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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
So today i f#%@% up and bought my first third gen camaro.... and im hooked. Damn. This is gonna be a build/question/noob freaking out thread. If this is in the wrong area can an admin please relocate it? Anyway on to the car, which is far more interesting than my inane ramblings. It is a 1992 RS hardtop with a b4c 1LE package in a very nice black. It has a lb9 305 with a 5-speed. The previous owner isn't really sure what the owners before him did to the car except for a few small things that he knows about so I'm not sure how much has been changed on the car. I do know that the headers and the intake manifold have been swapped for non-stock ones and it has custom (?) exhaust as well as cat and smog delete ( not sure how well it was done ). Issues I've noticed so far is pretty much all of the shocks need to be replaced and all of the weather stripping as well. I don't know how well the smog delete was done so I've gotta figure that out. It's also leaking from the gasket between the headers and the block so that's an issue. My first mission is to restore the car to showroom quality if not necessarily stock form. So I'll be asking a lot of questions and hopefully mostly yall can help me out on them.
Last edited by Brutus1990; Dec 16, 2016 at 02:49 AM.
Nice car, man! I remember when I bought my car and thought I was going to restore it .
Header gaskets are important, get good ones and torque them down regularly. Any pictures of the interior?
It's got a ton of little things that aren't "right". If your plan is to mod it further, restoring to stock probably isn't worth the trouble, but the rarity and collector value of the car is reduced with the mods. If restoration is what you have in mind there are a ton of things under the hood that aren't correct. Fortunately you can go either way depending what you like.
Just curious, I noticed the earlier wheels and overflow tank and some extra wiring, but what else did you see?
Red RS badges on a black car - should be silver.
Wrong seats or just wrong upholstery.
Overflow tank is from an earlier car, the anchors holding it down are wrong.
Aftermarket alarm, and wiring.
Aftermarket washer fluid cap.
Aftermarket fuel lines, plug wires, and coil.
Wrong throttle cable.
Aftermarket radiator cap.
Missing heater bypass valve.
Wrong PCV breather tube.
Missing alternator harness anchor.
Looks like the charcoal can is gone too.
Just a lot of little things that would take a bit of TLC.
Try starting with the two bolts on the center ports and working out. If the headers don't have a constant flange across all four ports, you might have to use a manifold spreader or brute force to get the bolts started. Get all the bolts started before you tighten any of them very tight.
So i started the car today and there was a loud slapping sound coming from the engine . but it didnt seem consistent enough to be detonation. was looking around and it seems to be a loose piston rod or bearing. and it wasnt a problem last night before I shut thebcar off after driving it. What iv researched seems to say that it is cus a lack of oil reaching due to cold temps. thoughts?
Ok so tomorrow starts the engine pull process. Ill make sure to post pics and such as it goes along. Feel free to point out things or make suggestions to streamline the process.
Yeah it worries me too. Most everything is getting rerouted in the engine bay. Wires, hoses, lines, the whole nine yards. Also gonna do a few coats of heat resistant paint for the whole bay and possibly some soundproofing on the firewall.
Thanks for the heads up about the wires i didn't know that was possible. One of the previous owners did that and i didnt know it was a bad thing. I have alot of things to fix on this car. Slowly but surely.
Oh there's bodywork to be done aswell. Some minor rust spots making the paint bubble. One of the prior owners reattached part of the ground effects with a self tapping sheetmetal screw... things like that
If you haven't pulled it yet, do yourself a favor and unbolt the headers while the engine is still in the car, and leave them there while you pull the motor out. Headers bolted to the engine during removal\installation will not end well.
If you haven't pulled it yet, do yourself a favor and unbolt the headers while the engine is still in the car, and leave them there while you pull the motor out. Headers bolted to the engine during removal\installation will not end well.
Yeah the headers were one of the first bits to get unhooked.
Does anyone know anything about the SBC Aluminum block from dart? Im tempted to use it cus i wanna drop the extrea weight but only if i can run TPI with it. Is that possible?
Cheap set of wire looms if nothing else. Like the song says, "gotta keep em separated". Off your headers too, obviously.
Nice car. I'm jealous. Mine always have dents and snagly upholstery to soak up my precious time (and money).
Don't go too cheap. I bought Spectre, and they melted. See the pic in my review here:
https://m.summitracing.com/parts/review/0/336aaed1-538a-47b9-9c2b-55f2261f19b0/0/0/89fd056b-8373-4a84-826d-44af70a83def/mediauc
Make sure to go through the interior wiring. I see an after market alarm was installed, probably a radio too. These cars usually get hacked on pretty bad by do it yourselfers who have no idea how to do proper wiring mods.
Make sure to go through the interior wiring. I see an after market alarm was installed, probably a radio too. These cars usually get hacked on pretty bad by do it yourselfers who have no idea how to do proper wiring mods.
I had what appears to be a similar alarm installed. He'll definitely want to check by the fuse box under the drivers side for the various accessories for it. Wasn't too hard to rip out.
<img src="https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thirdgen.org-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-1486473095658_417290972_146460288f46a67a684dbbfa4fc135069b02bb91.jpg"/><br />
Finally... oh my god that sucked
Finally got my hands on a 350 block. Soon as tac return is in im sending it to get cleaned up. Had dirt and water in it. Was free though so not complaining much. Anyone have suggestions for good street heads for a tpi 350?
Project still on going. Got ahold of a good 880 350 sbc. Completely bare. Has been magnafluxed. This is my first complete engine build so what should step 2 be from here? P.s its still gonna be a slow build.
Well, you need to think about what you're going to do with your car and build it as a complete package. Thinking about your transmission, rear gear, and tire size will help you determine where you need your power band (or perhaps that power band is unrealistic so you'll need to make changes there also to meet your goal).
The short block is pretty straight forward, however. Since you didn't get a crank, rods, or pistons, it might make measuring your deck height kind of tricky without some fairly specific tools. You'll want to figure out if the deck has been milled at all before you can determine what pistons you need.
Look for stamped numbers on the pad in front of the passenger side head. If there are numbers clearly stamped there, it hasn't been decked. If no numbers, or they look very shallow, or the machine marks look the same from the pad to the head gasket surface, it's probably been decked. If it's been decked, you'll need a different height piston than if it were not decked.
Personally, I'd bring the block in to a machine shop and have it tanked if it's dirty, then have them align hone the mains and hone\glaze-bust the cylinders if necessary. Throw some paint on it to keep it from rusting right away. They can also measure the deck height for you, check it for variations, deck it if necessary, etc. Sometimes it's cheap to deck a block. Sometimes it's not. My machinist charges about $100 to deck a block. He's the only one I've ever used in this area though, so no idea if that's reasonable or not. Have them install frost plugs too, if they're not installed yet.
Once you're done at the machine shop, you should know how much (if any) has been milled off of the deck. You'll also know your mains are true. Now, you can pick out a crank, rods, and pistons. Since you have to buy a crank anyways, I'd say it's a no-brainer to pick up a stroker crank. For a NA build for less than 600 ponies, I'd go with a 9000 series SCAT stroker crank. I'd also likely go with their 6" Pro Comp I-Beam rods (stroker clearanced). Select your piston based on your deck height. Probably flat tops, with valve reliefs, depending on octane requirements. Shoot for about .040 piston to head clearance with your head gasket of choice (assuming a steel rod). Have your rotating assembly (crank, rods, pistons) neutral (internal) balanced. They may need your flywheel\flexplate also as it is counterbalanced due to the 1 piece rear main seal design. I've never had a 1pc balanced so I can't tell you for sure.
Now you have a short block. Add your flywheel\flexplate, dampener, and oil pan to complete the motif.
Now, you need to be sure what you want to do with the engine. What RPM range do you need? How much power are you looking for? What type of induction system are you using? What kind of exhaust are you going to run? What octane of fuel do you have available and\or plan to use? There's a lot of variables, from air filter to muffler, that you need to decide.
Taking the time to take the whole picture into account will save you a lot of money in the long run.
The goal is to be somewhere around 350ish to 400 at best at the rear wheels with a tpi system. Planning on most likely a scoggin dicky base plate with fast burn or vortec heads. It's gonna be a daily driver thats fun to scoot around in. Nothing too crazy. Think thats reasonable for goals?
I don't know TPI very well, but from my understanding that's probably the upper limit of what TPI can do for HP. Your torque ideals is more than doable. Since you're building TPI, though, I'll leave the commentary for others. I'm sure someone will come along in point you in the right direction.
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