breathial

Hey, all.... After a year of planning, piecing things together, taking them apart and doing them AGAIN.....? I finally started the 427 in my '74 Vette tonight....

If you don't remember, this is the engine:

And the car is below:


Anyway, I need to square a few wiring issues away (the electric fans don't kick in as intended, and the temp gauge is not reading correctly), but I ran the car for about 7 minutes....

I am STOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


A few notes:

1. the engine required about 12 degrees initial advance to fire up correctly. 4 deg. BTDC was not NEARLY enough, and it "sneezed" a couple of times, before I got it to run smooth...

2. When somebody tells you that they're gear-driven cam sounds "like a blower," that's BS. Loud gear-driven cams sound like what they are- straight-cut gears that almost sounds like a rock grinder... A blower "whirrs...." Very distinctive, and I LOVE it...!!!!

3. Pay attention (if you're looking at doing a blower) to the cooling system- it's VERY difficult to properly "burp" the system....

I'll post back more details, tomorrow night, when a few buds are coming over to sip some beers (we work weekends), help get it dialed in, and tell lies....

Thanks for all the support, especially from Norval.... I'm incredibly pleased with the results....

INTIMIDATOR ZO6

That's Awesome I've been wanting to stick a blower on my Big Block for sometime... but afraid that I have to much compression (9.5:1)

rrent

thats one big bad boy blower ---- ultra

79VetteMike

That's badass, but I don't think you're going to pass emissions.

oregonsharkman

Looks great.......post a vid or sound clip if you get a chance...

breathial

You're right on the very edge of capability for running a blower... maybe 3-4 pounds of boost, MAX... with super-unleaded gas, of course.... What heads are you running?j If you're running closed-chamber heads, then switching to open chambers would drop the C.R. enough to allow you to run a blower... Just food for thought... :-D

That's why I bought it... while I may not be the biggest fan of the plastic-bumpered Vettes, I AM a fan of smog-exempt cars... which this one is!

And thanks, rrent, and oregonsharkman... It has been a lot of work... and there's STILL a lot of work.... But I admit, I'm pleased... I don't have the capability to get audio clips, maybe video later.... But truthfully, not much to listen to.... except the crappy job the previous owner did with the flowmasters... 2 1/2" to 2" and back.... THREE times...

72rdstr

Extremely cool!!

Have you beefed up the rear end at all? Gotta be a buckload of torque heading that way!

danboback

Thats awesome!! Looks like a lot of fun!

breathial

No, I haven't gotten to the trans and rear-end... I already know neither will live behind this engine, so I'm not gonna' put any sticky tires on the rear for a while... Let the tires break loose before a half-shaft does...

Of course, the TKO-600 is something I'm seriously considering, and switching to the Heidts IRS for the rear.... At least I'd be getting the Ford 9" back there....

And yeah, there is a HUGE amount of work to go.... I think I finally got the cooling system squared away tonight, but now I discover the clutch does NOT disengage trans when the pedal is fully depressed...

It never ends!!!

Pauld

Very cool looking car and motor