BSeery

On Thursday I got all of the pulleys and brackets back from being powder coated. WOW !! They look cool -- the bright red of the brackets match the body paint perfectly. The exhaust manifolds cleaned up nicely too.




Friday I finally got some time to start putting things together. I also ran into my first "major" issue. The exhaust manifolds will not fit on to the cylinder heads. There are some "bosses" cast into the top of the manifolds and they run into the valve cover rails. If I had a hand / angle grinder this would be no problem, but I don't have one.


Now that I spent $40 on a angle grinder, the exhaust manifolds fit. I cleaned all of the exhaust manifold bolts with a die and shot another coat of 1500 degree red paint on the manifolds. I also have some brackets that will need some custom fitting due to the Edelbrock water pump. It would have been easier to go with a stock casting pump, but why put a stock iron pump on a beautiful motor like this ??!!??.

Saturday morning rolled around and we got started. The A.C.E (Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts( local Corvette Forum guys)) came over again to help. Ron jumped in and got the heater hoses finished for me -- Thanks Ron -- I owe you a couple of whatever you drink. Victor, Bill Reid and Chris showed up again to lend assistance.

We started bolting things to the new motor and ran into another "major" issue. The new intake manifold has a strengthening web built into it that interferes with the stock electric oil pressure sender. After Vic and Bill made some trips to the local hardware store, they came up with this weird "crack pipe" conglomeration of brass fittings to extend the sensor up and out of the way. Good job guys !! Notice in picture below the "web" that is in the way of the sending unit, and also my cruise control brackets as well !!!!




The next issue deals with the cool looking fuel rail that I bought from Summit for my new Holley carburetor. The outlet of the rail / filter area is about 1/4 inch away from the heater hose fitting in the intake manifold. We did move the hose fitting to the top of the water pump, but it won't work there either as the A.I.R. pump is in the way. I will have to change out the fuel rail with something different. I don't know how this has not been a problem before as every Holley has almost the same fuel inlets, and every 350 Chevy motor I have seen has had the heater hose fitting in that location. See the circled area below. It is closer than it looks. With the carb. in place, there is only about 1/2 inch between the fuel rail and the heater hose fitting. Not enough room to put in a fuel line. DAMN!!!



We pressed on and started to install the motor.
Victor is guiding the motor to is new home.



As we lowerd it in we had the usual problem getting a motor to fit in. The angle wasn't right, could get it to line up with the transmission, all of that crap. We had to drop the exhaust, and once that was done, we had fewer problems. We finally got it pushed and prodded into place.




And the crowd goes wild -- or at least Chris and Bill did.



Don't they look happy !!

After it was settled into place, Vic and Chris worked on the bell housing bolts and the torque converter -- thanks !!

At this point the pizza guy FINALLY showed up,. good thing as Vic was starting to gnaw on his arms...... We ate, we drank, and we were happy. After lunch we took the old motor to it's new home in Bill backyard shed. It's his "door prize" for helping out.

Later that evening I got the starter installed and also dropped in the distributor, the A.I.R pump, and the A/C brackets. The power steering pump is 90% in, I just have to get to the bolt that mounts to the motor mount / P.S. pump bracket. It started raining hard and I had to call it a night as the water was coming into the garage and it was too hot to work without the door open. Besides -- I had to come in and write this update.



Again, thanks to the Pit Crew from A.C.E for helping out. Victor, Ron, Bill and Chris -- thanks for your help today !!
Time for another beer ---

P.S. beer total for the project is now at 32. Not bad so far.

"It's Miller (Genuine Draft) Time !!!"



This project can also be seen on my web page at http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/bseery/zz41.htm



[Modified by BSeery, 7:38 AM 10/7/2001]

theandies

Looking GOOOOOOOOOOOD Sold my old 350 (not original) today and took my friend that bought it for a ride in my 71 ZZ4 powered Vette. Knocked his socks off with the raw power :crazy: :eek: :crazy: :eek: He loved it and we spent about a half a tank of gas running around burning rubber and catching all 4 gears. Its a blast to drive with a ZZ4.
You gotta love it :yesnod:
John

P.S. Man I wish I had all the help you are getting. I had a friend come over to remove the old engine and install the ZZ4 but other than that I did it all by myself...execpt for the help from my 20 month old son :lol:


[Modified by theandies, 1:18 AM 10/7/2001]

Desertdawg

WOW Bryan, looks good.
Sounds like you all had a bunch more fun than I did, I had to follow the skirts(wifey and daughters)around the mall.
Guess who had to pay for it?

Budman68

Bseery,
You are going to love that motor. I built mine to the same specs and it's a beast. Driving around town or just flat out hauling ash. Why did you not go with headers? I missed 2-4, so I'm not in the loop on your updates. With headers and the compression it has a cool pink, pink, pink, sound idling down the street.
Budman

BSeery

2 reasons I did not go with headers at this time.
1. I wanted this swap to only take 1 week. As it is, I am 1 day over that goals now -- I need to get this thing fired up TODAY!. The change over to headers would have ment a trip to the exhaust shop -- and that would not have been until Monday, 2 days out side of my time frame.
2. Cost -- I need to run the AIR pump system and the headers I was looking at started at around $400 and up. Add in another $100 - $150 for the exhaust work and we are talking about adding almost $600 to the project.

Instead I bought new acrylic t-tops to replace my broken glass tops, and saved the extra $150 for now.

I will get headers, but it may not be for some time. At some point next year I want to put in a 700R4 transmission. Getting the exhaust done before that will cause problems and the exhaust will have to be re-done. So, the headers are going to wait for now.

BSeery

Two words ---

FREE BEER :cheers:

I am sure they helped for a cause more noble than FREE BEER -- but I will just stick with that for now. :cheers:


[Modified by BSeery, 7:42 AM 10/7/2001]

Thors_hammer

Bryan,
I have been following your project since the beginning. You and your crew are doing a great job! Keep up the great work and especially the documentation. I am quite sure that the CF members all appreciate your efforts and I will rely heavily on your trailblazing for my modifications. I too hope to follow in your footsteps sometime in the very near future. My 77 Vette has 91k and still runs pretty good. My intentions are to install a ZZ4 with headers and side exhausts as well as a 700R4 transmission. Good luck and keep the project going!
Mac aka "hogmanmac" member of the Red Hot vettes

Paul 73 Coupe

Looking good so far :cool:

I ran into the same problem with the fuel rails. I went to kragens and bought 2 ford :rolleyes: fuel filters that will screw into the carb. Then you can use 3/8 fuel line and make your own fuel setup. You need to take out the stock holley filters and put these in their place. You will also need a 3/8 tee. Going this way there is plenty of room for that hose.

Your gonna love the new power :cool:

Steve Straus

Dude, that engine looks pretty sweet. As far as the fuel line goes, you might be able to get around the heater hose with an elbow or a banjo fitting. Are you hooking up a steel or rubber fuel line to it?

BSeery

No, no fitting will fit in there. There is less than 1/2 inch space. I tried flipping the fuel rail around so the inlet is at the back of the motor - and the vacuum advance can is in the way :rolleyes: . I am now going back to the store to look for options.

NOTE:
I forgot to thank someone for yesterdays help. Jim King (Evildeed) made a guest apperance to supervise and be the safety manager for the engine install. For those that do not know, Jim was in a violent accident when a car met his motorcycle and he then met the Arizona asphalt. Jim has been out of comission for about 6 weeks now. Imagine our surprise when he drove himself over to supervise the motor swap. ----- Thanks for coming out Jim --- I hope you continue the recovery. And maybe I can take you for a ride in the C3 when I get done !!

EvilDeed

Awesome work Bryan. See ya soon.

Jim

yellow 72

If you want to use aluminum fittings the fix is simple...

ZD75blue

yellow 72 are the stainless steel tubing real or the wrap style ??? The look great :eek:


Bseery: Great looking install so far i wonder if a ZZ4 would make it into the 75 anytime soon :D

ZD

yellow 72

ZD, it's all Aeroquip stainless hose and aluminum fittings...

Chris Fowler

I love the paint job on the engine! :cool:

Looks like it's coming along really well.

Any idea what the beer count is so far? :D

Dave68

i was told by the owner of the local Corvette shop that if you want to go fast and don't want to take any chances, stick a ZZ in your engine bay and GO FAST. Good choice of engine - you'll love it!

BSeery

the beer count is up to only 32 -- I didn't have any during the week. It is also on the end of post 5, the beer count that is.

Alwyn678

32 beers is all. ..Sounds like you are working these fella's too hard..... :crazy:

BSeery

Yeah, but I still have 10 left for starting the car and tuning the carb and timing.

I also have 2 half full bottles of rum, one Bacardi and one that I brought back from Trinidad :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
Those I am saving for after the first ride !!!

It's getting closer.........

Alwyn678

Well It certainly is looking good......