73 L82 4speed 70K miles
Edlebrock Torker II
Holley Street Avenger 670
Crane Roller Rockers 1:6
MSD/Pertronix 6A Electronic Ignition
Hooker Headers
Flowmaster 2.5" duals Most done by previous owner

Problems:
She burns oil, very noticably when you quickly left off the gas after winding her out a bit. (the original owner let her sit for a number of years)

Feelings:
She runs good but to me seems a little sugglish out of the hole and when under 3000rpm. From 3000 - 5000 is where she really finds her stride and puts a grin on your face.

I'm planning to pull the engine this winter to get it cleaned up and replace a syncro gear in the tranny. While the engine is out I was planning to get it vated, painted and have someone go thru the heads. With out spending a mint what else..... I don't want a nitro or supercharged monster but I would like to give her more attitude then she currently has.

What should be on my Christmas list ? :)

 

a zz4 crate motor

 

You obviously missed the line that said without spending a mint.

 

:lolg: Yah those things are expensive. :yesnod: I do think they are a very good bang for the buck though. I'm seriously considering one for my '79. I'm thinking a GM Performance big torque big block for my '75 K5 Blazer project too.

 

May be another job for AR Racing... heres the ebay link to some of thier stuff although thats mostly more than you want to spend anyways. I think they will do special orders for you too...http://cgi6.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...sort=3&rows=50

Personally I went the ZZ4 route even though it cost seemingly alot. I mean you really want to go cheap just get the base 350 crate and do some upgrades that you may be comfortable with... although I think that will send you running to the bank in the end. Good Luck with your search.

 

Here's your list:

1. Sort out that oil problem......I don't think it has much to do with the car sitting around......could be worn bearings or rings......once you pull the heads you'll be able to see if oil has been burning on top of the pistons.......if that's the case, you should be able to build up a healthy list of bottom end parts and machining........

2. Match your motor to your driving style.......The Torker single plane and 1.6 roller rockers indicate to me that your motor has been rebuilt to work in the higher rev range.......if you're sluggish out of the hole, then you're not revving it hard enough, and if you don't like holding the revs up past 3000rpm while you're waiting for the lights to change, then you should rebuild the motor to gain more low end torque and smoother low RPM power for street cruising.......e.g. change to a dual plane intake with matching heads, cam and bottom end......

If you're into bracket racing, then you might want to stay with the Torker setup......and learn to live with the sluggishness when you're on the street.....

At any rate, you won't really know what your list is going to be until you've pulled the motor apart and sorted out what you have and what's good to keep....

Hope this helps :cheers:

 

Well heres a few inexpensive things to try;

Switch to 30W oil or 20W50 racing oil, thicker oil may stop the it from smoking, if that doesn't work add some "Honey oil" can't hink of the exact name but it's anafter markert product to stop oil burning. It will make your oil thicker.

Different intake; watch in the C3 parts for sale may be able to get a performer for $50.00

If the thicker oil stops the smoke, then I would swap out the cam for a more streetable version.

 

The best bang for the buck would be a set of rings/bearings, a Performer cam and intake ( or stock 4bbl intake)and a distributer recurve kit.You'll hit 300hp easy even with the stock smog pistons.Done this type rebuild many times and was happy till I got the bug.

Now I build till something breaks,fix that and build some more till something else breaks. :banghead:

 

Regarding some of the other folks suggestions.... I'm already running Mystik 15w50. As for the rings and bearings, ok understand. A Performer cam and intake.... Any suggestions on Cam specs. As for intake.....so I guess your saying the Edlebrock Torker II is not the right intake to be running ? Finally what's a distributor recurve kit. With the MSD/Petronix Electronic ignition and distributer aren't I covered there ?
Sorry folks I'm somewhat of a newbie to anything deeper then valve cover gaskets....but willing to learn

 

Oil smoke in a high vacuum situation is normally an indication of bad oil seals. They do go bad with time, especially sitting around. Of course it could be worse and be the guides. If you really want to save money, just do a valve job on the heads.

 

The specs on the Performer cam are 204/214 at .050 for duration.The lift is around .450 I don't remember exactly.The single plane intake will definately hurt low end and off line throttle response,so that's why I suggested the Performer intake.This is genaric info without knowing all the details of the engine,and your desired performance.
I too am building a street driver with a kick,and am at the point of gone too far.Once you reach a certain level,the mods get out of hand and you question weather or not you still can drive on the street.

The recurve kit is a set of springs and an adjustable vacuum advance that will allow you to tweak the ingition advance curve.This can be very useful for stock HEI distributers.I didn't notice you already had a Pertronix unit which is most likely recurved.

 

:iagree: Valve stem oil seals, if your really unlucky worn valve guides. Just rebuild your heads with new seals, cheapest way! :D :cheers:

 

Sell it... :jester

 

I think standup is right on the money...sounds you got a good engine, just built for higher rpm hp rather than lower rpm torque...

AGVI also has a very valid point :lolg:

 

For the money you are going to spend on a valve job buy Vortec Heads. You need the special intake for them, but swap meet season is upon us here, maybe you can find one used. I think you can get the head kits and the intake new for around $1000. Add a good cam and free up the exhaust and you should be in much better shape.

 

run a compression check. if all cylinders are good then i am 99.9% sure your valve stem seals are leaking causing your smoking. as for power, if it has the original L-82 cam, it should be good for 350 hp easily. the L-82 cam is a copy of the LT-1 cam. your heads are killing you. start looking at carparts.com DAILY! my brother-in-law hit a daily 50% off special on everything he ordered. so he ended up with a set of Edelbrock RPM heads with 2.02"/1.60" valves and 195 runners for $590 complete. Vortec and Edlebrock heads are basically the same in design and performance, so go with the better price. i like Weiand high rise dual planes, best single/dual plane compromise i have found. but if you want to get out cheap, change the valve stem seals and intake. that route is $300 tops if you do the work. Brian

 

from your post it's obvious you don't know much about engine rebuild and to farm it out and have a competent machine shop do the job for you...a total rebuild...will approach the price of a zz4 crate motor. You may be lucky if the heads need seals, but if you are smoking as you drive, that's an indication of rings...smoke upon start up, valve guides/seals.

Assume you need a total rebuild, for almost the same amount of money you can have two motors, yours and a crate, not to mention of the time savings, and possible disaster after a rebuild has gone south...heard so many stories of pro rebuilds that after break in spun berings, worn cam lobes, busted pushrods..yadda yadda yadda...i suggest you do the math and plan your course of action between rebuild and a new crate motor.

 

Hands down... best deal on the planet.
http://www.golenengineservice.com/


I searched for months. Rebuilding these days has gotten expensive. Ask for Chad- he runs the place. I bought a 355 with worked iron heads, comp cam, rollers and edelbrock intake under $2200 TO MY DOOR! 385HP and 400ft lbs tq. I also comes w/ warranty. Before you buy you should call them, very honest and knowlegable. He is also familiar with out year Corvettes!