Bluemalibu

It was wonderful to meet so many members in Grass Valley! My cheeks ached after wearing a perma-grin all weekend due to being surrounded by so many incredibly beautiful Montes!!! Thanks for the kind words, Doug... but it was sincerely a pleasure to help out were I could after all of the long hours the rest of you invested into attending the meet here in Nor-Cal. ...Here's looking forward to Penticton next year!

Droff, both should work for you. The 3-series starts with 2.73's. So, any 3.xx ratio is available for your carrier. And likewise, any 3.xx ratio is available to swap for your 3.07.

Like you, I wanted to stay at 2400-2500 (near stock) stall... as I'm pushing a 3980lb car with 640 lbs ft of torque through a 4L80E. Michael at Freakshow built a lock-up for me, and delivered it to my doorstep from Texas to California in four days. For less than $200. ​I think that it is safe to assume that their prices have probably gone up a bit over the last eighteen months with the surge in popularity after supplying quite a few of the cars on Street Outlaws without a failure.

I used a hybrid C4/C5 13" disc set up from: http://stores.ebay.com/mgchevyforddiscbrakes/ I chose this due to the divorced steel hub and rotor set up that they use... no aluminum hubs for me, thank-you, and a quick rotor swap with brake change. It bolts to stock disc spindles. The 13's will fit inside 17" wheels. It was $425, and I have been really happy with the set.

Vince, I tried to use the Blazer disc conversion, but the C-Clip eliminators for the Strange axles bumped the flange out too far. A flat caliper mount is needed for use with an eliminator. I went with the '89-92 Camaro/Firebird/Trans Am 1LE disc backing plates: because they will mount the '99 to 2012 Camaro PBR aluminum calipers which work wonderfully, and are available for $15 a set at our local parts yards... pads for these are super cheap as well, and are available at any auto supply house. Doug

Robert, my experience mirrors that of Ryan. I suspended my 6AL between the glove box and the HVAC controls on the dash... after having moved it from the inside firewall as I installed the Custom Auto Air box. A Blaster HVC coil also fits inside, connected to the billet distributor with MSD's long coil wire. This feeds through a 2" rubber grommet below the distributor in the firewall to make a sanitary under-hood.

The BBC with iron heads averages 675-685. The iron mouse motor weighs in at 575 to 590. The aluminum manifold and heads weight drop them to 570-590 (BBC); and 490-515 (SBC). Doug

Thanks so much, Bruce. Ray, I too had a CS130 with the Mark VIII, but the F150 draws nearly double the amperage. (Which coincides with the increased cooling capacity) So, I replaced the CS130 with a chrome AD244 that is pictured above. The CS130's design only produces about 20 amps at normal cruising rpms of 1400 to 1800... even though it is advertised to be rated at 60 to 120 amps. The AD244 will put out over 100 amps at 1500 rpm (Up to 240 amps at higher RPM) and will produce 60 amps at idle. Patrick and I cruised Paso Robles for an hour last night with the car idling the entire time. I kept the dual fans energized along with the 145 watt Flosser headlights, and the voltage never dropped below 14.2. At start-up, there is a very brief spike of about 85 amps... which quickly settles to about 20 amps. A soft-start DC controller would alleviate this. The Motorcraft number is AL3Z8C607A. Doug

Car crafting at its finest, Dennis!

Yes, the entire vent w/flap door is removed and replaced with the manual kick panel vent. It comes with the cable controls to open and close the flapper door. http://www.ss396.com/chevelle/IKP-1440.html

I'm with Bob... it definitely sounds like a circulation problem vs. a few timing degrees. Pull the radiator cap first to check for flow. Reduced flow would see me pulling the thermostat next; and while very rare, one can't dismiss a mis-marked reverse flow pump or loose impeller. Lastly, I'd look for a curtain of rust built up in the water jacket that impedes flow. Doug

Although the 78-88 G-body rears are 4.5 inches narrower, they are a closer design match to ours than the 73-77 rear ends. Both will require modified arms to work. Unless you find a later 8.5 from a GN or 442, I'd go a different route.

Hey, great minds think alike, Sam! I did the same as I installed this new Classic Auto Air system. These aftermarket HVACs don't have a fresh air feature, so I installed the manual kick panel vents.

It is very probable that no change will be necessary... The reason that one can't be more certain, is that the pinion yoke in the rear end can be easily changed. You might find a 1310, 1330 or 1350 yoke in either differential. And short, medium, and long shaft yokes are available in each flavor (size) as well. That being the case, should the yokes be different, you can swap in the correct one instead of making the change to the drive shaft.

Hey Brandon... Like many others here, I've gone both ways in three different Montes. ...And while the 504 I'm running now is a hoot, the 4 mpg really limits my cruise range without a carefully mapped out logistics plan. Your small block 400 with Vortec heads and an RPM manifold, being controlled by a warm hydraulic roller will be the closest to matching the performance-to-mileage-to-weight paradigm offered by the LS platform. I built up a 406 with this combination several years before the LS came on scene, and it was really a fun combo. Have you gotten the hydroboost installed in your car yet?

I'm right there with you, Sam... a two-bolt with splayed caps installed will give you a much stronger bottom end than a 4-bolt, so one should not automatically discount having a 2-bolt block.

Sno- Be sure that 20's will give you the look that your after; I don't think that your friend's photo-shopped rendering was quite to scale... I think that those wheels would rather be 18's in the pic, as mine below are only 17s:

I second that caution against Comp, Sam... the last one that I put in a sbc lost two lobes within a year. You can also give Chris a call at Straub Industries: 423-391-7774. I would trust his recommendation in a heart-beat... his solid and hydraulic flat cams are top-of-the-line, and only $250. If the custom grinds are too expensive, then you can find a grind that mirrors the one that he recommends in a Lunati or Howards cam and know that it will be reliable for you.

It's looking good Ryan. Those wheels that you've chosen will make fit-up a breeze with the Strange axles. It is a struggle to mount my Vision wheels due to the girth of the studs that are used on these axles! The rim has to be absolutely concentric or it is impossible to get a socket to fit onto the recessed lug nut in the wheel. Doug

Ryan, get a roll of NiCopp to do the replacement lines. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AGS-CNC-325/ It has the burst strength of steel, yet will not corrode... and it is a joy to work with. Bends are super easily accomplished with bare hands, (tight bends are quickly and easily done with tubing benders) and flares turn out beautifully. Doug

Regular 30 amp automotive relays (plastic) won't hold up to the demands of these fans over the long term; as they briefly draw about 80 amps at start-up. I used a Bosch 180 amp Continuous Duty solenoid on each fan. http://www.amazon.com/BOSCH-TERMINAL-CONTINUOUS-SOLENOID-1987be2001/dp/B00FGJIX2M Finditparts.com carries them for $32 each. Ultimately, I will install a PWM soft start controller to cushion the demand on the circuitry at start-up... but the current batch available have a hit-and-miss track record so far for dependability, so I am using a Dakota Digital dual-fan controller for the time being. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dak-pac-2750 Doug

Thanks so much, David... I might have guessed that it would be another fellow enthusiast with a long history of Arrest Report writing, that would take notice. LOL!!! Doug

Accepting change sometimes comes slow for us dinosaurs. For the last eighteen to twenty years, I have been a die-hard fan of the two-speed Lincoln Mark VIII electric cooling fan. I have used it in combination with the largest Griffin or Champion aluminum radiator that I can stuff between the frame rails of a car, and have never been disappointed in dozens of builds. Until now. The '72 had dual Flex-a-Lite fans mounted when I bought it. While the Mark VIII swap saw an improvement in temps, I have been unable to adequately manage the cooling of the 504 ci engine. We are told that 80% of a fuel's energy is converted into heat. The 504 eats fuel at the rate of 4 miles per gallon. That is a lot of BTUs to deal with. The above combination of parts has only managed to keep the temps at 225* in city stop-and-go driving, and at 210* in highway driving during 105* days. While I have never experienced a boil-over, I keep anticipating that I am always just five minutes away from an overheating emergency. As Hot August Nights hits this week, with its 4-hour nightly cruise, I knew that I needed to solve this problem before I headed out to the show. Because the Mark VIII and aluminum radiator have always worked in the past, I began by addressing other possible causes of the high temps... such as over lean mixtures, retarded timing, etc. No luck there. My next step was to remove the Caterpillar heat exchanger from the lower radiator hose that cooled the 4L80E. While this exchanger fit perfectly between the radiator and water pump, and provided the proper 1 1/2" connections, I was afraid that it was creating a coolant restriction due to the elevated highway temperatures. With its removal, I only saw a six degree improvement. So, I looked deeper. My guess was that a 2" x 19" gap along the sides of the radiator was allowing the incoming air to bypass the radiator at highway speeds, and that the 70-75% coverage provided by the Mark VIII was insufficient to cool the circulating coolant. So, I pulled the fan assembly off of the car; And I began a serious search for the best fan available today. What I settled upon, is the dual fan setup for the 2013 Ford F150. This unit would provide full radiator coverage, while increasing CFM's by nearly a thousand. I found one at a yard in Idaho for $50, and had it flown to me for an additional $20. After cutting ports for both upper and lower hoses, blocking the bypassing air with one-inch thick closed cell padding, rewiring for a dual fan assembly and engineering new mounts, here's what fitment looked like at 3:45am this morning: The acid test today involved thirty minutes of highway driving, followed by forty minutes of stop-and-go city driving, and then another half-hour on the freeway... all completed during the 1 to 3pm heat of Northern Calif. Success!!! At no time did the car climb above 178* I am one happy camper. Doug

You're quite welcome, Paul. I hope that it performs well for you. Doug

Well said, Rod. I replaced the stock wiring with 8ga and relays to the lights, with ceramic plugs. I replaced the sealed beams with Cibie, as I found that they throw a perfect road illumination pattern (way better than the much heralded Hella H4 eCode!). There was no 'One Stop' purchase to achieve the best available performance in our 7" headlights. But, piecing this together is certainly worth the effort with what you end up with in the end. The headlight reflector is Cibie 082440 http://www.amazon.co...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The bulb that I used is Flosser Head Light Fog bulb 9003/hb2/h4 . They are 145 watt high beam/100 watts low beam halogen bulbs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLOSSER-9003-HB2-H4-145-100W-TWO-BULBS-HEAD-LIGHT-OFF-ROAD-REPLACE-RALLY-HALOGEN-/141527502788?hash=item20f3b24fc4&vxp=mtr But, if I were to do it today, I would put a high quality LED into the Cibie reflector, to replace the high wattage units. Doug