Roadkill's 1983 Chevy Z28 - (Work Starts on Page 5)

[Cunning Plan]

Interested to see how the door cards look

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Roadkill

Collected the cards and plates this morning from Baldock services (it's a mid-way point) . . . .

[ianjpage]

can see the pics that bracket looks 'in cool!

Looks to be damn sturdy as well!

[Roadkill]

Got the hub pulled (harder work with the new key-way !!), Timing cover and Cam sprocket / chain removed, New camshaft and lifters are in.  Guide plates and retainer back on.

Need to pull the crank sprocket before test fitting the double roller gears (and, no doubt, start modifying the timing cover).

Should be collecting the Heads tomorrow.



Difficult to take pictures while doing the jobs on your own but here's a few :

Pulling the old Camshaft :



Getting it back together . . . :



The "To do" list keeps getting bigger . . . ! :

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Roadkill

The "To do" list keeps getting bigger . . . ! :

I know that well

Without scrolling back through 63 pages, did you have to do much work on the chassis / repairing rust?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

Without scrolling back through 63 pages, did you have to do much work on the chassis / repairing rust?

Dunno.  Have a look.



You want pages 23 & 24.

No, none repaired . . . none found.   That said there's small area that may need attention for the MoT where they've welded the SFC's in and not treated the area properly.

The chassis was very good as was the floor pan.

[ianjpage]

Cool got a bit more done then

[Roadkill]

Pictures !

Cloyes Double Roller Gear Set.  (Shocking how much slack there was in the stock one !)



Unfortunately this mean't making a bit of room behind the timing cover (the gear set isn't designed for a LT1) :



Still VERY close in there :



Got the heads back from being skimmed :



They saved me some time and port-matched the intakes . . . not alot of metal in places so in some places it's merely a chamfer (still an improvement, though . . . :



Finding ACCURATE T.D.C on an engine with no timing tab and no timing marks is obviously critical when running a carb (thanks GM) :



Have now got the rad and hoses back in, P/S head and header and started building the valvetrain.  Hit a snag with re-fitting the hub and need to chase out the crank thread (didn't have my tap set with me).
Also gave the engine bay a wipe-around as it was bloddy filthy !

Here's the Ma-hoosive 1.7 Rockers perched on the up-rated 7/16" ARP studs.  Springs, retainers and collets are Comp Cams.
Push Rods are Heavy Duty Comp Cams to work with the Trick Flow guide plates.



You can just about make out the guide plates (not stock for non-Corvette LT1's).



Where we left it tonight . . .



Thanks to Ian for assistance (pulling that hub is literally 5 times quicker with two people !!!)

[ianjpage]

starting to look more like an engine again!!!

Those rockers are bloody huge and 'proper' meaty as well, should stand up to what gets thrown at em!

Think we need to change the earth strap bolt on the front of the head, looks wrong with a rusty bolt in it now lol!

[Roadkill]

Haha, yeah.  I'll have a dig-though - bound to have a new one somewhere !

[Cunning Plan]

Got to love shiny engine components

Looks like it will be a monster of an engine.

Any idea what it should put out?

[Roadkill]

I hate to speculate or bench race.

If everything I've done gets me just a third of what it's supposed to I'll be looking at around 320Bhp . . If everything works like "they" claim it'll be more like 400+Bhp



I'm realistic, thankfully.

The biggest difference I think I'll notice is the torque.  The Intake has been proven to massively increase torque and the headers I have will help, too.

A lot of "drains" on power have gone, too, which all help (no P/S, no Water Pump to drive).  
The ally flywheel should help make the power available quicker but is unlikely to have any effect on the power figures . . .

The Cam is the biggest I dare run and I only opted for that as I have suitable rear gears and upgraded intake and headers (etc . . ) - Simply dumping in that Cam wouldn't work on its own.

Who knows . . . maybe 400Bhp is achievable . . . but I won't loose any sleep if I don't get there.



Also, C.P, Note the shiny new bolts on the water pump housing.

[Roadkill]

Some pictures from yesterday . . .

Hub issue "sorted" and both heads and headers now back on . . .

Also got the intake back on but no pics of that.



A close up showing the guide plates without the rockers hiding them.



We're just about to prime the engine before re-fitting the dizzy ready for a TEST FIRE !!!!



or



. . . Depending how it goes . . .

[Andy]

Good Luck!

Without going through miiillllions of pages, can you tell me where you got the rad from? Was it states or over here?

Need a new one in mine (burst the day after I got my Focus back) so either looking at getting it reconditioned or a new one. Can pick one up from RockAuto for £50~ but shipping is £70 on top!

[ianjpage]

well today was and and a bit of but i'll let dean explain lol!

[Roadkill]

Andy,
Mine was new.  Brought it from Bauer Millet over here but got it relatively cheap as it was old stock.
Price sounds good from Rock Auto to be honest but have a look out for breakers ..... I had my Camaro's old one laying around for literally years.  Can't remember whether I binned it or 99p'ed it on eBay.

EDIT.

I remember now, I did bin it.  I remember cutting it up.

Silly as it was perfect but no one wanted it so -

[Roadkill]

Some pictures from yesterday . . . .

Action shot ! - Priming the oil system :



Intake on - basically back together . . . :





Minor snag with the Rocker covers . . Did I say that the new Rockers are MAHOOOSIVE ? - Well they need more room than my covers had.

Before :



After :



Last picture was taken this morning - just before test fire number 2 :



We've sorted some minor issues with the rear lights out and re-connected the exhausts this morning.

Video coming up . . . .

[Roadkill]

Just need to time and tune her . . .

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[Titsy]

Do you want me to sort that lambda meter I've git under my desk at work?

[Roadkill]

Got some other immediate issues first . . . The water pump stopped working (could be low voltage) . . . and the battery may not be being charged from the alternator . . ?

Also the oil pressure was reading zero (after it had been fine) so there may be a gremlin in there somewhere (either that or we cooked something).

I'll slow-charge the battery and then re-test the water pump.  Then turn her over and re-check the oil pressure gauge.

Good news is that she was sitting happy at 700RPM before I noticed the temperature start to climb and shut her off.

I'd say she was about 85% there timing and (carb) tuning wise.

[Roadkill]

A couple of shots from yesterday evening . . . Thanks to Ian for assistance over the last few days.

Thanks to Vicky and Samantha for their continuing understanding and patience !!



Nosecone generally back on . . . still need to fit the chin spoiler so she looks a bit odd at the moment.



Tested the front lights and fitted the new front running light (R/H) . . . I managed to modify the old one so it'd fit on the L/H so will be ordering another NEW R/H one as my existing R/H light is dull and manky !

New slam panel is loose-fitted at the moment until we can get the hood back on and fine-adjust the nosecone position at the hood's leading edge.





That's it for a few days.

I'll charge the battery when I get back into work and start removing the old steering bracketry so I can start test-fitting the new arrangement.

Have got some ideas on improving the exhaust looks and arrangement, too . . . .

. . . Also thinking of designing a tower brace as none of the "off the shelf" ones are designed for the set-up I have.

Laser-cutting FTW !!!

[ianjpage]

looks so much better with the nose back on now, and was soo nice after all the time that has passed to (finally) hear her fire and idle without any real issue!

[art b]

lots of great work well done guys..

[Roadkill]

Have ordered the other front running light from the states and am investigating the "correct" timing . . . .

Do we have a "minefield" smiley.

[Incursus]

Quoting: Roadkill

Do we have a "minefield" smiley

well we have this one