383 ez-efi and overdrive

[ttype]

So... before you shell out your hard earned moolah on a nice new motor for a project you've been safe-keeping, be sure to ask a lot of questions to your local hot rod pals of the build quality and also of follow-up dealings with builders they have hired to build their motors. Follow-up is as important as their skillset.

It should not take presidential campaign-like conversations to explain an improperly stocked parts pile boxed a labelled... make a nice story short, your alumi headed roller valve-trained motor, should not cost as much as TWO automatic transmissions for your first trouble free ride, that doesn't require a second vehicle to get you home safe. Or three assemblies to install a external balanced flexplate. I love puzzles, just not like this. I should be taking notes of my tune-up tables from my ecm and sourcing interior finish touches about now, not dismantling a completely road-ready drivetrain again, in the hopes I can keep an alternator bolt tight and not have to constantly reclock my air breather so I don't accidentally jam my throttle open at upwards of 30-70 percent open. this motor has not been a pleasant experience at all, considering it breaks trans bells, shakes everything loose that touches it, gets perfect 35yo car bodies smahed up in its wake, and takes 2 years to get to you after dropping off a block... the price of the motor is right, compression between 8 cylinders varies by 12psi hi-low... but sh*t man! i had time to forget i had ordered a transmission to replace the first one during all this, and was a week away from organizing a 5 speed swap to use-up my 3 pedal set-up...

Do your homework!!!

 

[ttype]

It will be a few more days until my new damper and flexplate come in from bellingham wa... so while i'm waiting for thes things to arrive courier, i'll set up my carport again for yet another tear down of my favorite little old buick. I've wanted to disguise the potent heartbeat this thin should have, an i've been mounting my tach in a pod the non-functioning clock used to reside in, the turbo boost gauge pod now has an electric oil pressure gauge in its place, the only visible external appendage I want near my instrument panel is a GPS with a small little tv on it, with my speed and elevation below a map indicating where I am on my travels. The one I will use has logged 144000km so far, and that was the time my old monte carlo ran with the 327 I assembled for that build. It is nice to have just a tiny little instrument that tell you where you are, an the speed you in travelling at. My riprides are long and steady, as sometimes night driving is much more comfortable wit only a couple of lighted dials for info. I feel comfortable during long periods of night driving when i'm not distracted by a brightly lit dash that may obscure the reflections of a set of eyes belonging to an animal who just wants to walk in the trajectory of your headlights just becaus he can see bette righ there... with the rumbling of a healthy v8, it isn' often I see those beady little eyes, 'cause most of the time, all I see is their asses running for cover...

 

[ttype]

As i'm not a huge fan of "bling" just for the sake of "bling"... i'll likely remove the "chrome" alternator from the engine bracketry, sand it down and paint it some form of cast grey, or similar. An if there is still time available while my motor parts come in, i'll remove the radio/cassette player, and wire in and old realistic 7 band equalizer i've had since the early 90's. I'll mount it under the radio/hvac cluster, just as a youngster may have had it done in a 78 malibu lol... just like the one I had in the middle 90's, with a 402 in it.. I've used that old eq in a P71 I had a few years ago, but I tucked it into the glove box that time. It has 3 sets of pre-outs. one for the sub-woofer amp, and two others for a four channel amp for interior speakers. It still works great, and has an earphone jack sized input. Great for more subtle disguises lol.

 

[ttype]

It will be a few more days until my new damper and flexplate come in from bellingham wa... so while i'm waiting for thes things to arrive courier, i'll set up my carport again for yet another tear down of my favorite little old buick. I've wanted to disguise the potent heartbeat this thin should have, an i've been mounting my tach in a pod the non-functioning clock used to reside in, the turbo boost gauge pod now has an electric oil pressure gauge in its place, the only visible external appendage I want near my instrument panel is a GPS with a small little tv on it, with my speed and elevation below a map indicating where I am on my travels. The one I will use has logged 144000km so far, and that was the time my old monte carlo ran with the 327 I assembled for that build. It is nice to have just a tiny little instrument that tell you where you are, an the speed you in travelling at. My riprides are long and steady, as sometimes night driving is much more comfortable wit only a couple of lighted dials for info. I feel comfortable during long periods of night driving when i'm not distracted by a brightly lit dash that may obscure the reflections of a set of eyes belonging to an animal who just wants to walk in the trajectory of your headlights just becaus he can see bette righ there... with the rumbling of a healthy v8, it isn' often I see those beady little eyes, 'cause most of the time, all I see is their asses running for cover...

 

[Injectedcutty]

Holy crap...it literally blew apart the trans like you said!!! Good looking cars man, nice wheels on the monte...im partial to the centerline telstars-had them on my cutlass for years, but sold 'em to my brother last year to fund a new set of 17's.

 

[ttype]

Holy crap...it literally blew apart the trans like you said!!! Good looking cars man, nice wheels on the monte...im partial to the centerline telstars-had them on my cutlass for years, but sold 'em to my brother last year to fund a new set of 17's.

gee t'anks! yeah... i really do like those telstars!!! they are probably 17 years old. they were on a '67 firebird at first(not mine), then went on the monte. i ran that monte for years with a different set of center lines as well and they suit the black body well... i've read plenty of threads here on wheels and such... what fits what blah blah blah...

i set those wheels on the buick, and they drag 245 and 235's along one maybe two of those inner fender bolts... i only cut 1/2 coil on 5662's and a different set of 5660's to lower them slightly... and discover that the sheetmetal dimensions vary enough between body styles to make an impact on wheel choices. both of my centerlines have 3.5" BS, my cutlass ssIII's have approximately 4" BS, the plain jane wheels on the car now have 3.75" BS. as it is difficult the have dual 3" tailpipes on a sleeper, the plain wheels fit great with some nice wheel trim pieces from the ssIII's.

by the way... nice cutlass!!! i've read a little bit about your build, nice!!! keep up the nice work.

 

[Injectedcutty]

Holy crap...it literally blew apart the trans like you said!!! Good looking cars man, nice wheels on the monte...im partial to the centerline telstars-had them on my cutlass for years, but sold 'em to my brother last year to fund a new set of 17's.

gee t'anks! yeah... i really do like those telstars!!! they are probably 17 years old. they were on a '67 firebird at first(not mine), then went on the monte. i ran that monte for years with a different set of center lines as well and they suit the black body well... i've read plenty of threads here on wheels and such... what fits what blah blah blah...

i set those wheels on the buick, and they drag 245 and 235's along one maybe two of those inner fender bolts... i only cut 1/2 coil on 5662's and a different set of 5660's to lower them slightly... and discover that the sheetmetal dimensions vary enough between body styles to make an impact on wheel choices. both of my centerlines have 3.5" BS, my cutlass ssIII's have approximately 4" BS, the plain jane wheels on the car now have 3.75" BS. as it is difficult the have dual 3" tailpipes on a sleeper, the plain wheels fit great with some nice wheel trim pieces from the ssIII's.

by the way... nice cutlass!!! i've read a little bit about your build, nice!!! keep up the nice work.

Thanks...my cutlass has been a labor of love/hate for almost 16 years now lol! I loved how the telstars looked when my cutlass was black....but i couldn't go anywhere without someone calling it a GN!!! my brother bought 'em and put them on his s10.

 

[ttype]

Holy crap...it literally blew apart the trans like you said!!! Good looking cars man, nice wheels on the monte...im partial to the centerline telstars-had them on my cutlass for years, but sold 'em to my brother last year to fund a new set of 17's.

Thanks...my cutlass has been a labor of love/hate for almost 16 years now lol! I loved how the telstars looked when my cutlass was black....but i couldn't go anywhere without someone calling it a GN!!! my brother bought 'em and put them on his s10.

View attachment 60369

twwwwWWWEEET twwWWWWWOOOOooo!

 

[ttype]

While plagiarism is frowned upon, as well as "re-printing" someone else's work... i'm not claiming I own this printing by any means, and I don't think its

owner would object... I hope... there is a part of this next picture I would like to use to portray an earlier statement I made. While not the cam I used for mine, the statement rings true.

 

[ttype]

I chose my cam from info I gathered from JW at v8buicks.com, regarding his "sneaky 500" build. I went with 112deg instead of the lower degree'd ones commonly available because I wanted something efi friendly, and was cautious about a vacuum supply for brakes. This mill was in my other car first, and didn't come with hydroboost brakes. What a surprise to my pal and I when it pulled 15" solid at a respectable 750 rpm idle. Not bad for a 110245-12 howards' complete kit. 70cc chambers makes for ease of ownership when even the most questionable of fuels is all you have access to while in "unknown" parts...