[greg_moreira]

Well its almost there. Aside from the cam swap(full roller valvetrain in the works,but I havent yet gathered the last few pieces I need), its almost where I want it. I still have odds and ends to work out, but its getting real close.

Here was the foundation last september

and here it is as of now

Inspection is next month so I spent the day tying up loose ends to get it legal for inspection. Once that was all on I figured what the heck, I have time, so I installed the exhaust cutouts. Should make for some car show fun! Hopefully I'll get to A/B them against the mufflers too at the track later this season. Dont mind the mess with the plug wires....the valve covers arent even bolted on in this pic yet. I took this last week or so when I was in the midst of trying to diagnose what I thought was an engine noise. The rubber fuel line is gone as of today also. Steel in there now.

Ive got it fairly well dialed in now. It starts much easier(when the battery has juice) and throttle response is about as good as its ever been with the double pumper and HP main body. It sounds much healthier in person, but you get the idea.

 

[mr 4 speed]

nice!!! sounds good Greg :thumbsup:

 

[427L88]

Downright BADAZZ! :thumbsup:

 

[crazydavey]

looks and sounds great Greg....I must have missed the "noise" out come...was it the tranny?

 

[greg_moreira]

Thanks guys. Its well on its way now. Everytime I think Im about done though...I come up with 10 more things that really need more attention.

Then I thought I blew it up, which actually turned out to be an issue with the starter bolts. That had me chasing my tail for a while and got me off track.

I hope to get moving on the valvetrain soon, but I would like to get some drive time in as is though first before it comes back apart. Last year I used a performer intake with a 650 double pumper sat on top of one of those cheapie sqare bore to spread bore adapters. I put no effort into the ignition either. Just a stock, ordinary HEI(yet it had no issues going north of 6000rpm).

Ive since added that HP main body to the carb, performer rpm oval port manifold(effectively eliminating that goofy adapter), and the distributor now has a GM 990 module, MSD weights and center(gives me around 20-22 degrees mechanical advance so that I can get a good looking curve around 14-16 initial and 36-38 total).

Plus, its not set up yet but I will be using a hotter external oil filled coil, rather than the factory coil in cap.

I have another converter to try also(9.5 inch 3500 stall ******* converter I bought from Crankitup on here). I expect its probably a bit milder than my current converter(current one flashes around 4000 or so), but my current one is a lot older and has average driving manners at best. Im actually hoping that it still flashes in the 3000-3500rpm neighborhood, but is a bit nicer to drive. If so, I'll be happy.

So yeah...the roller cam and converter swap are the only other big changes I have planned, but would like to see how it responded to the upgrades I made before that. Then move forward with the other changes. Sooner or later I'll have to swap gears again too. In a pinch, I put the 12 bolt together with 5.13's. Its not as bad to drive as I expected, but it does limit what I can do with the car a good deal.

 

[greg_moreira]

looks and sounds great Greg....I must have missed the "noise" out come...was it the tranny?

I tell you what Davey I pulled both valve covers and lashed them, unbolted the converter and the noise went away....but just for a few minutes. It came back. Then I rechecked all my exhaust connections, redid the plug wire test to see if it was bottom end, took all the accesories off the front end to eliminate them, and at one point or another while I was under there, I found that the starter had the wrong bolts. Not an actual starter bolt, plus they were shimmed up against the starter with 5 or 6 washers each.

I "think" the body of the starter was actually hitting against the oil pan. There is only a millimeter or two clearance between the two, and the starter had a little play in it. I never caught it in the act, but after putting the proper ARP starter bolts in....I havent heard a whisper from it, even with plenty of run time in the last week.

 

[crazydavey]

well despite the hassle it turned out good......:thumbsup:

 

[Chevymetal]

Congratulations. The car sounds great, and nothing like the sound of uncapped headers.

 

[greg_moreira]

Thanks again guys!

The cutouts made a surprising difference in sound. Its not as "crisp" with the crackle on the high end. Its still there, but not quite as present as straight up uncapped headers.

It also sounds "thicker" for lack of a better description. Probably a combo of being turned down now, and also still some of those exhaust gasses have to be escaping through the mufflers.

Its different, but I still dig it. Now just gotta keep my fingers crossed that I dont break anything else before the weather is nice enough to start driving regularly again.

 

[peterskin]

Very cool, she sounds good! One helluva trasformation:thumbsup: