BuffaloBillPatri

I used ARP studs for my carrier bearing caps + the thick TA cover with the allen set screws that press on the carrier bearing caps. I don't quite understand why having an extra quart would damage anything other than possibly making a mess on a driveway? I already put in 4 qts. & don't want to waste + I couldn't get the front square plug out. There is lots of room in there for expansion + a new vent on top. I would guess (because I don't have knowledge on the extra quart effects) that more lube would get to axles & help cool? I used about 2 ftlbs torque by hand with allen wrench, to where it felt snug. I can't believe that this would deform the caps & outer race of carrier bearing by more than a few millionths of an inch? BBP

The lug bolts screw through the axles from the inside, The heads clear the C-clip eliminator bearings by about 1/8" The heads on the Looong black Strange wheel bolts are thinner, but I have clearance. I already had the closed acorn Gorilla lug nuts & wanted to use them I found the problem! Took wheels off again & noticed what looked like a curved fine steel wire at the axle centering boss to the Master Power Brakes drum hole. The hole in the drum is a bit undersized or the Strange axle boss is a bit too big. I was slowly forcing the drum onto the axle. I torqued the nuts at 70ftlbs & they seated fine. I will sure be hard to remove the drums, down the road. Thanks Guys, BBP

Front Centerline wheels feel normal. On rear, same Centerline wheels, Strange axles with 1/2" grade 8 bolts for studs (McMaster Carr). Rear Lug nuts (Gorilla Acorn type) feel wrong. Each time I go around I can tighten some more, in 50ftlb range. I have tried washers on lug studs between axle & wheels, no help. Are the lug bolts are stretching?? BBP

With a non-vented gas cap, gas tanks build up pressure when hot & vacuum when fuel is used. Thinking about using 2# residual brake valves, one in each direction. Anyone ever hear of this? BBP

Bill (502ci), I installed my tranny cooler 3 days ago just like you did. I'm also using a remote oil filter inline on my tranny loop. Now I have to decide where to put my B&M engine oil cooler (1/2" ports, built in thermostat to run it's own fan) It's hard to find cool air & not degrade radiator flow. Anyone got any ideas? BBP

Dave, I think that you have the flow backwards. http://tciauto.com/Products/TechInfo/cooler_fittings.asp Hot comes out of lower tranny port to lower radiator port. Then out of upper radiator port to add-on cooler. Then back to tranny upper port. BBP

Thanks Guys BBP

Mike, Thanks for the info, But your last sentence: "The output of the radiator (lower connection) goes to the input on the B&M cooler and the output of the cooler goes back to the transmission (upper connection on transmision)." Should read: The output of the radiator (UPPER connection) goes to the input on the B&M cooler and the output of the cooler goes back to the transmission (upper connection on transmision). BBP

I am at this point in putting engine back together & don't know which hose goes where? I have done searches (here & at chevelles.com) on this topic & get different answers. Most say: "smaller hose (5/8) goes to the intake manifold, and the larger hose (3/4) goes to the water pump" One guy says: "Chevy hoses always cross" which for my new heater core agrees with the above. But, quite a few say: smaller hose (5/8) goes to the water pump, and the larger hose (3/4) goes to the intake manifold pump. Reason being, that hot water from the intake manifold takes up more space, thus seems to make sense & therefore is probably wrong. Thanks BBP

Try some taller tires on the rear. Cheap & easy. You can then decide if dropping the highway RPM's is "better"

I copied this about a year ago, don't remember where. "Can I run a high stall converter in overdrive with a 3.42 axle? Yes, this is one of the most often confused questions (even when you ask people you would think would be knowledgeable). Here is the detail. Our example could be this 3.42 Chevy guy. In overdrive he is going to be a 2.67 final drive ratio. He is a Cutlass body with 27 inch tire and so at 75mph in overdrive the motor will be turning 2484 rpm and he has a 3500 stall speed on the back of a pretty nicely built 350ci motor making close to 400hp. 95% of the people you would ask (even tranny guys) would say no-way and yet we know this is an awesome package (drives wonderful, no high temps in the trans etc) why does it work? When his converter was made it was set up to stall at 3500 with 400hp. However if you put 600hp to it it would stall at something like 4500. Conversely if you only put 125hp to it (as when you are just crusing at 75mph not accelerating) then the stall is way down at 2,000 rpm. So his stall with a 3500 converter is not 3500 at cruise because he is not making 400hp. Car drives wonderful. If he romps on it while cruising then the trans is going to downshift to a lower gear and get him into the powerband. (note: read gear vendors passing gear in this section) So, this is why you never lie to you converter builder (because if you overstate your hp you will not get the stall you wanted). The package of 3500 and 3.42 with 400hp is a sweet setup with a GEAR VENDORS . Without a GEAR VENDORS the trans will not have a great passing gear because 2nd is too low. But with a GEAR VENDORS it will jump right into 2nd-over which will rip nicely and put the converter right in the power. You can use this setup as a guidline and say move up or down in ratio related to stall from this good setup with a GEAR VENDORS."

I have a 355 SB with a B&M TH400 When I tried to install my GV OD (1994) it interfered with my tunnel & I gave up & put the tail shaft back on the transmission. Car was in storage for 13 years & now I'm working on it again. Recently, I put in stronger poly motor mounts that were suppose to lower the motor a little & might provide a little more clearance for the GV OD. This was difficult with the motor in the car. BUT, I'm glad I did this as I found out that the "SHISTER SHOP" that put the motor mounts in (1995) (used BTW) left one of the drivers side bolts 1/2 way out. I'm wondering If I can use a 5# hammer & dent up the tunnel enough? Other thoughts are reworking the cross member or moving it to the bottom side of my frame & adding support straps? I will tackle this when the weather warms up my shop & the winter winds stop blowing. BBP

I hear ya, I lost my digital camera a couple weeks ago. I was transporting day laborers to my new shop site. Need to buy another one. Darn-it. BBP

I mounted the diamond plate today, lots of uneven surfaces under there, hard to keep the aluminum flat. I used self tapping screws & 1/4-20 bolts & lots of spacers. BBP

I guess I can't see what Mikstudie has there. "Port in thermostat neck for sensor" sounded like it is above the thermostat. I know that what Bones is using allows the sensor below the thermostat. I like it. BBP

Mikstudie, How does your sensor read the correct temperature when the thermostat below it is closed? I like the diamond plate & will put one on mine. I will mount some stuff there, like the bottom of my DIY shroud & maybe a couple remote oil filters. I found a more reasonably priced spacer. $39.39 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=MEZ-WN0028U BBP

Chris, a water neck like that wouldn't show the correct temperature with the thermostat closed. My 3/4 heater hose off the intake has flow to the heater even if thermostat is closed. As I said above, there are no sensor holes available. The engine is assembled & I don't want to drill & tap, IMO too big a risk for introducing chips into coolant passages. Intake is like an Edelbrock Air Gap, but for for their Pro-Flo EFI Bones, that's a nice looking one, $92.95 at Summit BBP

I think a 3/4 cam is what's left after grinding a "full race" cam down to a smaller base circle cam. BBP

My new aluminum heads don't have the holes where the sensor would normally go on the drivers side. No place on the intake manifold either. I'm thinking of putting it into a brass tee inline in the 3/4" heater hose close to the intake manifold. Good place? It may read a few * low. BBP

Hello, I'm putting new polyurethane front motor mounts on 350. I have it up on blocks & can use my hydraulic floor jack & 12" x 12" wood block under oil pan. The long bolts are easy to remove. The bottom bolt of the 3 on the block looks tough to get at. Any tricks? or just jack up motor further? Thanks BBP

KC8OYE, you are correct that in some situations, taking the thermostat out will cause over-heating, but not because the flow is too fast. It's due to water pump cavitation. The following is copied: "Water pump cavitation is a huggeeee factor in taking thermostats out. That whole "flows too fast" theory is a bunch of bull. For crying out loud, the fluid has to flow through tubes that are only 1 inch in width by something along the lines of a 1/16" deep. It seems that flowing capabilities would need to be of the highest capacity to have the fluid flow through those small tubes. I don't care how high of a flowing capability waterpumps are, if you have to flow fluid through such narrow passages, your pump abilities are going to be hindered. A simple comparison is a garden hose. Leave the end fully open, a nice steady stream of water is coming out, now start to pinch it off. You can clearly see how you will flow no where near as much water as before hand, AND also take into consideration that the narrow passage will INCREASE backpressure in the hose and will actually move the water further then previously beforehand, which also brings me to the thermostat. The ultimate purpose is to keep the engine's operating temperature fairly consistent so everything can operate correctly, especially now with the arseload of sensors that rely on the engine performing at the correct operating temperature. Also whenever people remove the thermostat to increase flowing, or so they think, the backpressure created by the thermostat will be absent, which will also hinder the water pump from doing its job. Without the proper backpressure to let the impeller blades actually move the water somewhere, it will just spin the water around the blades and not actually move any, creating local hot spots and cavitate the water pump. I believe that by actually removing the thermostat, you are ultimately signing your death wish by not flowing water fast enough . Also take into consideration, why do you think there are a number of people that have problems of having the car never warm up when they remove the thermostat? Shouldn't they have the overheating problem that we've been led to believe is the cause from having water flow to fast? Their cooling system is up to the task and will actually overcool if that device is removed, and in some cases, overheat due to the waterpump cavitating. That is my belief. ""What some people will say in public. This is absolutely false, of course. Try to conceive of blowing on something hot, say a spoonful of soup, first slowly and then more rapidly. Which cools faster? For extra credit, try imagining the same spoon with first slow and then fast water moving across the bottom. Sheesh! The issue with running without a thermostat is two-fold. The first part is that the thermostat provides drag on the water flow. This drag increases the backpressure the water pump and all of the enginesees. This additional pressure, over and above the nominal 15 psistatic pressure the radiator cap sets, raises the boiling point of the coolant. The reason this is important is that it suppresses localized film boiling at hot spots such as around the exhaust port. The transition from nucleatic boiling (bubbles of steam originating from irregularities on the surface) to film boiling (where the hot surface is coated with a film of steam) is called Departure from Nucleatic Boiling or DNB. DNB is very bad, for steam is a very good insulator compared to water. Once DNB occurs, the area under the steam gets hotter because the steam doesn't remove very much heat, adjacent metal which is still wetted heats from conduction. DNB happens there. The process spreads until substantially all the coolant-wetted surfaces are insulated by a film of steam. The engine overheats. In addition, the buildup in steam pressure forces the radiator cap open, bleeding coolant, therefore making the situation worse. The second issue is that of water pump cavitation and surge. If the pump is operated at high RPM with insufficient head pressure(provided by the frictional losses in the coolant passages and the thermostat), there is a great likelihood that the pump will either cavitate (localized boiling and/or degassing on the impeller) or surge (an unstable flow regime). Either phenomena is destructive. Cavitation's collapsing bubbles act like little sand blaster, eroding away impeller material. Surge can do the same thing and in addition, can vibration stress the impeller enough to break it. Many times what looks like corrosion damage to the impeller, especially when the housing is damage-free, is actually cavitation damage. The myth of velocity originated among those unschooled in physics or thermodynamics, I suppose, because a common racer "solution" is to press a fixed restriction into the thermostat housing neck when no thermostat is desired. The conventional (but wrong) wisdom is that the restriction "slows the water" as stated by the previous poster. In reality, all it does is provide some more dynamic pressure in the block by restricting the flow. The exact same result could be accomplished (assuming the water pump doesn't surge or cavitate) with a higher static pressure (cap pressure), assuming the system could withstand it."" Bogie"

I have studied many over-heating threads on the 4 sites that I visit. I have these items on order for my 500HP 355, but not installed yet. Read over the stuff on www.stewartcomponents.com technical. BBP

There is no such thing as "coolant flow too fast" A great high-flow thermostat: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=EMP%2D301&autoview=sku and a great high-flow water pump: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=EMP-23113 You may need a good aluminum radiator with a high CFM electric fan/shroud. BBP