been modified for 400HP+ power outputs). I stumbled on Pete Paraska's website: www.alteredz.com. Pete completely describes how he completed his project with a 500HP+ engine. That ain't no job for new kids on the block, trust me. However, he was very helpful in my search for a reliable, yet powerful turnkey engine package. For the engine I got 3 websites: www.sdpc2000.com

www.sallee-chevrolet.com

www.shafiroff.com

Of these suppliers Shafiroff should be a real top-quality engine builder. For the transmission you should check out www.gforcetransmissions.com. However, I did hear that the T56 six-speeder is no option, because it's too long.

I hope my words can help you a little further to what might be a beautiful car one day.

PS: the shipment costs were huge, I really don't know what I'm gonna do for now. Work a little more first, I guess.

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