Just got my '69 convertible home! It was a 40 mile drive and my 5 year old daughter rode along with me. My son road with me from Baton Rouge when I picked up my '02 Z06 this last January and drove it home, and he offered to let her ride home with dad this time. :)

It was all highway miles and obviously I wasn't gonna hammer it with my child with me...in a car I am totally unfamiliar with.

It was 65-70^F out, sun shining...perfect for a top-down cruise, so it was fun. I got two thumbs-up from various people...one was a guy on a ZX-11 sport bike.

It is going to take me some time getting used to this car. I am totally from the EFI generation, and the oldest car I've ever owned was my first... an '83 Citation X-11 (remember those things?). Anyway, my right calf is tired from holding the throttle pedal down. :lol: Maybe the return spring is really tight...I'm just used to easy, easy gas pedals. I am still very impressed with the old M-21 trans. I figured it would be much more vague trying to hit gears, but it seems very smooth. The engine tachs at ~3000 when I'm at 70mph...assuming the speedo is accurate. The thing just purrs right along.

It's a shame I have plans to yank this 454 crate motor. Maybe I should just get the sidepipes and have it tuned. It does need a tune up, although it fires right up and idles perfectly ... no smoke at all. Still, there is some hesitation at a few spots. I didn't take it over 3500+rpm in any gear, so I have no idea what it will do up where it should really make some power. For all I know this thing may be plenty fast enough for what I'm going to be comfortable with...being my first convertible and my first "older" car.

These Aquatreads have to come off, and it needs and alignment anyway. It's got some severe toe-in.

I checked the inspection sticker which was out in 7/01 and the car has only been driven 300+ miles (40 today) since 7/00. No wonder it needs a tune up.

I will get some pics of it once I get them hosted on my website.

All in all a great day! Probably one of the few days I'll have left to enjoy the car this year, since it will get cold soon.

Guess I need to change my sig to reflect my current rides. :)

 

Sounds like you had a nice ride today. The first ride home in mine was about 50 miles and I wound up with a real nice sunburn. I had to stop and swap riders during my trip though.

Can`t wait to see pics.

 

Welcome to the club!! :seeya

Sounds like you've got yourself a nice ride, I'll have a big block vert someday!!

 

That's something she'll remember for a lifetime and that's what these cars are all about. Congrats on the new ride and don't be surprised if little "missy" tells you to keep it until she gets her license. :yesnod: :cheers:

 

You still have to add the car to your sig and also post some pics!!!
Good that you got her home without any major problems... Will be another experience when she's tuned up right!!!

:cheers:

Olivier

 

:cool: Welcome to the shark waters ;)

 

Happy, happy! Welcome to the shark tank.

Gotta say, if it were mine, I'd be real hard put to pull that low milage 454 out of it!

JB

 

great to meet another new shark owner. :cheers: i cant wait until i own an 02+Z06. :cool:

 

Hey Wes,
Thanks for buying a big block and getting the only type crate motor worth the money it cost ;)
Please tell me you are yanking it to put in a BIGGER rat motor :)

Dep

 

Dep... :lol: I can appreciate your sense of humor, what with that other thread and all. :)

Man, if I do pull this 454 then the ZZ502 is going in. I budgeted for that (and Hooker sidepipes) when I bought this car. But, being my first convertible and first C3...I am not sure how much power I will ever use. This car is tight, but its definitely "different" than what I'm used to driving, and until I get really comfortable with it, I am not gonna go nuts on the throttle right away.

However, winter is always a great time for a project, and since this car is gonna be top-down 99% of the time, I won't be driving it a lot anyway. So we'll see. :)

JB, you make a good point. Probably just getting this thing tuned up is really all I need. I just need to drive it a bit and see what I think. I am not trying to go drag-racing the thing. I have other things to do that with, but more power is always nice. Plus, I can certainly offset some of the cost with the sale of the 454 motor and Hooker 1 7/8" headers/2.5" stainless rear-exit exhaust.

Anyone know what a _fair_ price would be for a roller 454/430hp motor? It would be in long-block form, as I will keep my LS6 intake if I do pull the motor. This motor doesn't smoke at all at warm/cold starts or on acceleration. Low miles.

Thanks again to all for the welcome. :)





[Modified by WA 2 FST, 11:24 PM 11/23/2002]

 

WA 2 Fst,

I would suggest you tune the 454 and get acquainted with it. The 502 may not seem that necessary after you experience a well tuned 454. I've got more torque with my 427 than the tires can handle in the first 3 gears. More torque won't make me any faster.

Congrats on what sounds like a beautiful and exhilarating car!

Chuck

 

Wes,
I'm with Chuck [have to be...can't afford any more pizzas...just kidding Chuck] ;) on holding off on the 502 'till you see how the 454 performs. If you are going serious drag racing, then I might go with the 502. But for the street and only occasional drags, the 454 may be more than enough for your needs. I have been giving VERY serious thought to a 454 crate for my '72. I have the matching numbers original motor in my car now, and I'd hate to screw it up and ruin any resale on the car. Another possibility for me (depending on the pension checks I get) is an all-aluminum ZL-1 motor. They still make the blocks, although this WILL probably be a bit "pricey".
One thing you want to be careful about with the 502 engines is the fuel pump. Some crate motor blocks have NO provision for mechanical fuel pumps. So you would be forced to install an electric fuel pump on the car.
The 454 crate motor doesn't have this problem, but I think some, if not all, of the 502s are this way. Chuck Harmon can probably give you the exact info on which this affects.

Either way...I'm glad you're staying with a big block :D

Dep


[Modified by Dep, 12:22 PM 11/24/2002]

 

nothing like a convertible stingray to get attention.......You will get many more looks in it vgs the zo6

 

Well, guys ... this thing won't even spin the tires from a rolling start in 1st gear. Granted, its got the rectangle port alum. heads, so maybe low-end TQ isn't there...but another thing I noticed is the gearing in the M21 trans seems awfully tall (low numerically). I am definitely not used to that. The ratios are close, yes, but unless my speedo is way, way off (and driving around today it didn't seem to be, although I have not verified this with a pace car) its almost like 1st will take me to 50+mph. Does this sound right? I think the car has 3.50 gears or so in the rear.

Anyway, I know it needs a tune up, but I want to be able to smoke 'em in low gears for sure. Throttle response right now is good, and the cam wakes up ~2500rpm. I'm probably jaded b/c of what I'm used to driving is all. With that said, once I actually stomped on it in 1st and took it up to ~5500 and pulled 2nd...yeah, it accelerated nicely. Not boiling the tires at all, but it pulled ok. :)

Dep...you are right about the electric fuel pump for the new 502 crate engines. I am used to working with these, and don't think this is a big deal (to service...not sure about the difficulty in converting what I've got).


[Modified by WA 2 FST, 6:38 PM 11/24/2002]

 

Wes: Not sure about breaking the tires loose from a roll. I think you would need a pretty steep rear end gear to accomplish that. I used to have a 4.10 in my old 1970 Dodge Super Bee with a 383 six pack, and from about a 10-15 mph roll it still wouldn't break the tires loose. However, when the front and rear carbs kicked in (vacuum operated and they kicked in FAST), it was like being launched from the space shuttle. From a standing start I could light them up like a chimney, though. I suspect you are gonna need more gear to make full use of those cubic inches. Also, a lot depends on what tire you are using in the rear. Uh-oh...I gotta be careful about talking about tires around Chuck Harmon..something about slicks and Chuck and footprints that I keep getting confused with ;)

Dep

 

Man, have I got Dep psyched out! Good! :D Anyway, I've got the rectangular port aluminum heads too. With the 6 speed Richmond, first gear is all sizzle regarding the tires. Yet even in 2nd gear which is lower numerically than a M22 1st gear with 3.08's, 2nd gear smokes them at will above ~2500rpm.

It sounds like whoever had the car put some thought into it. It should flat fly! I really doubt that you will get more horse power out of a 502 than the 454, only more torque. If the car idle easily with the roller, you should have a mountain of torque in the low revs.

I strongly suspect that you may have a throttle not fully opening. This has caught me be surprise after adjusting the throttle just before a dyno test. The bracket moved. I made over 70 horse power more on a subsequent dyno run after fixing the bracket. Just about any honest mechanic will admit to be tripped up by this simple problem at least once.

Chuck

 

Cool :cool:

 

Wes: See...Chuck's new nickname is "The Intimidator"...with apologies to the late Dale Earnhardt :)
Check the throttle by having someone sit inside the car and floor it. Then while the pedal is down check to see if the linkage is openning all the way or only part way....

and if that checks out as being okay....

then it may be time to start thinking about a 4-series rear end gear. 4.10/4.56/4.88
I know...gas mileage goes out the window. But a 3.50 is pretty much an economy-with-mild-performance rear gear. And I know you didn't buy a 454 to get 28 miles per gallon.

Dep

 

Well it turns out Mr. Harmon was right on the money. Something in the carb linkage itself is off. I was out messing with it and twisting the linkage myself it comes to a premature stop. The primaries were only open ~85% and the secondaries about 65%.

I marked the cable where I could see it and got in the car and stood on the pedal...same thing.

So I go back to the carb and really give the mechanical linkage some force. Sure enough it finally popped into a wide-open position. But it did not release back very easily. After repeating this process of coming to the "false stop" and then giving it another hard twist to WOT, I have ascertained that the mechanical linkage has a problem.

It's a good thing that flooring the throttle via the pedal does NOT twist it to WOT or it might not release, leaving me with a stuck throttle. That's obviously not good.

So, I've got some tweaking to do. Obviously this thing has sat for quite some time.

But the good news is that the full potential hasn't been reached. Still need to do plugs, cap/rotor and check/set the timing, too.

 

Oh cripes! Now Chuck will be even more unbearable! :rolleyes:

Okay...move the carb lever open while looking inside the carb. Look for throttle plates hitting the sides of the carb. It's possible you have a bent throttle plate shaft (the metal rod the plates attach to). Also check the mounting of the carb to the manifold. Make sure it is square on the manifold and not cocked. Also, if you have a heat restrictor plate under the carb (factory Chevy engines came with these and it's actually a good thing to have), make sure it isn't interfering with the openning of the throttle plates.
Hopefully the carb linkage itself isn't bent. You'd have to contact Holley for that fix or may even have to send the carb to them for a fix. Mickey Mousing with the linkage on the carb is NOT a good thing to do :(

Whatever you do do NOT floor that thing until you get the problem solved. I once had a 1969 Mustang with a warped throttle plate and floored it and the carb stuck wide open. Luckily it was on an open road and I knew enough to shut off the engine and coast to the side of the road and work on it.

Dep



[Modified by Dep, 3:24 PM 11/29/2002]