Haha yeah i hear ya there on the warranty. Exactly what prompted me to go crate also. You are correct though that the complete 350 HO is almost the same coin as the ZZ4 and it has a steel crank versus the HO's cast iron. Not that I would think its big deal for these low revving motors but its a bonus to have nonetheless. What I meant is you can save by getting the longblock version and sourcing out your own top end. I have tons of HEI distributers in A1 shape and Edelbrock intakes can be had cheap. I run a performer on mine cause I had it when I bought the engine but a performer RPM does fit although its a tight squeeze. I can certainly understand you getting the complete engine though cause its a drop and go headache/tuining free combo that will surely be pleasing upgrade over your stocker. Hmmm that would put us pretty comparable in power out put and if we do a track day next year hmmm... Sounds like its going to be a hoot

 

I'll verify the RPM Air gap fits as well. I have it in my 91 RS right now. It is indeed a tight fit as I can see the shape of the wingnut in the hood insulation. I use a 14x3" drop base air cleaner and my heads are actually taller than most with the 3/4" deck.

87roc_T56, need to get rid of any of those A1 HEI dists?

 

I have a shop and its full of stuff. Been selling most of it off over the last year to clean up some. You need a distributer? I am making up all kinds of parts too. 8.8 hybrid rears, stainless polished panhard rods and lower control arms with heim joints etc.

 

I need lots of things

Just a distributor for now at least tho. Unless you have an adjustable vacuum advance canister as well?

 

That's pretty much what it came down to. At one point I was going to get a ZZ4 shortblock and add better heads but I don't have a lot time to even do that.

 

WOW...this is like the 1st bit of action on here in a LONG time.....

Some interesting Stuff guys...thats cool what you guys are into...nice!

How banged up do those cars get in that solo1 stuff???

 

Lol.. the most dangerous part is driving to the track on the public roads.

 

Haha you were right George highjacking this thread turned out to be fun for all

RegaPlanet I sent you a PM.

Anyone got a rust free Camaro/Iroc body you want to part with?

 

Im gonna finally build up the vortec longblock I bought a while ago. Cant wait

 

gerorge is right it's the nuts on th street you have to worry about!! LOL!!

I spun twice this past year, both times on street tires, once durigna n evetn the other during a lapping day. Just a brusied ego. No wheel to wheel racing. we did have 1 person roll their car during warm up. It was right off. parts car now!! He was OK.

We have every thing form Chaterham replicas to Vettes old to Z06's!!! lots of Honda yuck a Mustangs and Camaros!!

there is a class for everyone and everything!!!

the school is recomended but not mandantory isually in April at Mosport DDT 2 days ais was $395, it iscomprised of Skid pad, track time, classroom, Autocross etc. great school lots of track time and lots of experinced instructors. it's a bargain!!

All you need is a helmet and a car!!

 

Alright Steve you got me thinking and now have me convinced. A freshening of the crate engine is the new plan ( plan 46b ) for this winter now too rather than rush the 406 build. I'm thinking about swapping cams up to the XE274 as well as some head work. Should give me a little edge over George for next years shootout

Seriously though guys I am looking forward to running the on track next year.

:lala:

 

that sounds cool!! cheaper short term costs and that way you can put the $$$ over time in a REALLY "SIcK" 406!!


Plus you can Hone your driving and chassis set up too!!!

 

Yeah the biggest thing I have to sweat with the swap over to the 406 is the one piece seal flywheel for the t56. No real low cost solution and no sense cheaping out when you factor in that the best offering out there is only a couple hundred bucks difference which is the Mcleod street twin that runs about a grand US complete with billet flywheel so that cost alone will pretty much freshen my 350 if I do most of the work. Seeing as I have a fresh LT4 plate and disc it makes the most sense to run the 350 for now.

I am actually thinking about building a whole new car for the 406 that will be a WMD Twin turbo 406 w t56 and 8.8 hybrid rear in a race prepped third gen should do it eh? Full cage of course

 

Now that would be a SICK 406 and 3rd gen!!!

The biggest issues with these cars and making more HP is the original trans (T-5) and the rear end. they both need to be beefed up as HP increases.

 

Yeah the drivetrain in ANY GM car or truck from 1980 on up is pretty much maxxed out for power handling capacity right from the get go. Still I can't knock the General cause if you leave them stock and treat them like your suposed too they last forever. Too bad though that the t-5 is such a turd box tranny... not to worry though yours is something extraordinary cause those Player trannies are sweet!

 

What all do you have planned out for this 406? Even tho I just built mine(17kms old) I'm still constantly looking at stuff I would pull the motor out to put in/on!

 

Well it all started simply enough but got complicated in a hurry. My 350 crate engine has five years on it and is getting tired so seeing as I have a virgin low mile 400 I thought why not build it up instead? Sounds logical enough but I soon ( as always ) began planning out a much more elaborate build than a simple freshening and had goals of around 500 horse. By the time I buy all the required parts to accomplish that kind of power I started to look into a turbo build up instead. I have since come to realize that the 4 or 5 grand that naturally aspirated 500 horse would cost will get me over 800 horse if i go for a twin turbo set up so I figured why not? That cost is provided I do all the fabrication and only lay out cash fo brand new turbos, blow off valves, and a carb shop blow through prepped carb or go fuel injected.I love to fab/build stuff and now I am thinking that 800 horse needs a serious car with a big cage and so on so why bother dropping it into my driver that is a t roof fully loaded built for driving cruiser? So there is the newest plan yet. Freshen the crate and drive the "driver" 87 until I find another solid third gen to build up for the 406 twin turbo for. This is a long term plan though as I am still trying to restore my Players car to show car level so I have my hands full as always. Probably a couple of years to finish the 406. Regardless...

I am very much looking forward to getting out racing with you guys next year. Especially considering that i really don't know any other third gen fans other than on this forum

 

http://www.tfbm.org/

Check this club out. It's mainly 4thgens but there's about half a dozen thirds and we need more. The club is well organised and runs a drag as well as an autocross series. The autox courses are long and set up for our land barges rather than Honduhs. I did the series for the first time last year and it was a lot of fun notwithstanding that I'm lousy at autocross. Membership is $35 if paid before Jan 1 and there is a 30% parts discount with a few dealers in Toronto. There's also some social events and a rally in the fall. TFBM is affiliated with CASC and you need to be in an affiliated club to get a race license.

Also, OMSC usually has a couple of lap days at the DDT in April and/or May although they would probably want you to take their school which is usually run in conjunction with the first lap day; from what I've heard the school is good although if you'd done an S1 event or two you might be able to give it a miss. They also have more lap days throughout the summer and into the fall mostly on the DDT which is an OK track but a bit tough on tyres and brakes.

 

George... Yeah I really must join that club. I have met a few members here and there that have mentioned I should join in the past few years including one very cool guy named Tilstaad whom I met at the Barrie flea market. I really have no excuses for joining sooner so it will be done very soon. Thanks for the heads up

 

Player88,
Is there a swingout bar that was taken off on the driver side of the cage?

Others,
What would be springs to match the Koni Yellows?I have cut BZX(IROC springs) now and it rides OK with the BBC in the front.Im going to install the Koni yellows then maybe keeping the IROC springs for now.

 

See if anyone at frrax.com is running a BB or call Global West; I found their tech dept to be good - they actually called me shortly after I left a message with them.

Obviously the rates are higher now that they're cut. There's a list on the suspension board with all the spring rates for aftermarket and stock. Prokit fronts are around 715 linear; I don't think any of the stock springs were that high. I guess if they're doing OK leave them for now. With the Yellows though you're going be dodging potholes all the time - might want to take a run in my car sometime to see what Yellows are like even on soft setting.

 

I think to run off the shelf Koni Yellows and have them last awhile you'd be best to stay under 700lb-in springs up front... not sure out back but I wouldn't go over 150lb-in in the rear unless I was going over 700lb-in up front anyway. Unless you plan to run race rubber I'd stay under 650lb-in front even.

 

the SOLO 1 school will be in early May is $400 for 2 days, great instructors and lots of track time. it will be held at the Mosport DDT(not the big track) the big track track WILL induce major pucker factor at first! LOL!! the DDT is right next door, the Bridgestone school is held there.

als my cage has been modified and has dual bars on the drivers side.

 

Hey guys just thought i would throw in my latest update on the winter project list... Looks like I'm not going to be building a 406 or freshening my crate engine after all...

So I guess the new LS1 MM6 I just bought is going to have to do instead

Whoot! Man I am pretty excited about getting that thing in there. Its all stock and will likely stay that way for this summer just to avoid adding more confusion to the tuning process with regards to the calibration and so on. I am a carb guy mainly so this could get educational... I'm sure by the time I'm done i will have learned at least a half dozen new ways to curse Once in and happy then I will be looking to a new bump stick and possibly head work or? In fact I'm not really sure where to start on one of these as this will be my first LS1. Yee haww.

Anyways how you guys doing on the winter projects? You get an engine yet George?

 

Good choice on going with the LS1. They're expensive to mod compared to your regular SBC but they're worth it as they do respond well. I actually kind of wish I had gone that route but it's hard giving up 50 cubic inches

As for my winter mods.... still undecided on what is going to get changed as far as the driveline is concerned to support my new motor. Not sure if I'm going to get myself a solid rear(12bolt or 9") or just a cheap 10bolt posi w/discs for now and buy a beefed up 700R4. I did manage to start up a website for us London & Area Fbody guys tho Check it out. http://www.londonfbody.com

 

Not yet. Probably get it in May. Got the cash set aside but of course now the truck needs work..lol, but hopefully the motor swap will go ahead.

I have nowhere to do the install or store a motor so it'll all have to be done at once and right now the roads are schit so the car's staying where it is.

I very nearly bought the Spohn Wilwood Kit before Christmas but it seems there's a good chance that the spokes on my Ronals would hit the caliper. Probably same thing with the C4 and C5 swap so it looks like I might be stuck with 1LEs when I eventually do this - either that or another set of rims.

The LS1 sounds like it's going to be good.

Do you know of any brake ducting kits for our cars. There's some nice ones for 4th. gens but I've never seen anything for thirds.

 

That 400 GM block wont stay together too long with a power adder.

It's a 600HP max block until that thing starts flexing all over & cracking......and thats IF the main caps stay on (assuming you have the good 2 bolt block because the 4 bolts were junk)

IMO, if you have a 400 block & do your solo etc.....i wouldnt use it. 377 destroked motors are stuck in the 80's still along with the people who think they work.

Use your 350 roller block.....put a light piston & rod in it along with a light valvetrain & it will do more than most people would ever need.

 

I agree with ya 100% Stroked-Z. This isn't a 100% track car yet tho(still my summer daily driver). If i was totally serious I would go with your suggestion and use a 350 roller with an aftermarket 3.750" crank(can't beat that deal/performance). Or if I had the money I would just go with an aftermarket block as well and build something up around 400cu in again.

 

Not really. I've seen some homemade stuff done up but nothing that was great by any means. At one time I had considered making up some but never got around to it.I had a couple of the stock small air breather intake scoops like the factory carb ones and thought I could put them neatly up in front of the wheels beside the air dam with some ducting. That was as far as I ever got but there must be someone on here who has done it. That chickenman certainly seems to have a pretty wicked ride and I would bet he knows if not has some. Low quality input from me today... Burnt... as in sunburnt if you can believe that. Went ice fishing on Simcoe today and I'm fried. Got skunked to boot