Guest butlersZ Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Hey Guys, Does anyone have any nostalgic looking SBC's in thier cars? I personally like the older nostalgic looks such as the finned aluminum valve covers, ramshorn, etc. A friend gave me a fuel injection setup for a '58 vette, you know the big boxey thing with the cross flags on top. I have no idea how it works but it would look nice on a Z if it would clear the hood. I want my next Z to be nostalgic looking engine wise, I want it very clean. I can get a hold of a 365hp/327 from a '64 vette thats really clean, complete engine for 1,500 which seems like a steal, I would add some modern parts such as a cam,intake, and valvetrain. There is a picture of an engine, anyone know who's Z this is? http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=displayimage&pos=-418 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 A friend gave me a fuel injection setup for a '58 vette, you know the big boxey thing with the cross flags on top. 58 Vettes came with an optional mechanical fuel injection. Definitely pretty cool. Also pretty rare and I would imagine worth some money if it works. I agree hood clearance might be an issue. That FI unit didn't last many years. Have to wonder how difficult it would be to tune and maintain. I recognize the car in the pics, but I can't remember who. Big fat rear wheels and flat black paint. You might want to look at Pete Paraska's site. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/index.html He originally had a 327 that was pretty old school I originally wanted the big air cleaner look of a carbed small block. But decided I don't want to give up the advantages of a nice, modern fuel injected engine with aluminum heads. But that 64 vette engine does sound like a steal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Fuel injection was available thru 1965. My dad had a '64 fuelie, silver/gray convertible w/4.xx rear gear and HD suspension. I was 10 and loved going to school in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 i have a fuel injected 58 vette. don't be impressed, my vette is awaiting resurrection, buried under laundry and such in my garage. the fuel injection unit you have is a 63 or newer. most of my vette books are hidden away at my mom's, or i could i.d. it for you. i fit was running, when pulled from the car, and you have the correct distributor ( they are mechanical driven off the dizzy), and all the build dates match, it has a value, somewhere in the $5000, to $6500 range. if it is a cobbled together unit and no distributor, some where in the $1500 to $3500 range. look on the web for Jack Podell. he is the wizard of rochester fuel injection. there are others, but as far as i know, Jack is the best. you are right, that F.I. unit is an impressive site. they provide, neck snapping performance and decent mileage. back in the late 60's early 70's, idiots that couldn't figure em out, yanked em off and tossed em on a shelf, in favor of inferior carbs. a buddy of mine, Dave Laverty, had a smooth as silk, jet black, 60 impala, 68 vette 327, bored 10 over, running a 64 fuelie on it, 4 speed and 4:11 posi. easily clicked of a 13.60's on the quarter mile at baylands ( fremont, ca. ), any time he wanted. this was in '74. used to tear up most of the camaros, mustangs and trans ams. this was back before the bloated smokey and the bandit, girlie trans ams came out. was something, 3 of us in that impala, he'd flat smoke a 72 trans am. guy in the trans am, catch us at the next light, staring that big impala up and down, as if he'd just seen a ufo ... LOL Dave also owned and restored an original 65 fuel injected corvette roadster. 375 hp, 327, 4 speed, red on white. beautiful car. spooky fast. had the stock hub caps on it. turned in the low 12's. he had a run in with the internal revenue service. forced him to sell it. basically they took his car, and a few years later, cancer took him. if you have the engine that matches that F.I. unit, you are probably looking at around 5 to 9 grand, if in good condition and all is there. that's for just the F.I, and the engine, not a car. cruise by the library or book store, look for Noland Adams' books ( my buddy Dave, helped him with some research ), you will find most of what you need there, as far as satisfying your curiosity, as to what you have. pick up a hemmings motor news, to get an idea of its worth. the last 65 unit ( the rarest ), i attempted to buy, cherry, just rebuilt, ready to bolt on, sold for $7500. the unit, the dizzy, original fuel filter and related chrome fuel lines. the 57 though 62 units, aren't as flashy, thus go for less, though the 59 though 62 units probably run as well as the 63 units. enough of my rambling. i too thought how cool a 63 - 65 F.I. unit would look under the hood of my 72. thing is, it would probably be worth more than my z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 The owner of the car in the first picture is Carlo. More details here; http://www.desertzassociation.com/membersrides/carlo/index.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 So then either way whether or not I use them, they would be good to hold on to and sell when I may need money or bargain for parts. I was looking at the performance of a '58 vette such as the power to weight ratio and 1/4 mile times, a '58 vette weighing 2,926 lbs. with the 290Hp FI 283 did the 1/4 in 14.3 sec. with a 0-60 time of 5.9sec. , now at that day and age that was impressive and even still is now by some standards,being stock performance. So if that same engine was in a 280Z weighing roughly the same weight or maybe lighter, performance would be the same maybe better. So perhaps I could get that 327 and update it with some modern technology, maybe going for a 400-450HP range and be happy with the performance. Hopefully getting into the low 12's or better, with getting decent gas mileage and good street manners. Does anyone know anything about roller camming an older smallblock??? I have heard it's both easy and difficult. Anyone ever done it? Also, has anyone used the ramshorn exhuast on their Z? I'm wondering if how big of a margin of performance is lost between full length headers and ramshorn and block huggers. My dyno program shows losses between 15-28 HP all above 6200rpm and not much loss down in the lower rpm's. Any opinions? Z's........Ahhh the possibilities... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynekarnes Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 the rams horns are actually pretty effective in gettin the exhaust out. there is a gain to be had by adding headers, enough, that it is seat of the pants noticeable. thing is for the most part, headers are a pain. melted wires, excessive heat, over heated starter motor. melted bushings. the bolts come loose, exhaust gas leaks out. gaskets burn, header warps, won't lay flat against the head. they usually hang real low, and one ends up scraping em on every speed bump the car goes over. a little too fast, break the header, buy new ones. did you know, the shops won't sell you just the one side ?? yes, i have owned cars with headers. i love the sound of the exhaust hitting em, ain't nothing like it. sounds like pure horse power. really adds to the excitement of any car, pushing any kind of horsepower. i debated whether to replace the rams horns on my 72z with headers. eventually, i know that i am going to do it. and i know, that as much as i am gonna love it, i'm gonna hate em an equal amount. a smart guy would keep the rams horns. i have the scarab kit. the rams horn on the driver's side has been cut, tilted, and welded to clear the steering shaft. they still give off lots of heat. but, nothing like the way headers dissipate heat. try the rams horns, if you don't like em, you can go to the headers. i think, that you'll be happy with the rams horns. wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 Thanks for the info on the ramshorn, i like the ramshorn the best out of all the stock exhuast manifolds. How do they sound? I was thinking maybe run dual 3" exhuast all the way out with the addition of an "X" pipe and possibly a couple of decent glass packs. I want a mellow deep throaty tone. Now aren't there two types of ramshorn, one used on the 283 SBC and then a set of larger size used on the 327? Wayne, do you have any pics of your exhuast? Would like to see them for reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 the rams horn on the driver's side has been cut' date=' tilted, and welded to clear the steering shaft. wayne[/quote'] Don't forget you do have to modify the driver's side. The JTR bible has info on how to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 I have the Scarab setup. Today I went out and picked up a set of ramshorn exhuast and mounted them on my 280, there is 1/2 " of clearence between the steering rod and the flange/downpipe. You know it actually looks pretty good. Oh and thanks for the pic wayne. On my 280, I think I'll go with the ramshorn for awhile until I can fab up some full length headers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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