Cascade Crew

townaj · Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:46 am Post subject: Well I'm back....

Well the move went...ok I suppose. The maro didn't like this weather apparently though. The other day I was out havin some fun on the backroads and the car starts knockin somethin awful. So I pulled over and popped the hood and let it run. Sounded like it was coming from cylinder 7. So I shut it off and waited a while. When I started it back up there was a huge bang and fuel came flyin out of the carb but it ran. I decided to limp it home and work on it later. At this point it had NO power and would do that bang thing again. It was kinda like I was drivin a import....disturbing. So I get home and start dismantling all the b.s. under the hood and pull off the valve covers and start it again. No bang this time but I still hear the knocking. Now I figure since I have a 350 I might as well start the swap. Well I'm in the process of pulling off the spark plug wires when i get to the 7th cylinder and can't find the wire...wtf? So I trace the wire from the cap and lo and behold! It wasn't on the plug any more Embarassed

. I couldn't kick myself hard enough lol. I felt like such an idiot but I just kept dismantling the damn thing. So now I have the engine and trans out and am waiting on the rotating assembly to get balanced so I can throw the new motor in. I'm makin it a 383 and it has 4 bolt mains and is bored .060 over. The trans is going to the tranny guy to get a rebuild, since my mom doesn't think i can do it myself. So this is hopefully going to be a thread on my adventures during this swap. It's my first swap so if I am doing anything wrong, feel free to correct me. I'm goin back out to drop the driveshaft and exhaust and take some pics.

townaj · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject:

Ok well I decided to stop procrastinating and post the pics. I dropped the exhaust after 2 hours of hacksaw work and breaking both studs off of the right exhaust manifold lol. Good thing I'm going with headers. Just ordered the 3 inch exhaust stuff today from summit. For now I'm just going glasspacks since they are cheap. I also bought all the other stuff I need to drop in the engine. I think. I'm sure I forgot something somewhere but i hope not since I dropped 700 bucks today Shocked

. Yikes. So here is where I have hidden the pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/camaro85/sets/72157621823777867/. Unfortunately I forgot to order the rebuild kit for the trans when i ordered the other stuff. Doh. Anybody have any opinions on certain kits like which to stay away from etc. Also B&M has this transpak thing that I am looking into getting. Part number is BMM-70235. Anybody heard if these are any good? Do you think its worth it? The trans was slipping horribly when I started. Even when the correct amount of fluid was in it it would barely shift under medium to hard acceleration.

Alphius · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:24 am Post subject:

Sounds like a good project. Definitely get that tranny rebuilt. As far as rebuild kits, I don't know much. I like to row my own gears, so I stay away from the auto F-bodies. Laughing

I have heard from others that the B&M shiftkit is no good for the 700R4, and the one to get is a Transgo.

Good luck! Keep us updated. Very Happy

Schultzy89GTA · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:23 am Post subject:

Good luck with the project. Don't have much experience with the rebuild kits. Transgo has a good rep/good results from what other members have posted.

-Schultzy

townaj · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject:

Hey guys. I would love to put a 5 or 6 speed in but I've already spent so much it seems impossible. At least for a while.

I'll stick to the Transgo stuff then. I'd rather have something proven and liked in my car.

Today I called some places to see if I could get the rotating assy balanced. Sounds like its gonna run about 200 bucks. I've heard that it only takes a couple hours to do it but all the places I called said 2-3 days. Seems reasonable since they have other business to do.

I pulled the radiator out today just so that its out of the way and so I don't scar it up when I put the 383 in. Its a good thing I did too because a nice big portion of it was blocked with crud, mud, and grass. I'm surprised it was still cooling at all. Put the pics on that same link.

Is it worth it to take the ac out? I'm in San Antone TX now and it gets rather hot here (102 with 108 heat index today Shocked

) but I never use it. I always roll with the windows down and the music up Very Happy

. What do you guys think? I just don't want to deal with the coolant that may be in the system.

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:55 pm Post subject:

who is rebuilding your tranny? I'm about to have mine done and am in the process of finding someone to do it.

~JAKE

townaj · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:29 pm Post subject:

I changed my mind and decided that I'm gonna attempt it myself lol. It's wayyy too expensive to have someone do it. At least for me. It was gonna be 950 for a stock build and 1300-1700 for a performance build. It's 180 for a kit to do it myself. I've torn into a couple Powerglides before so I have a little experience. But your in Washington anyway aren't you? I'm down in Texas.

83Z28BlackBetty · Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:36 am Post subject:

HAHAHA Where in texas?! I'm about a month away from moving to Austin! but yeah i'm in Seattle.

~JAKE

Outlaw28 · Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:37 pm Post subject:

definitely get a aluminum radiator helped a bunch when i was in socal...also what made the biggest deference was getting an adjustable fan relay so you can turn the fan on at a lower temp...and make sure you radiator spoiler is all still there...it helps a lot in the heat...

townaj · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 12:27 pm Post subject:

Ok I'll keep that in mind. My car still has the air dam. It got a little bent when we had to winch it onto the trailer when we first bought it, but not too bad.

Ok so I have crank issues. I got everything back from the machine shop so I'm in the middle of assembly. But, when I tighten down the rear most main cap (the one with the RMS) it won't allow the crank to turn at all. I figured this isn't normal. Anybody have any clue as to what's going on? I really need to get this thing done so help is appreciated.

Oh and I'm down in San Antonio. Hotter than....whatever you can think of that is extremely hot. It's insane how hot it gets sometimes. Austin shouldn't be too bad though, your pretty far north of us. The traffic is horrible though lol.

townaj · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject:

Well today i worked on the crank problem for a while but ended up giving up. So I decided to do some exhaust work instead. I welded the hangers to the frame-they aren't goin anywhere anytime soon. I positioned them close to where the stock mounts were. The tailpipes come out in pretty much the same place they used to. I'll try to have pics tomorrow.

flea · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:17 pm Post subject:

townaj · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject:

I'm in

. Soon as I get this damn thing going lol. It should be fun once I get this dropped in, I'll be doin pegleg burnouts all over the place lol. I'm gonna have tons to do tomorrow. I have the tranny rebuild and shift kits coming in and I have to go pick up plastigauge in the morning to try and get a jump on this thing, before it gets too hot. Then I have to be back to catch the ups guy with the rest of my exhaust stuff. Should be a busy day.

townaj · Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:59 am Post subject:

Ok so I figured out what the crank problem is. The rear main cap is the wrong one Evil or Very Mad

. So I took the block to the machine shop and they are going to try to find one that fits better. Idk if they switched it on accident when I took it to them before or what, but I'm pissed. So hopefully I'll have it back today so I can get it in the car. It should go together pretty fast once everything is right. I hope.

I ran out of wire for the welder so I can't do any exhaust work til I get more. Would anything bad come of using an oxy-acetylene torch to heat the exhaust tubes so I can bend them? Or is there another way I can do this?

townaj · Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:30 pm Post subject:

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! It's alive!!!!!!!! and holy damn is it fast. I love it and I think we're getting married lol. I love the way it feels now. So...powerful.....I'm never going back. Ever. Hopefully I'll be able to take it to the track soon. My unedumacated and inexperienced guess is low to mid 13s. What do you guys think? I'm tryin not to be too overly optimistic. Sorry I went so long without an update but we just bought a house so we are in the process of moving. Again.

blue89 · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:26 am Post subject:

Nice. So what all is in the motor? Heads, block, crank, specs?

townaj · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 3:59 pm Post subject:

Its a .060 over 4 bolt block out of a 75 pickup with heads off a 72-73 camaro. The valves are oversized with new springs and a valve job. I have sealed power lifters and lunati pushrods with a gm performance cam. I'm not sure on the duration but the peak lift is about .480. I have speed pro pistons with scat 5.7 inch rods and a scat forged crank. Also have clevite bearings all around. I have a weiand intake and moroso valve covers. Right now I have a spreadbore 650cfm holley on it and I just started using premium. What a difference. The hardware is all arp stainless. I got hedman hedders that fit really nicely. Probably got them installed in about 5 minutes. I ended up gettin a whole new 700r4 because my other one was nice and toasty inside. The new one is freshly rebuilt with a shift kit in it. Still have the pegleg and I believe 3.23s in the rear.

aaron_sK · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:05 pm Post subject:

Freakin' sweet you guys... seriously...

Very Happy

Sounds good man, are you gonna try and get some passes in before the end of the season?

DBL_TKE · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:33 am Post subject:

You installed headers in 5 minutes? It took me 2 days to do mine.

Quasi-Traction · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:41 pm Post subject:

Your motor sounds like its pretty similar to mine.

FYI, I dynoed 276hp/312ft/lbs back at our annual dyno in february.