rustorbust Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Dont know if anyone would remembe me around here but i thought I would ramble on here for a little bit. I built a 240z with a sbc 400 in high school, immediately got hooked with z fever. Bought a 280z basket case right out of high school thinking of turning it into a v8 daily driver, never happened and sold it. Went for about 2.5 years without a Z. Built a sbc vega that I race on the weekends now. Have been looking for a another z that was in good shape body and interior wise for quite a while now. Found some more basket cases and turned them down and last week i racn across this one...... I picked it up for 1500 which i thought was a smokin deal. Interior is almost perfect, body is excellent. It had been sitting for about 3 years so it took me a little while to get it started and find out that the clutch is totally gone it in. And Im a holley guy and not to familiar with the SU carbs. Can somone explain to me where all the adjustments are at and why there is what i think is motor oil in the tops of the carbs. Also i know many others here have done the sbc swap. I want to put a T5 behind a 327 that i have sitting in my garage. Can i just get the bellhousing, tranny, slave cylinder out of say a 88 v8 camaro and it should work. Feels damn good to be back James B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Looks good. Here is a page on su'sm Is that a '72? http://www.jetlink.net/%7Eokayfine/sutech.html What year vega do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustorbust Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Yea the Z is a 72. The vega is a 73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Welcome back man! That 240 looks awesome, good price too. I paid the same amount for mine about 5 years ago. The T5 out of the 87/88 and later Firebird/Camaro should work just fine provided that the 327 you have isn't on crack. I think I sold one of those trannys to you about 2 years ago? The one with the V8 bellhousing on it should be in decent shape if you still have it. Last time I was at Pick a part junkyard down in Chula Vista about 3 weeks ago, they had a few V8 firebirds that still had the 5 speeds in them. Good luck with the new project, let me know if you need any help with anything. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustorbust Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 Thanks, I had been down there a couple of times looking for other stuff and was peeking in and around some camaros and firebirds and didnt see any 5 speed stuff. I'll have to make a trip down there next saturday and check it out. As for the whole world class thing? Should i look for one of those or do you think the regular t5 will last behind maybe 350hp. I had to get rid of all the parts that i had got from you when i moved. I didnt think i was going to want to build another v8 Z, if i had of then i would have hung onto all that stuff i got from you. Do you still have any stuff laying around that you want to get rid of? I remember that Z that was in your garage, what happened to it? Running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Definitely go for a World Class if you can get one. The non WC wont last long behind 350 HP. Any Firebird/Camaro made after either 87 or 88 should have the WC tranny, both V8 and V6. The V6 trans will have different ratios, probably not as low as the V8 tranny. The newer body style of Firebird (93 and later I think) Also come with WC T5 behind the V6 versions, but the bolt pattern where the gearbox mounts to the bellhousing is different than the earlier trannys. It looks like it might be the same as the bolt pattern on the Ford T5's. If you could find an adapter bellhousing for Ford T5 to SBC block, it might work with the late model T5's. The newer T5's also came standard with hydraulic throwout bearings as well. I don't really have much left as far as extra parts go. For a while there I almost had my own little mini junkyard going on. My happy place.... Then I got married and that all changed. Now there are rules, etc. No car parts in the kitchen, on the coffee table, blah, blah. blah. My car is still pretty much in the same condition as the last time you saw it. It has different wheels now, and ZG flares. My engine block has been at the machine shop for about a year and a half now. They wrecked the first block by grinding into the water jacket while clearancing for the 383 crankshaft. This was after they already had it for a year. He found another block to replace it with, and had to start the machining process all over again. Should be ready for pickup sonetime next week.... In the meantime, I gutted the interior, made a new dash out of Carbon Fiber (Still in process) and am getting all the tools and materials ready for welding in new floorpans and a roll cage. I'm moving into a place with a 2 car garage in a week. After that, it's on. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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