Nice work....I am liking the old school black valve covers. Did you have problems getting the crank pulley to clear the crossmember? You did a good job on it....Looks almost like a factory install....

 

Thanks for the compliments, they are much appreciated! First, the serp set up came from a 92 V-6 S-10 pickup. The pick ups (V8 & V6) didn't have the air pump so the set up is cleaner in my opinion. Although I fabricated the mounting plates (with help from a couple other guys!) you can buy adapter set ups off of ebay for about $150. I went this route because really what you're doing is using the tapped holes in the block on both sides at the bottom of the timing cover to locate the bottom of the serp brackets first, then locating the upper two holes. you make those plates first, I counter sunk the holes and used socket head bolts to bolt them to the block for a flush fit. You make the mounting plates that use the three threaded holes in the heads, then you thread two additional holes based on where you want the brackets to fit. This is where you can "adjust" how wide and to some extent how high the set up sits. I used 6061 3/4 plate aluminium. You also have to mill 3/8 off the back of the A/C bracket and shim the water pump and crank pulley out 1/2". This puts the belt perfectly in line. You can use the small block crank pulley you get with the serp stuff. Also, you MUST use a long style, reverse flow water pump.

The color on the engine was really a happy mistake! I bought the VHT "Flame Red Metalic" and it looked like crap. Really a salmon color, not really red at all. Then I went over it with Duplicolor red anodized paint (good for 500 degrees!) and this is what I ended up with. Like I said, a happy mistake!

The intake is a GM performance piece and I'm using the orignial electric Q-Jet. I thought I'd have to go to the L88 hood (got mine from Ecklers), and I did. Using a a 3 inch high air filter had me just hitting the L88 hood so I ordered a 14X2.5 from K&N and it fits perfectly under the hood now.