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78 280Z LS3 Project


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  • 4 months later...

Another issue I ran into is oil consumption. I would rive around 20 to 30miles and pull out 16 ounces of oil out of the catch can. After confirming the catch can was plumed properly by reaching out to the manufacturer the hunt for the problem began.

 

Of course I had a lot of suggestions from the 6 AN lines I’m using in the catch can is too small, I have a broken piston ring, etc.. The guys that made the catch can (Elite Engineering) where the ones that told me what the problem was from the begging and they were right. It was the Holley valve covers.

 

The baffles on the Holley valve covers are terrible, so you wind up sucking more oil than you should through them. Unfortunately my ignition coils were mil-spec wired in place and I did not want to have that redone so I tried one last thing with the Holley valve covers. I ordered a new set but their taller version which allows a bit more room between the rockers and the valve cover. I also purchased a driver’s side OEM valve cover and removed the baffle from it and had it fit on the Holley valve cover.

 

Problem solved, drove 150 miles and pulled just a few drops of oil from the catch can. So please be aware of these issue with the Holley valve covers. I have attached some pictures of the differences in the baffles between the Holley and OEM.

This is the OEM Valve Cover.

1121145466_OEMValveCover.jpg.8001b28de01a50a45269aebe54a9d518.jpg

This is the Holley Valve cover. Notice the difference in the baffles. Holley has more holes. 169616818_ValveCoversHolleyTall2.jpg.4313869fd07df5a8189cd2ec5bad777b.jpg

These 2 pictures are the Holley valve cover modified to use the OEM baffles. 1578850454_ValveCoversHolleyTallModified.jpg.f8519854134252bd3d5183b9b56ec345.jpg368603829_ValveCoversHolleyTallModified2.jpg.1e901991f1d309958d91244a5278289a.jpg

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8 hours ago, alainburon said:

Unfortunately my ignition coils were mil-spec wired in place and I did not want to have that redone so I tried one last thing with the Holley valve covers. I ordered a new set but their taller version which allows a bit more room between the rockers and the valve cover.

 

Why didn't you just use the stock valve covers?  Didn't you still have to redo things with the taller Holley cover?

 

Just curious.  What is the benefit of the Holley cover over the stock cover in the first place?

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@NewZed Those Holley covers are way cleaner than the stock covers with Gen 4 coils. Aside from the covers themselves looking better, no coil brackets. The coils attach directly to the valve covers, so lighter and looks much better.

Thanks for posting this up on the baffle, I am going to look into it on my Jeep. Your build is looking great!

Edited by jpndave
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/15/2021 at 2:09 PM, NewZed said:

 

Why didn't you just use the stock valve covers?  Didn't you still have to redo things with the taller Holley cover?

 

Just curious.  What is the benefit of the Holley cover over the stock cover in the first place?

jpndave is correct, the Holley valve covers are a lot cleaner look since the coils mount directly onto the valve cover which gets rid of the coil brackets. 

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While it pains me to admit it, I too switched valve covers primarily for aesthetic reasons.  I wanted to get away from the "stock engine from a Chevy truck" look as much as I could.

 

I also wanted to get rid of the oil filler cap, since my car is dry sumped, but that was mostly an excuse.

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Something else I noticed as I started driving the car is that I could barely hear the 6x9 speakers I installed behind the seats. It seems like the sound was muffled due to the seats being in front of the speakers. The other issue is that the motor in this car is fairly loud and the stereo needs to compensate for that sound so I had to turn it up and at some level the speakers would get a bit distorted due to all the bass they needed to put out. My system is a JL Audio 6 channel 600 watt amp which runs four 6x9 JL Audio 3 way speakers, two are mounted on a panel by the taillights and the other 2 behind the seats. I also have two 6 ½” JL Audio speakers on the door panels.

 

I spoke with the JL Audio support team and explained what components I was using as well as the car they were in and the locations of the speakers. They mentioned that I should replace the two 6x9’s behind the seats with a subwoofer and that would help tremendously since I would be able to run the Low Pass signals through the subwoofer and the High Pass signals through the remaining 4 speakers instead of high and low pass signals through all the speakers which is what’s happening now. That would give crisper highs, deeper bass without distorting the speakers. Since I did not want to build a subwoofer box due to the limited space I have in this car they suggested running two 6 ½” subwoofers in place of the 6x9’s behind the seats.

 

So another project begins. I have to say JL Audio customer support is incredible, they calculated how much space I needed for each subwoofers and I built the enclosure to their recommednations. I removed the 6x9’s behind the seat and made wood panels to enclose each area. I put some L brackets on the wood panels and bolted them in place. Then used tons of silicone to ensure it was completely sealed. I had already put Dynomat in those areas so that helps eliminate the tin sound. Then I built a wood face panel to bolt the subwoofers in place since the holes I had for the 6x9’s were too big. I used foam behind the panel in order to eliminate any rattling and bolted the panel in place. Fitted everything and re-carpeted the panel. The sound difference is incredible, it blows me away how much bass comes out of these little subwoofers. I don’t listen to rap all the time so I don’t need a rolling boom box but certain songs require clear bass and these speakers deliver. Below are some before and after pictures as well as part of the process.

Speakers Behind Seat.jpg

Subwoofer Enclosure.jpg

Subwoofer Panel.jpg

Subwoofers.jpg

Subwoofers 2.jpg

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Another Holley option (although a bit pricey) is their two piece valve covers. The bottom portion is the actual valve cover, to which the coils are mounted. Then the top portion is attached, with the coil ends protruding and barely visible, and you have the classic look of regular valve covers. Attached is a picture ofHolley.jpg.80955f4fb03a99557f1f3b8b164cbe61.jpg them on a '71 Z I recently sold.

 

Mike Mileski

Tucson, AZ

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