Tony - your car is simply beautiful. To me, it's possibly the ultimate C4.

However, I still would not want the BB... unless the block was aluminum.... mmmm... ZL1 would be cool...

The heat, the weight... just adds up to problems for ME - cause my Vette is a daily driver.

I plan on rebuilding my small block soon. I want to take the 350 and build up a 383, with an LT4 top end kit. Need to be smog legal of course, so shorties and new Random Tech or Carsound cats. Sticking with the Corsa's.

I feel that combo would do 425 chp, easy, and still be gentle on the gas gauge and pass CARB. Whilst maintaining streetability.

 

Thanks for the compliment. Honestly for a daily driver I would NOT do this. To me it only makes sense to do a BB if you go all out... otherwise.. build a small block because there are lots of great options out there.

And, as someone already said.. this isn't a cheap or quick thing to do. I spent two years working on it relentlessly!!! Also, adding the blower complicated everything by ten fold (I believe I have the only C4 in the world with a blown BB under a stock hood) ... but why do it if you are not going all out? You can build a small block with a blower to make the same or more power than a N/A big block.

 

Of this ultimate sleeper. With all of the neon, wings, and fugly body kits I see here, (I do not say anything because, hey it is your car) and this guy has a well engineered big block car and has managed to do so without an ugly aftermarket hood. It may give up a little in handling, (but not much with the suspension and brake mods), but it is one hell of a sleeper. You just have to give it respect for that

 

I live for that mantra! Do it right, or don't do it.

 

If it is worth doing it is worth doing to excess!

 

My 383 looks stone stock under the hood. just 504 rwhp. 7700 rpm. Shaft rockers titanium valvetrain solid cam, dfi 7 distributor conversion. passed emissions with 2 3" ceramic RT cats. i honestly dont see the point in a big block power wise.. although if u have a thing for BBs, then by all means !

 

We're talking about 1000 rwhp here! Not just 500...Get the point now??

 

TONYDEE64, very nice work, I like it!
We're wondering if you scaled the car?
Do you have aluminum heads?

 

Exactly! I have no doubt tony's ride will reach that 1000rwhp mark. I just want to see vids of it.

DieL, I thought your 388 made 450hp or so at 6700rpm? what else did you do to it to get over 50hp and 1000rpm?

 

when we first began on initial runs it went around 470 rwhp. it was built to revv. after tuning or so its helped so much. the redline has always been the same.. it peaks around 6700 but its only down 20-30 rwhp right until the limiter. i know 500 rwhp isnt alot. but remember that i have a very very small roller cam, and it passes emissions.

If you havn't heard an LTx at almost 8000 rpm through a B&B exhaust..... u havnt heard nothing yet

 

It can be done, Superior Chevrolet is offering up ZL1 motors. Check it out: http://www.superchevyperformance.com/rjzl1.asp

Of course you'd have to register the car in Vegas because of the Kali smog rules.

 

cool! Sounds awesome. I would love to hear sound clips or see vids of the car, do you have any?

 

There is still smog in Vegas.

 

Nowhere to hide.

Some rural counties in Maryland don't have the dyno emissions test, but that's subject to change. At least for us if it passes the tailpipe check it's OK. They don't look under the hood. and all parts don't require the CARB #.

At Carlisle I met Leon from Frederick MD who has a really clean injected BB C4. Don't know if that county is subject to the dyno.

Here's a couple pictures of Leon's 509 BB. Leon runs a machine shop so he was able to fabricate everything he needed from billet aluminum.

 

Not in Florida.. no smog, and no inspections. Only runs about 40.00 a year to register the Vette.
The only good thing about this POS state

 

Well it wouldn't be my cup of tea for a BBC in a newer vette. And a lot of that is because I grew up on cars that had a lot of room under the hood. And hardly anyone had a FI 57. And no one had a vette period. So I couldn't begin to fathom that project. Pulling the air pump has caused me headaches.

So my hat is off to you for a tremendous accomplishment. Beautiful car.

 

how could an air pump cause you headaches? you're not talking on an 89 are you?

 

Tony, I love everything about you car. Nice freakin' job! Rock on!

 

Tony, aside from the polished parts and blower setup and all , how did the block fit in? stock mounts? i could live without all the high end goodies Ive got a 85 rolling chassis and a spare big block any chance for a country boy to get the two of them to merge? Thanks for any help or advise.. P.S Beautiful car you have there..as a fellow c4 owner people like you make me proud...God bless America

 

You bet there is a way to get one of those big blocks in there. This can be a real easy thing to do or it can be VERY involved. For example... if you want to go the carburator route and also ditch your A/C while you're at it, then your life will be MUCh easier. On the other hand, if you want to keep your fuel injection and A/C then it gets more involved. Here's a few tips.

1. The stock motor mounts work just fine.

2. Of course the motor will bolt up with no problems to the ZF6 bell housing. I used a specially made McLeod streettwin clutch.

3. Make sure you use a 9.8" deck block, I used a 10.2 block and believe it or not, but just pushing things out .4" makes all of the differnce in the world as far as your valve covers hitting the A/C box and windshield wiper motor.

4. Use a blower box and evaporator box/cover from a ZR1. If you use a standard deck block and regular short valve covers (no roller rockers) then you should have no problems with the valve covers hitting anything, even your windshield wiper motor. I used the Mickey Thompons which are medium height. the driver's side rear cover hit the wiper motor so I notched it. Not a big deal because if you look at the valve arrangement you have tons of room to make a notch to clear. If you choose to use roller rockers or shaft rockers (I chose the Jesels), then you'll have to make further mods. to the evap. cover. Not a big deal, just cutting and refiberglassing, painting.

5. I used Sanderson shorty headers that have 1 7/8 primaries and 3" collectors. I know this might sound small, but think about it.. what sense does it make to use 2" or 2.25" primaries when you neck them down to 3" exhaust anyway? I've heard rumors that some of the standard headers do fit... but I would have some concerns about clearance with the ground. I'm guessing custom headers we be on my "to do" list someday.

6. Once again, if you go the carb. route then you can stab in any old distributor.. if F/I is being used, you can simply re-use your old dist. By using a raised deck block, I had to lathe down the collar on my MSD and make a slip collar to allow it to slip down into the block further. Nobody makes a tall deck computer controlled dist.

7. You will have to move the steering rack forward by about 1.5 - 2". This really isn't that big of a deal. Your tie rod ends still have plenty of room for adjustment to straighten the tires out. I moved mine maybe 2-2.25" forward simply because I added the blower drive infront of the regular accessory drive pulley. Of course you'll also have to lengthen your steering column as well. I also had to notch the front support bar that runs in front of the motor to clear the supercharger drive.

8. You may also find that you'll have to move your front sway bar forward just a bit. I think I moved mine 1.5 forward. You gotta be careful because if you move it too far forward your rims will hit the sway bar when you crank the wheels real hard.. Don't ask me how I know this.. I think it might be necessary to use heim joint end links to accomplish this. That's what I used anyway..

9. You'll also have to make a valley in the K-member about a half inch deep in order to clear the oil pan. By the way, use a regalur oil pan as the fancy drag race pans with kick outs don't work.. trust me..and your headers will hit them.

10. Intake manifold. I had one custom made (before I learned to tig weld). Since then I've made many modifications to it.. I think at last check I have over $2,500 in it (wasted money). An easier route would be to just put a hole in the hood, or perhaps a really low rise intake would work with a carb under a raised cowl hood. I guarantee you that you'll never get a carb under a stock hood.. I'm not even sure you can get it under a 2" cowl hood.. it's that close..!! If I had it to do over... I would use a Holley EFI manifold, make a simple tube that has a hat which covers/bolts to the carb hole, and then run it forward where I would mount my throttle body and linkage... much easier and cheaper..

11. I'm not sure if a stock radiator can cool a BB. I went with a custom BeCool, did away with the factory shroud, stood everything straight up. We'll see how good of an engineering job I did this summer...

12. Accessories. Well, you are pretty much on your own with this one.. It may end up making you cry. I've seen people use the factory stuff so it is possible. Instead, I ordered Zoops stuff and modified them. I couldn't keep the stock drive because of my supercharger. Adding the supercharger complicated everything ten fold, and it really is a engineering marvel (if I do say so myself). I remember when I was trying to determine if it would fit, I would have my wife close the hood with me inside the engine compartment (no engine of course) and I would mock it up where I wanted it to be positioned. And yes, depending on her mood she wouldn't always let me out right away. Let me tell you, I spent more than one night just staring at it all wondering if/how it would fit.

This is the first project of this type that I have attempted. It came out OK, but not perfect. I used basic hand tools (OK, I do have a Harborfreight lathe, drill press, hydraulic press, and a polishing wheel) and a lot of time... 26 months working mostly after the kids were in bed. I guess the best part is that I did it all by myself...every single bit..except for the screwed up warped intake that I had made.. After that horrible experence... I learned to weld for myself!

If you want to see more pictures there is a link somewhere in the C4 forced induction section under Procharged Big BLock (reborn).

Later,

Tony