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Its Just Me

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Its Just Me last won the day on December 1 2017

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About Its Just Me

  • Birthday 02/25/1964

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    Male
  • Location
    Monroe, WI, USA
  • Legal Name
    Scott Nusbaum
  • Occupation
    Surveyor/Engineer Tech/Farmer

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  1. Anyone else notice the dual sport mirrors, cruise control turn signal, power windows & locks, tilt wheel and the tach/gauge dash? Nicely optioned, likely Canadian built so good documentation can be had. Seems a reasonable price and '71 is my favorite year. Good thing it's half a country away. Scott
  2. Another vote for the Hedmans here. Good fit, no "performance denting" required to install. I have the silver ceramic but I think black ceramic is also available if you want them less visible Scott
  3. Pypes Exhaust. All stainless, mandrel bent, choice of mufflers (or none) and you can go with or without the X. I have 3" on my BBC Chevelle and 2 1/2" on my SBC Monte. Race Pro mufflers and no "x" on either. Love'em. Good fit, no drone, reasonable.
  4. I'm also a fan of the ViKing front coil overs. I have the dual adjustable fronts on my Chevelle and they are great. Made in the US (Minnesota) and the best value out there. Give them a call, they are great to work with and will set you up with what you need. If I put a big block in my Monte, it will be a no-brainer to swap out to ViKing coil-overs as part of the project. Let us know what you do. Scott
  5. JP: If you're looking for a head suggestion (aluminum), I would recommend Brodix Race Rite, Oval Port, 270 cc intake volume and 115 cc combustion chambers. They have all the mounting holes for accessories and the stock exhaust port locations. Unless you're considering over 700 hp in the future, they'll work great on most any 454 combination. Scott
  6. Doug, I'm running King bearings in a 400 hp 350 and can't say anything bad about them. The tolerances were within spec and they seem like a good product. I only have about 7500 miles on them, but no problems. That being said, I just pulled my 427 apart. I built it in 1983 using Clevite 77P bearings. That thing consistently saw 6500 rpm at the track and had probably 35,000 hard street miles on it. I took it apart because it was using oil and I figured the bearings were tired too. Suffice it to say, the bearings will be going back in because they have literally no signs of wear. I think it comes down to proper clearances and regular oil changes. If you had good luck with the Clevite P's, I say stick with'em. Scott
  7. Jeff, Welcome to the Club. Here's my story and thoughts and it's worth exactly what you paid for it, ha. When I had my '71 SS it didn't have the original engine, so I had no issues with diving in. The 454 it did have, was anemic. I pulled it out, bumped the compression to 9.4:1 with a piston change and installed a hydraulic roller cam from a ZZ502 crate engine. I also added an aluminum intake (painted orange to retain the original "look"). I tweaked the quadrajet (they are awesome carbs). My car came with headers so I left them on, but given the chance I would have preferred the stock exhaust manifolds for the original look and sooooo much easier to change plugs. The few HP you give up won't even be noticed as the big block makes plenty of torque, especially if you're accustomed to small blocks. My combo, with the original 3.31 rear gears knocked down 15 mpg, made about 450 HP on 87 octane, had a slight lope, was as reliable as my daily driver and was an absolute hoot to drive. Since you say you're an old hot rodder (me too), I highly recommend this route as you'll get a lot more enjoyment out of your car AND it retains the original look. I would discourage the thought of bagging the original engine and installing a crate engine. Storage of an engine is a tough road. Condensation and rust will find its way in no matter how well you prep and care for it. Unless you plan on making big power with high RPM, the chances of damaging the original block are nearly non existent. The best place to store an engine is in the car, the best way to care for that engine is to run it with regular maintenance. One of the greatest things about having a Monte is that everyone has a Monte Carlo story. You better have patience when fueling up as they all want to share their story with you. Nice car, ENJOY! Scott
  8. Holy crap Ron, you're way ahead of me. Most people don't know VortecPro. I thought you were building an engine not buying one or I would have mentioned Mark. That set up is similar to mine but I certainly don't have the VortecPro touch. That thing will be everything you want and more. I've always told myself the my next engine will be from him. I'm curious what Mark thinks of aluminum heads on that engine as he seems to be the master of the 781/049 cast irons. Keep us posted please. Scott
  9. What Tom said if you're stuck on HP numbers. If you're not stuck on numbers and just want a great running street engine, I'm running a 460 BBC with a Straub Technologies HR cam, iron heads and an RPM intake. Nothing special but the best running, funnest engine I've ever put together. I'm cranking about 525 hp, 15 mpg with a 4-spd, 3.73 gears and no overdrive. It drives like gramma's car till you hit the gas. I could drive it cross country if I chose to. It surprises EVERYONE for what it is. Chris Straub says if I were to swap a set of properly set up Brodix aluminum heads, I would likely be seeing 575 hp with no detrimental affects on streetablilty (well, probably a ding on mpg, but you gotta feed the horses). I've learned that often times people chase a horsepower number. Their neighbor has 600 hp so they need 650, my friend has 650 so I need 700. Then their car sits because they over built it and it's no fun to drive, but they have bragging rights I guess. If you don't enjoy driving it, you won't drive it. All this to say call Chris at Straub Technologies, or Mike Jones at Lewis Racing Engines (closer to you). Be honest with yourself and what you really want to do with the car, then relay that to Chris or Mike. Neither will try to sell you what you don't need and you'll get much better results than mail order parts assembly. Who knows, with a 496 and Chris or Mikes help, you're likely to see the numbers you want AND it will be street friendly, reliable and fun to drive! Let us know what you decide. Scott
  10. Call Chris at Straub Technologies (straubtechnologies.com). He specializes in roller cams but will recommend and sell flat tappet cams as well. Be ready to answer a bunch of questions about your engine and car, but I promise he'll set you up and you won't be disappointed. or Mike Lewis Racing Engines (lewisracingengines.com) is closer to you. He can do the same thing. Don't let the "racing engines" scare you, he won't recommend something you won't be happy with. Both are very reasonable and good at what they do. Trust the experts, not the hype. I'll never buy another catalog cam again. Scott
  11. Doug Stock ride height and proper pinion angle is the best thing you can do to combat wheel hop. If you're running air shocks all pumped up and worn out bushings, boxing your control arms won't make a bit of difference. I previously owned a big block Monte with boxed arms, new bushings, sway bar and air shocks. I also had the triangulation bars mentioned, I think some call them 4-speed bars (not sure why). At stock height, I never had any issues with hop. Put a few pounds of air in shocks and hop started to appear, over 25# and it was ridiculous. I got rid of the air shocks and never had hop issues again. Hop(e) this helps. Scott
  12. Beware the Gen V & VI big blocks, ie 502, do not have a provision for a mechanical fuel pump. If your already running an electric pump, it's not an issue. Your flexplate/flywheel will also need to be replaced. I'm a fan of the ATK crate engines, check them out. Scott
  13. Mike: I'm struggling with the same thing on my new (small block) engine build. So far, the only thing that seems to work for me is premium fuel (my compression ratio is 9.6:1) or leaving it in gear (loads the engine) when shutting it off. I'm still breaking it in and fine tuning. I'm optimistic I can solve it without premium fuel. Like others have said, a fuel shut off/pump won't help, neither will adjusting your timing. You have a hot spot in the combustion chamber that lights off the remnant fuel/air mix after the key is switched off. Small blocks seem to be more prone to this for some reason. Is this something that just started on an old engine or is this a fresh engine build? A few options to try that are simple: Run some Sea Foam in the gas to try to clean up the carbon deposits in combustion chamber (if an old engine) Try premium fuel (if a new engine, compression ratio may be a bit higher than you think) Leave car in gear when shutting it off (this works for me) If not already, hook your vacuum advance to manifold vacuum, then slow the idle back down (this closes the throttle blades just a smidge more, reducing the air entering the engine at shut down. The same theory as the idle solenoid) 1 step cooler spark plugs Good luck. Scott
  14. I agree with Rob, if your happy with the springs in it now, keep'em. It seems to be a crap shoot with ride height when changing springs. Just change bushings, shocks & carry on. I have the Viking coil overs in my Chevelle that Paul suggested and I love them. Yes, pricey but not compared to other brand coil overs and the ability to adjust ride height is awesome. I also have poly bushings in my Chevelle (since 1990) and they don't squeek like everyone refers to BUT, I searched out PolyGraphite bushings not just standard polyurethane. They are available from a company called PST, on e-bay. Last winter I put a set of the polygraphite PST bushing in my Monte and have my fingers crossed they are as good as what is in my Chevelle. Time will tell, but happy so far with only 1000 miles. BTW, I paid $250 to have a local shop press the old bushings out and the new in, after I removed the arms from the car. I felt that was pretty steep, but they also changed 1 ball joint that was questionable. Scott
  15. NO!!! Do what you have to to get longer studs, even if you have to get ARP's. Is it worth a quarter panel or fender (or worse)?! Your stock studs are 7/16" diameter with a 24 pitch. If you're only engaging 8 threads, you're grabbing less than 3/8" worth of stud. If 3/8" was enough, GM would have used 3/8" studs. AND you're stressing the very end of the stud, not close to the base. Maybe fine at low straight speed, but put a little lateral stress on that around a corner and you'll be wishing you changes studs. Get 1-3/4" studs and they will work with both your new (beautiful) aluminum rims and your steel rims. PLUS you have the assurance of new (not 48 yr old) studs. Your car looks great, lets protect it (and you)! Scott
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