Cascade Crew

IROCDave

One of my goals for this winter is to get my 87 back on the road.

Short recap of the history of what was done and the outcome / reason it isnt running. I pulled the TF heads and cam and installed a set of AFR 195 heads and new cam on the ZZ4 shortblock a couple of years ago.
The intake didnt seal against the heads / block. Had to pull and reseal the intake after putting the engine back in the car. The distributor didnt drop easily either, had to apply force to get it to drop.

About 600 miles later it quit running. The cam didnt have a cast iron pressed on gear so the hardened gear on the MSD pro billet distributor ground off the cam gear.
Atleast thats my assumption. I pulled the gear off the distributor and measured the runout with a dial indicator. It was bent. Dont remember how bad but it was bent.

I plan to pull the engine, clean the pan out and plasti gauge the bearrings.

Where should I go from there?

Have the short block rebuilt? Buy a 383 shortblock and cam?

I need some advise / inspiration.

aaron_sK · Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 8:43 pm Post subject:

Have you pulled the cam yet to confirm your diagnosis?

Have you dumped the oil yet?

I know my attitude is a lot more haphazard than many people on here, but I would reseat the intake properly, replace the distributor, check the cam and run it.

IROCDave · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:35 pm Post subject:

Havent pulled the cam or dumped the oil. My brother came over with a borescope ( nice to have family working for Beoing) and looked over the cam dist gear. It's not bad but shows signs of clashing with the dist gear.

My brother keeps telling me " f ' it, new cam, distributor and run it till it blows. Then put an LSx engine it". I'm tempted to go the easy route, but dont plan to make the leap to LSx territory. Way to much money for my budget right now.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:17 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't even run a new cam based on your description. I'd put a bronze gear on a new dizzy, change oil and filter and run it.

If you used a quality filter, the shavings ended there.

I lost a cam lobe, I didn't even change the oil, just the filter. These things happen over miles, so chances are it's in the filter, or already been changed out.

Get it back on the road and be happy. See what this combo has. Do like your Bro said!