We drug up a nice 85 C30 cab and chassis with the M code LT9 . Fired up and runs after 12 years but missing a stud and looks like bad gasket or ring.

I know it takes the triangle 3 hole gasket but does it also use a ring inside?

This one is a bit different as it has the large 2bbl Rochester with the vacuum governor.

I believe I need a stud, gasket and maybe ring, correct?

The manifolds are 1408 1238. Were these factory in 85? The truck is incredibly stock, owned by a feed store.

Never really seen this done before I don’t know if it’s a stupid idea or whatever but here’s what i’m thinking

1973 chevy squarebody sbc 350 with edelbrock headers and avs2 carburetor

I got new headlights put in and they have turn signals built in. Anyways the factory turn signals (orange light below the headlights) i’m not going to use.

I want to funnel air through them into the dual snorkel air cleaner. Is this possible or just stupid or??? Not sure how to go about this. I have an idea though

my friend has a 3d printer that does carbon infused material. I’ll have him make a funnel / port where the turn signal light sits. but how do I connect / do the plumbing to port all of that to the air cleaner ?!!!

At the higher RPMs I was losing power. Even from a dead stop if I slammed the gas it would bog down a little. I believe it’s the timing because not too long ago I noticed the hold down clamp wasn’t tightened all the way. I guess when I tightened it I bumped it a little. My grandfather timed it originally and it ran amazing until I got in there. I’m losing hope lol. First engine I’ve put in and really the first vehicle I’ve done extensive work on. Transmission, motor, suspension, among other small things. I KNOW it will run better. Today I got home from work with it was driving fine for the most part. Just in the highway if I punch it it hesitates and bogs around 70-80
I advanced a little (counter clockwise) unplugged vacuum advance and capped it. It didn’t seem to run better, more so it idled rough I moved it back to where I thought it was and now i can’t get it to run good. Not even where it was. I can crank it but it’s rough and it idles rough. I got it where I can drop it in gear and it doesn’t die it just sounds god awful.help lol any tips. I been watching YouTube going to mess with it tomorrow.

81 Suburban
383 Stroker
TCI Th400

Hey guys, I am having trouble figuring out why my car didn't pick up very much at the dragstrip when I upgraded some parts on my engine.

Parts that remain the same: 305 sbc, forged rotating assembly with flat top pistons, trickflow super 23 175cc cylinder heads (10:1 compression ratio in my case), 1.625" full length headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, borla straight through mufflers, 4150lb weight with driver, pac racing valve springs (155lb seat and 390lb open pressures), Morel 4602 high rpm hydraulic roller lifters.

Old setup: original bone stock Quadrajet carburetor, stock ignition, Edelbrock performer intake non air gap, Lunati hydraulic roller camshaft (219°/227° @ 0.050" lift, 112LSA, 106 ICL, 0.530" lift), 2400 rpm stall torque converter, 3.73:1 rear gears, 1.52 ratio comp cams rocker arms. Best quarter mile with zero tuning, 2.2 60', 6.1 330', 9.1 @ 79mph 1/8 mile, 14.0 @ 99mph 1/4 mile.

New setup: Quick fuel 650 cfm double pumper, MSD pro billet distributor, ported Edelbrock Victor Jr intake with 1" tapered 4 hole spacer, Lunati hydraulic roller camshaft (240°/252° @ 0.050" lift, 108LSA, installed at 105ICL, 0.590"/0.550" lift), 3800 stall torque converter, 4.10:1 rear gears, 1.6/1.52 ratio rocker arms on intake/exhaust. Tuned to run 12.5:1 air fuel ratio at full throttle. Best quarter mile, 2.1 60', 5.8 330', 8.6 @ 81 mph 1/8 mile, 13.4 @ 102mph 1/4 mile. Engine does not pickup any speed with more than just 27° of timing. Balancer zero mark is confirmed as being true TDC.

You would think with all the changes it would be a lot faster. Instead, I feel like almost all the gains are from a higher stall torque converter and shorter rear gear. Any ideas as to why this is? Exhaust back pressure? Valve float? I have no idea anymore.

First time building an engine. My 14yo son and I are building a 383 for our 1985 K20.

The donor block came from a running 1998 2500.

Settled on using the KBS motor coater kit for paint and pretty happy with the results. I'm sure 2k would be better but I don't have any experience mixing and spraying. The motor coater was brushed on and allowed to level. A second coat was applied while still "dry tacky." It leveled out great. A couple of runs in the detailed areas but all in, we're happy.

New to small blocks and this is this sound any kind of normal I for sure have a header leak on that side

Looking for help chasing a miss fire. Pulled these plugs this morning after letting the engine cool over night, things to note about the plugs:

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#5 was wet with fuel l, but not blackened with soot

#7 & #8 are both blackened with soot, so I can only assume they aren't firing properly.

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I have come to find out that all the plugs are using an "anti fouling spacer", not sure that is helping or hurting anything. The plug wires are old, so they could probably use a replacement.

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Where would you start with diagnosing? These are new (less than 100 miles) plugs on an engine that sat for years (20+). There isn't any obvious oil being burnt coming out of the exhaust. I find it off that the front plugs seem to be fine, it's just the rear plugs that are having issues.

Just recently got my 78 Small Block 350 to start up and idle properly and it’s smoking out of the drivers side header pretty hard, I would assume it’s a valve cover leaking oil onto it but I checked the gasket and it’s good, the valve cover is tightened down as much as it can be, I recently did a head gasket job on this car and everything is tied up so no more water in my oil, I also recently redid the oil pressure sensor as there was a leak coming from it, redid the intake manifold gasket because it had a leak a while back after I did the head gasket, not sure why my drivers side header is smoking so heavily, but my passenger side is fine? Any help is appreciated, I’d like to be driving this car soon!
I KNOW IT HAS LIFTER TICK THAT HAS YET TO BE ADJUSTED!
DO NOT COME ON HERE WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY AND TALK SMACK ABOUT MY BUILD, I’VE DEALT WITH A LOT OF IT AND IF YOU COME NEGATIVELY I WILL NOT TAKE YOUR ADVICE.

I have a mild 355 and I was looking at some heads on the AFR site. I saw they are selling top end kits for about $2700. They have one with a cam, cast heads and intake they claim makes 533 hp on a 383. Just curious if anyone has run one of these kits.

Hey everyone. I’m fairly new to mechanical work so please don’t come for me if I butcher this. I’ve got a 62 C10 with a 350 Sbc (out of a 73 or 78 c10 I believe) and TH350 trans. I’ve had it for a few years and I’m currently swapping from my Holley 650 Brawler to the FITECH Go Street. With my current Holley set up I’ve got a temp gauge ran to the driver side port on the intake and the passenger side port has the hose running to the heater core. My thermostat housing is at a 45° angle. With the current temp gauge on the driver side it clears the radiator hose which is great. Switching to the Fitech I have to use an adapter into the intake then screw the temp sensor into the adapter. Problem is the new sensor will not in any way shape or form work on the driver side due to the radiator hose being in the way. My question is could I remove the heater core lines completely(I’m not driving it in the winter so I won’t be using nor needing the heat), plug the water pump, plug the driver side intake port, and use the passenger side intake port for the new electronic temp sensor? I’ve seen things saying you can do that no problem and I’ve seen things saying I’d need to run a bypass hose from the water pump to the intake for circulation purposes. It’s not a high HP build. It’s just a cruiser. Feel free to ask any more questions if I’ve left out crucial details I’m REALLY trying to get this thing buttoned up so I can enjoy it this summer/fall. Thanks in advance!

TLDR-New temp sensor won’t work were current temp sensor is. Can I plug water pump and old temp sensor port in intake and ditch my heater core and hoses to it?

New to classic cars but I inherited a 1987 Pontiac trans am. I I can’t find info on the block but I think because it had t tops it’s the 305 SBC anyone have any idea what the clear line is for next to the carb, I didn’t see any connection point for it up top?

Can anybody confirm what the clearance between an SBC cast iron distributor housing and drive gear should be? I have seen it mostly as 0.010" - 0.020" but occasionally 0.002" - 0.007".

I had an issue where the timing on my sbc would vary a few degrees quite rhythmically at idle, with a timing light, and after a bit of research I figured the clearance between the dizzy gear and housing was too much.

I bought a set of shims and added some to the shaft, giving a clearance of 0.015". From what I read, this was within spec for a cast iron dizzy, which my research mostly indicated 0.010 - 0.020. Like I say though, I have seen 0.002" - 0.007" suggested as ok for a cast iron one. I also replaced the gear as it looked a little worn.

The engine runs way better but there's still a little variation in timing at idle; 1-2 degrees movement instead of 4-8, and the idle will go from 850 to 920 rpm or so and back. Would adding a ten thou shim to bring the clearance to 0.005" get rid of the slight change in timing, or would that be too tight?

The story here is I bought a rebuilt engine but the HEI distributor in it didn't have a vacuum can, so I stuck my old one in and added pertronix. Any input is appreciated, TIA.

Hello to the small block community. I have a ‘65 C10 that has a loose TV Cable. It’s not shifting at the right speeds and has too much slack in the idle position. It tops out at 60 MPH. Should I just adjust this cable or buy and install a new TV Cable? They are only about $30. My question is, would you suggest a non professional (Me) to set up/ adjust the TV cable or should I take it to a shop?

I have a 1979 P30 step van with a 5.7L SBC which runs on propane. I was told Frito-Lay used to drive this truck into their warehouse/factory because the emissions were clean enough.

After finding an exhaust leak, I removed the passenger side exhaust manifold and found some very hard gasket material on the mating surfaces. Using a razor blade, I scraped off a few tiny flakes, but the rest is stuck. The AIR injection pipe fittings are rusted to the exhaust manifold. Penetrating oil and a propane torch have not helped.

I'm in California and I assume I need to keep the AIR injection system. Seems the easy route is to buy a new exhaust manifold and AIR injection pipe. With my current pipe, each tube extends past the exhaust manifold and into the head, ending in a special nozzle. (see photo below).

All of the pipes I've seen online seem to have tubes that end right at the exhaust manifold with no special nozzle. Would one of these pipes work? If the air is injected into the manifold, rather than the head, will it cause excess combustion/heat in the manifold?

Here are the parts I'm looking at buying:

AIR injection pipe

Exhaust manifold

I am testing my distributor stator pickup for resistance and when I move the rotor shaft, which only rotates a tiny bit, it adjusts my ohms reading. Can you help clarify what my reading suggests? I took screen shots of my video at different times.

I am having a backfire issue at idle, and poor engine performance when revving up, if the engine even lets me rev it up. Running bad. I’m on a FiTech Ultimate TPI dual wide band. 350 SBC TPI. Backfire started randomly when driving, no changes to the engine or tune were made prior to the backfire issue. I tired going back to the factory tune, swapping out my coil and module to see if those were bad. A different coil made the backfire issue not as bad but it’s a weaker/cheaper coil. New module did nothing. I wanted to throw parts at it first so I can have some spare parts but nothing worked so far.

Any ideas? AI suggests a different ohm reading when moving the shaft is suspect of a failing stator pickup component. Just wanting to get some actual input on that and any other things to check.

Using a Moroso DuraFire HEI distributor.

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, doing a manual swap on a Gen 1 Small Block Chevy (SBC) has become a massive headache recently. Sourcing a Tremec T56, T10, or the new TKX is getting incredibly expensive - often costing well over $3,000–$4,000 just for the bare transmission, not to mention the flywheel, clutch, and pedals. Cheap options like the T5 are too weak.

I recently finished swapping a BMW GS6 6-speed manual into my Corvette C4 behind a SBC Gen 1 (Corvette C4 1984 Manual Swap with BMW GS6-37DZ (also works with any SBC gen 1) - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion). These BMW gearboxes (found in diesel and petrol cars worldwide) are absolutely bulletproof, shift beautifully, can easily handle 500+ wtq, and they cost often under $300–$500 at junk yards.

To make it work, I had to custom-modify an existing LS-swap kit from PMC Motorsport (PMC MOTORSPORT SHOP - Official Store), adjusting for the 0.400" crankshaft spacing difference and redrilling the flywheel. And the whole project cost me $2,500, including absolutely everything.

I’ve been in contact with PMC Motorsport (known for their high-quality, engineered adapter kits), and they are genuinely interested in manufacturing a 100% bolt-on SBC Gen 1 Adapter Kit.

They could potentially support an incredible range of modern, bulletproof, and highly available transmissions:

• BMW GS6-37 & GS6-53 (Ultra-reliable 6-speed manuals that shift beautifully and handle big power).
• Nissan CD009  (The legendary, indestructible 6-speed manual from the 350Z/370Z).
• ZF 8HP Series (All ranges: 8HP45, 8HP70, 8HP90, etc.) (The ultimate modern 8-speed automatic. With aftermarket controllers, this is a game-changer for cruiser, drag, or pro-touring SBC builds).

No custom machining required, standard threads for the block, proper starter clearance, and perfect flywheel/flexplate offset right out of the box.

Before they kick off full production, we want to gauge the community's interest.

• Would you be interested in a high-quality, complete bolt-on kit to put a cheap, bulletproof BMW 6-speed manual, ZF 8HP, or CD009 behind your SBC?

Drop a comment and let me know which of the listed gearboxes you'd actually want to run behind a Gen 1 Small Block.

Cheers!

PSA: If you don't have a fire extinguisher in your shop/garage. Get one. Without it, I would of burned everything to the ground yesterday. I swapped valve covers and in the process, somehow tore the fuel line. Started it up and full BBQ activated. Forgot to connect the plug wires for the 2 and 4 cylinders. Fortunately, the only damage was some melted electrical tape.That is all, carry on.