i am thinkin about putting a gm crate ram jet 502 in to my stock 86 iroc and i was wondering of anyone has done this swap or any big block swap into their car. and is their a problem with room in the motor compartment?

 

Its a tough task man. Big block spings,brake lines re routed, headers are a whoore, there is like 0 room, when you open the hood all you see it Motor.cross member for the TH400 tranny etc.... list goes on

 

Search through the archives. There are plenty of messages about BBC swaps and it's not that hard to do.

 

If you have time, paitience, money and an above average command of the use of four letter words at the appropriate times you should have no problems.

 

All the info you need is on my page at www.koolmeister.com

Miles

 

One of the easier GM swaps to do. Buy some good headers (not hookers) and plan ahead how you will tackle the job.

 

I really have to know how much you paid (approximately, minus the machine work you had done to it...) for the bare aluminum big block. I would expect a lot. It's an interesting idea though, as it would weigh very very little . Excellent handling, incredible power! watch out .

 

Why not hookers? Clearance problems?

 

I love the BIG BLOCK! Fitting it won't be a problem when I get back from the chassis shop. This is a long way down the road, but there is a guy in my neighborhood who can put in double A-arm low profile suspension, rack and pinion. A fiberglass lift off front end courtesy JC Whitney, and a 10 point cage will follow that. Then it's just smooth sailing. All I have to do is dig up about 10 g's that I have lying around

 

Yep. There is a list on my page at www.koolmeister.com
of everything I had to modify to get the Hookers to fit.

Miles

 

a few responses:

Hooker headers fit like crap and they are 1 7/8 x 3"; most of my small blocks run larger headers. Lemons, Quay and Davis make good headers for this swap ( I swear by the davis headers, it made the job a lot easier).

An aluminum block is $5k-$7k new + machine work. Merlin aluminum blocks are $4,995 CN billet Blocks are $7,400. I bought the motor used and complete out of a Nitrous Pro-Mod car. It was freshed by RS Competition of West Babylon, NY and is now in the Firebird.

www.nescaracing.com
http://www.geocities.com/RSCompetition/

 

Unless you're making over 600hp or spinning the BBC over 7000 rpm, 1 7/8" headers is enough. Bigger is not always better. Those street SBC with 1 3/4" headers would probably see more power if they went to 1 5/8"

 

I read miles list of relocated sheetmetal and I'd like to do anything but, is there a number or website where I can read about or talk to someone who knows more about the non-hooker big block units.
Thanks for the help.

 

How much money do you want to spend on headers? The Hookers are the cheapest at around $370. I think the Lemon Headers is around $900. Big tube headers = $$$. You could buy a kit and fabricate your own but you wouldn't be saving much money.

In the long run it's easier to just make the Hookers fit.

 

figures, nothing cheap is ever easy- In the car business anyway

 

what about the block hugger headers in jegs?

 

Block huggers point directly at the factory K member. I agree with Stephen about the primary tubing size - bigger is not alway better, my concern was with a 3" collector that has a sharp bend in it. Look through the hooker/hedman catalog and the only BBC headers with a 3" collector are for tow rigs. most others are 3.5"-4" diameter. Most aftermarket heads (even merlin street) have exhaust ports that are cut for 2"+ headers. I spent some $$ for the Davis headers and was money well spent IMO.