Heckeng

Sam, how was taking the pod out of the dash? Pain in the [censored], easy, any recommendations to make it easier?

As long as compression wasn't too high, and you didn't plan on revving it crazy high, that power level would be fine with hypereutectics and a cast crank. I would think rods might be your limiting factor here.

Undeniably the best bang for the buck head offered for a chevy at this time. Just look at Robyn's car for an easy example. He has NOTHING extreme at all, good cam choice, a little stall, a little gear, and vortecs on a 350. If I pulled up to the line against him and didn't know what I know, I'd laugh at him! Then I'd crap in my pants as he kept up with my Big Block! It's all about matching your combo and getting parts that work. Do some searching, there are good and bad years for the vortecs I believe, Don has discussed them before. I think the vortecs are good because of the amount of time that has gone into the R&D for their flow, much like the newer cams like Comp's Extreme Energy, and Lunati's Voodoo series are so good because their ramps and profiles have been tweaked and perfected so much that they perform better than an older cam with the same basic specs. The proof is in the yellow puddin'!

Reaper, I either the transpak or the plain shift improver kit will work fine for you. Also, I'll vote for the manual/automatic valve body. A straight manual body means you HAVE to shift it gear to gear, it will not do it automatically. I have had friends do this mod and it's cool for a week, then they hate it because they get tired of shifting it. Every time you come to a stop, you have to shift down to first, and then through second and third as you drive away. If you don't downshift all the way and start from second or third, you can burn up the transmission if done often enough or hard enough. Something else to watch out for and might be worth a call to B&M is to make sure the shift kit does not remove your engine braking. Many th-400s lose their engine braking with the installation of a shift kit which is fun for a while, until things blow up! It is basically like you have an unlimited stall. Say you take the car to 5000rpm in first, then let off the gas, the rpm goes to idle, and if you give it gas it does not affect the engine again until the rpms match the speed you are going. So, get her up to 5k, let off, then nail it again, and you get a 5k stall! So, to sum up, get the $30 shift kit, and use your valve body just my opinion.

That's kind of funny KC8OYE, you have hit upon something simple that everybody else had overlooked My choke is definitely having issues, mainly issues of being MIA! I have no choke at all! I had assumed that the engine temp was high enough that the engine did not need a choke any more, but like Sam said, maybe the entire engine isn't as warm as the point where the water temp was measured from and it actually WOULD like some choke! Carb-wise, it was a 750 mechanical sec Demon Carb, so the secondaries were definitely working, but you don't even have to get into them to feel the bog. I really think it's probably the cold tranny fluid. Maybe this year I'll figure it out!

Yup, Everybody is correct!

I'll vote for any intake that shows the cyl numbers on the runners I'd listen to Don too. If it doesn't work, sell it on Ebay!

Don had e-mailed me, and said that stock rods are usually honed if they are wanted to be made "floating". The metal is not hard enough to hurt either the pin or the rod. If you actually bush the small end of a rod that was originally not bushed, you will reduce the strength because you remove material, that just makes common sense. BUT, most of the time, the transition area where the large end of the rod is machined for the head of the rod bolt is where a rod breaks. With stock rods, acording to Don, there is normally plenty of extra metal on the small end and the small end is not where you need to worry about.

I don't think that's correct Alex, If you want a free floating wrist pin, I believe the pistons you order are the same, but the small end of the rod will be machined and have the wrist pin hole enlarged so that a bronze bushing can be pressed into the rod itself. The bushing and the pin are not an interferance fit, so the pin is free to slide back and forth. If you do that, then the spirolocks will be used to retain the pin instead of the interferance fit between the rod small end and the wrist pin. With aftermarket rods, you can order bushed or press fit and the rod is designed to be a certain strength with each, but with stock rods, you have to have them machined and remove material to allow the installation of the bronze bushing.

That's kind of my question Sam! I know bushed rods are better as far as rpm potential and friction, but most rods that are bushed are bought that way, so the manufacturer could make the small end a little larger to accomodate the bushings and retain their strength. If a person has some decent stock rods that are not bushed, is it beneficial to bush them?

Does anybody know if changing press-fit rods to bushed rods would reduce the strength of the rod due to the decrease in material on the small end?

That's too bad about the port size not being closer. I wonder if Edelbrock and Weiand would give you the height and width of the oval? Then you could match it up better, of course, but matching the size up, you are moving your effective rpm band up. I would definitely hesitate to put it on if your stock intake had larger ports though!

Hey Wallaby, I would sure think you'd be fine clearance wise. I've run the rpm air gap, and the GM high rise dual plane for the 454ho and they both cleared with a drop base air cleaner with a 3" element. Have you compared the port sizes for the 2.0 and your Merlin heads?

I have never run a th350 with any kickdown linkage for the last 10 years. I have always cut the cable and plugged the trans hole. I've never had any problems, and the transmission will still kick down due to the vacuum modulator and governor. My situation is slightly different than yours because I am not just disconnecting it from the carb, I'm not connected either place, but I would think it would be the same result. Anybody Else?

Wow, that looks phenomenal!!! You really did a nice job! Would you mind putting down some directions on removing the dash to get the gauge cluster out? I've been debating that to clean my lens and gauges but haven't because it sounded like such a huge job, but 9 hours isn't so bad! Looks great!

I can't really compare different brands, but I installed Moser Axles, and they were quite an improvement at least size wise. They haven't broken yet either, so I guess that's good. The axle on the left is the stock one I pulled out, the one of the right is obviously the new Moser. you can see how the stock one necks down where the moser stays thick. I measured and there were 3/16" difference in diameter at the weak point on the stock axle!!! Hope that is helpful! Scott

Alpha, Your engine will definitely appreciate lots of advance. Aluminum heads can take more advance due to the aluminum not retaining as much heat like iron heads do, and having 9:1 compression will also want more advance. Combine those two items with the relatively large diameter of the cylinders that the flame front has to travel and it is screaming for more advance! It would not surprise me if your engine would like 40 or 42 total degrees even. Your cam and amount of vacuum will also affect how much advance it likes. You might look at the MSD ignition site, they have some good things to think about when setting your timing. It is included in most of the distributor installation instructions, and would be good advice regardless of what kind of distributor you have. Check out page 2 of this: MSD Distributor installation instructions, page 2 for timing advance advice

What condition is your engine in Wallaby? When was it last rebuilt? Have you ever done a leakdown test? What kind of compression does it have? If I remember right, you had had your carb tuned with a wideband O2 sensor right? I assume the people/person who tuned it understood how to tune your particular carb? What kind of carb is it? I think your initial and total timing sounds excellent for a starting point and it should be fine like that. How soon does your advance come in? In my experience, if you have extremely low compression, the engine will want tons of timing to feel "lively", but it will make it hard to start as well like you are saying. I think that since it works well at full throttle, the compression is not the issue. I would think a/f ratio actually. Lean conditions will cause surging and fluxuations in rpm as well as popping. I would wonder if your carb was tuned to have a good a/f ratio at full throttle, but they didn't tune it for part throttle? Just my guess. I'd love to hear more details!

That will make all the difference. The part that the headers interfere with for the column shift is the linkage that goes down the steering column and eventually to the tranny. Floor shift allows you to remove all of that linkage. My vote is Hooker comp as well, it's what I have and they've been very nice.

That can be extremely contageous, I'd give that tranny away asap!!! I'll send you my address so you can get rid of it! Seriously, it sounds like you probably just got a checkball in the wrong spot, or forgot to put one in. I would bet that if you dropped the valve body and re-looked at the instructions, you'll find the culprit.

Interesting, a friend and I were just talking about this. . . I have had a 72 SB car that came with a 12 bolt, and my friend has a 72 SB car with a 12 bolt, I now have a 71 BB car with a 12 bolt. So was the Diff size an option, or was it just luck of the draw whether you got a Pontiac 8.2 rear end or a 12 bolt instead of the Chevy 8.2" rear? Did they every use 10 bolt rears with BB cars?

It probably is overthinking, but you will have potential for galvanic corrosion any time that two dissimilar metals are in contact with an electrolytic fluid, current is generated by the two different metals. Condensation in the exhaust would instigate corrosion, as well as if you had driven it outside and it was wet out. I suppose except for startup and when the car wasn't running, the exhaust would be ot enough that any water would evaporate which would make it a moot point.

The bolts are not isolated though, so you will still have the stainless to carbon interaction. I'm guessing nobody has the stainless headers on the forum yet. If I had some $$ to waste, I'd get a set, just because they wouldn't rust or peel paint!

Wallaby, good point on the cooling methods. I run a B&M stacked plate trans cooler, but don't have the trans fluid running through anything with the engine coolant any more. That would definitely help in the cold, and may be why some people notice it more than others.

No not toying with anyone , Sam you have a good memory with the occupation thing! The intake should be up to temp, considering that it's aluminum and an excelent heat conductor. I run very close to 12-12.5 a/f ratio under wot, and have verified that with my friends LM1 A/F meter. I am just asking the question because since I'd never had a trans temp gauge before, I never made the connection between how long it takes to get the thing to run "good" and the trans temp.