well after about 2 1/2 weeks of coming home from work and working till he sun goes down i'm finally about ready to fire my 305-350 swap tomorrow,but i've got a few questions

1. The pink wire from the old dist,can i re-use it to power my new vac. advance hei and the white wire to the tach should i still wire in the tach filter as before?

2. the choke power wire from the old q-jet can i use it on my new Edelbrock 1806 Thunder avs carb and in the future can i use the idle compensator lead to power up an aftermarket one?

3.I have it understood that my oil pressure,coolant temp and charge gauges should work as before no mod necessary?

4.the new alternator's 4 wire plug only needs the 1 wire to the L terminal and of course the charge wire?

Heres what went in to it:
350 4 bolt mains with Keith Black HT fla top pistons .040 over
patriot performance aluminium 64cc heads with 2.02 and 1.60 valves with 5 angle valve job
edelbrock perfomer rpm intake
stainless steel roller rockers 1.6 ratio stud mounted with 7/16 screw in studs and guide plates
comp cams xe268 cam installed straight up
double roller timing chain set
melling high volume oil pump
stock replacement fuel pump with what seems to be a bronze tipped pump rod
1 5/8 header to 2.5" exhaust to flowmaster muffler(shop said couldnt fit 3" due to veh being lowered)
Vacuum advance HEI with 65k volt coil and locking cap
edelbrock 1806 thunder avs carb
8.5 mm wires custom cut to autolite 5224 plugs gapped to 45
serpentine belt setup from 88
new compressor and lines
new cs-130 105 amp alternator
new duralast high perf. water pump
new power steering pump , pulley and line
electric fans from a focus (2) (free, from work they cover the rad just about perfectly)
billet plug wire guides and a few other billet dres up pieces
twin snorkel air cleaner

as i said i'm hoping to start her up and break-in the cam tomorrow and spend the next few days tidying up under the hood but want to wait to do so incase i run into any problems.Tell me what you think and be kind I've never done this before and really want this thing to come out sweet.
BTW the upholsterer we use at my job is re-doing all my seats black with gold pipping and a z28 logo into the headrests to matchthe exterior and is only charging me for materials (one hand cleans the other).Pics soon

 

1. Pink wire? Is this an '84, or '87-later? You're describing '87-later, but what you said is what you do.
2. Yes. Not the carb choice I would have made, but that's how you hook it up.
3. Should work.
4. Not sure. Hopefully someone who's done more with alternators can answer. I've only replaced stock.

The bronze tipped fuel pump push rod is intended for roller cams. But, shouldn't be a problem, put the bronze end in first. Should also be lighter than stock, which helps the pump at higher RPMs.

 

My z28 is an 83 formerly had an LG4
I might have gone with a holley but it just seems to me that the edel. is easier to adjust etc.
the alternator wiring info i found on alternatorparts.com under the #6 option
Thanks alot

 

Missed that the first time through. No reason 3" single shouldn't fit, any aftermarket system should do the trick. Any reason you're having this custom fabricated? That's one area that the aftermarket has done a good job of providing support.

I'm assuming you're talking a single pipe system, since you said "muffler". If duals, then never mind (you'll still be hurting for ground clearance).

But, if single, 2.5" will kill you.
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I've never understood that. The "hard" part only needs to be done initially or when drastic changes are made. After that, no difference.

And it isn't that "hard" - drain the bowl by removing a lower bolt, remove the other 3 bolts. I do use a dual feed line that is flexible between the bowls, and that does make it a lot easier.

 

didnt really do much research on the exhaust just took it to my local muffler shop after i installed my summit shorty headers and flowtech y-pipe 2.5 outlet.when i took it they said 3 wouldn't fit i guess they just they wanted to be a little lazy huh? yes it's a single tube to and dual outlet flowmaster. I thoght it was mearly impossible to get a true dual on a stickshift car due to the hydraulics from a 84-92 i swaped in? If it is possible do you know where it's fromand what it entails. I dont want to spend more right now on it as i've done the whole swap and stuff but would like to in the future if you think it really hurts me that much. Again thanks

 

Summit shorties are 1-1/2" primary tubes, if memory serves. Made by Flowtech. About the worst out there for our cars, if you can believe what's said on the Exhaust forum.

The "good stuff" is for the '86-'90 TPI single cat application. Headers, cat (if needed), cat-back. Hooker 2055HKR's are 1-5/8" primary tubes, have an absolutely fantastic y-pipe,- 2-1/2" downpipes, 3" after the two sides join, all mandrel bent, no neck-downs like every other y-pipe out there. Your could really engine use 1-5/8" primary tube headers and 3" the rest of the way back.

Your current system is better than stock LG4 or LO3, but that's about all you can say for it.

 

ok, guess i know where my next upgrade will be the headers are that bad huh? what about what i mentioned of duals on a stick shift am i right or exagerating?

 

I'm not sure about duals. Heard of problems with long tubes & manual.

 

ok but what headers that are somewhat affordable and fit without issues would you recommend? also any suggestions on starting her up maybe i'll do it tomorrow rained ALL day today (miami) couldnt do it for that reason. I've got the dist rotor pointing to #1 and everything is pretty much ready to go right now.

 

What's your time worth?

I know the 2055HKR's are over $400, but you can install them yourself. If you go with something that's going to require exhaust shop help, their labor charges are going to add up quick (I had a muffler and exhaust installed on my full-size van last year, basically a cat-back; took them half an hour, charged me $700).

Get the right stuff and you'll spend the least amount of money.

When you first start up the engine, keep the RPMs up around 2000-2500 for the first 15-20 minutes. That allows the lobes and lifters to get used to each other with the least amount of load on them.

 

once the engine fires should i try to set timing or just go on to break in the cam ? btw compcams says to run the engine for a full 30 minutes but that seems a bit excessive to me. and other than oil and temp should i try to monitor anything else? I am using rotela-t 15w-40 as recommended by compcams and prefilled the oil filter with oil they also siad that i can continue using the oil for the rest of the time :it wont hurt" but i was thinking that maybe something in the 10w-30 range might be better (after the first 1000 miles or so i mean)

 

You are good to go with Comp's recommendations. Since you are in FL, no worries on the 15w-40 oil either. Its only an issue in cold weather.

20 mins, half hour, no big deal either way. I would initially fire it, adjust the idle so that it won't go below 2000 rpm, then immediately check the timing. You are looking for drastic timing error, like 10-30 degrees advanced is fine, no less than 10 I would say at 2000, since the mechanical advance will pull you up above base timing. You DON'T want it too retarded, since this will overheat the engine. You can't really advance it too far with no load, but its better to keep it in a moderate advance.

keep an eye on oil and temp. Its a good idea to run a fan in front of the car, if you have one. Check for leaks and burning ignition wires, or any other wires/hoses, etc. Also check the state of the headers or manifolds. If your advance is ok, and you notice things getting RED hot, you will probably want to shut down, you may be too lean, or too rich. Bear in mind a brand new engine will get hotter than a normal running engine as new parts break in and wear together.

listen for any valvetrain noise, or any other noise that should not be. if you hear anything knocking banging, shut down. valvetrain noise-if its really noisy, you may want to shut down. if its lightly clicking, it may either go away, or you just need to adjust.

the main priority is to avoid multiple stops and starts with lots of cranking WITHOUT running. This does damage to camshafts. You can start and stop if the engine immediately fires if you need to, since the oil will splash properly.

 

WOW finally started it up last night afterwork and broke in the cam for 25 mins.oil pressure 60+ temp with both fans on got to about 235 on the gauge found some debris in fuel filter (clear sight glass) but it ran and sounds great .shut it down let it cool off and re-started no prob. adjusted timing to about 11* advanced with vacuum to advance disconnected then re-connected to timed vacuum. I can't really explaing how good it feels to have something you built with your hands (and friends to install) and have it run properly and safely now I'm going to put the interior back together route all the wiring and re-do some of the wiring to make it more appealing to the eyes (just basically zip-tied everything out of the way to break it in and verify operation of everything) got my seats back from upholsterer look great black and gold-tan with the logo and all. After all is set i'm going to get about 500-600 miles on it and dyno it to see what i've got (any guesses) then save up some money to do a better exhaust system 3" at least prefer 2.5 duals if poss.Again thanks for all the help and suggestions so far it really helped to ease my mind and do things properly from people who have actually done this before.

 

Congratulations! Nothing like baby's first cry. Especially when it fires up without a lot of oops's.

 

SHE RUNS !!! Wel i've got her all put together just going to pretty up under the hood what with new electric fans and all the wiring to get rid of. Put the interior together on tuesday WOW ehat a difference she looks like a new car.I've got to wait a while before taking it to the dyno but would like any guesstimates as to what she'll do i don't know what to wish for as far as power goes guess i'll have to speculate and wait till i find out for true.