didn't get to pull the 383 out yesterday, was more curious about the condition of the bottom end on the replacement 327. tipped 'er over to regasket the pan, a quick hand-eye inspection of connecting rods and no conceivable amount of play in any of the rods, so will leave them as is(no need to pop a cap off since side clearances seem tight enough). i did drive around with that motor for several years, so it isn't like i'm grabbing any old engine that was layin' around...
since i'll be ripping the 383 apart anyway, as in no sense in trying to band-aid that thing, i'll hopefully enjoy my car for the summer with the old motor i used to have a pile o' fun with.
my camera phone is still on the fritz until i fix/replace it, i'll see if i can take pics a different way.
the 327 got a cleaned up edelbrock EPS intake put on it yesterday, one coat clear, followed by a dusting of aluminum wheel finish paint, then another coat of clear engine enamel. it looks good, but now i'll hafta refinish the M/T valve covers to match(their finish isn't that great anymore). washing an engine with painted everythings makes detailing so much easier...
since i admire the factory appearing stock tire thing, i may end up throwing on some stamped steel covers, and top coating everything orange... kinda like the way Jared did with his "blue motor"... i'll see. aluminum finished headers and the electronics veer off my thinking, so i may have to keep things simple and go wit what i got...
i also thought of using an old 455-4 air cleaner since it uses a 3"x14" element, and the size of it doesn't have clearance for the HEI cap on a small block... so... out comes the band saw, slice a wedge off it, then invert it into the hole, and weld it back up. since a 455 can breathe with it up to about 4500 rpm, it should do fine with the 327. i helped it along a bit by sawing off the preheat air diverter, and i'll weld up a 3" extension(flattened) and mate up to the oval opening. assuming 115cfm/sq.in., i'm left with 6 sq.in. of air filter inlet. i may run some ducting from the round 3" inlet for a homebuilt CAI, i'll see what happens. the efi measures the air volume and accomodates A/F ratios anyways, so it may not be of benefit to have a CAI since air inlet temperature is part of the volume calculation process
i really dig the sound my new exhaust system(dynomax VT's), and think i'd rather hear them during acceleration, than the air breather roar, hence the factory style air breather.
more to come,
r.