Planning a new 383 build that is now going to be a 400

Loves302Chevy said:
March. Too expensive for me. The Chinese knockoff it is.
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I am not positive they are March, guessing, I wanted alt and ps same level. PS is actually up 1 1/4 from stock. Alt is the one that changed the most, stock the acess hole in head is on bottom, now its the top, the adj is on bottom, but to hookup the Alt has come off because its upside down.
 
Your fan blade location sounds good - just can't really see from the pics.
On my TransAm, the A/C compressor mounted above the PS pump on the drivers side.
The factory brackets are intertwined - not each separate. So I can now move the pump up a little
and would like to have it sitting straight up as yours is. Stock is angled pretty good.
I want sturdy brackets that can be easily adjusted - unlike the factory ones.
I fabricated brackets to mount the alternator about 3" lower on the pass side
because there will be no air pump this time around. And it is not upside down.
 
Did some more today, coil is mounted, got the new electrode for the coil wire, installed the distributor, wires need to be shortened, cdi is done accept hooking up the tach. I put the carb on it and hooked up the fuel line. Few pics!

engine bay10.jpg

engine bay11.jpg
 
You've been busy. Getting close.:)
With those plug wires being so long, you might want to route them UNDER the headers.
Heat rises - and burns them. Under is cooler.
 
I have a question, my metering block is not that great, this one looks like what want but what are those at bottom on the outside near the bolt holes?

metering block.jpg

Grumpy, Brian, Mike?
 
Yes those are the "Idle Feed Restrictors". If the price is not too high, then it might
be worth buying. But I do have to wonder how that will work with the secondaries
not having a metering block.
 
Indycars said:
Yes those are the "Idle Feed Restrictors". If the price is not too high, then it might
be worth buying. But I do have to wonder how that will work with the secondaries
not having a metering block.
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What do you think about Rick's point Grumpy? If I buy one for the primary will the secondary need one also? The carb is a Holley 4160!
 
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Hey guys, I have been working on the valve covers for my engine. Originally, I was going to polish them as Rick did for his tbucket engine. The more I worked the more I thought about it being different and decided after talking to Rick on the phone to paint the top section of the tow piece cover the engine color, " Red Fire". Rick said he liked the color and I like it also. I thought with other parts being silver and some black that the valve cover would make it pop with the color contrast. I used a block and sanded all the flat surfaces with 220 and got them all flat and put on a coat of primer. I scuffed the primer with scotchbrite pads and did 2 light fogging coats of the Red fire and then cooked them in my oven at 125 degrees for 15 mins. Then I smoothed them with 500 grit paper and shot a moderate coat of paint and again cooked them in oven for 15 mins. Then I smoothed them with 1000 grit paper and shot another coat of paint and cooked them again fro 15 mins. I smoothed it with 1200 grit paper and shot 2 generous coats of Red Fire and cooked them again for 15 mins. Set them outside and let them cool in the breeze to room temp and finish was sort of a matted texture, with the advice of a friend I used Maguires ultimate compound and buffed them to moderate luster. What do you guys think? Here are some pics of them on the engine, two of the pics are kinda fuzzy, the wind was blowing and my hand wasn't steady.
painted valve covers 1.jpg

painted valve covers 2.jpg

painted valve covers 3.jpg

painted valve covers 4.jpg
 
I love the valve covers, and theres no doubt you did a good job on them.....
so good that it almost mandates you figure out a way to ceramic coat the headers in a similar color ,
or perhaps a semi gloss silver to make them look better as the current headers appearance/condition is
much more obvious because of the very obviously cleaned and polished valve covers.
thats one common issue when you CHROME or POWDER COAT one component,
it generally, over time, cascades into a longer list of other components that need to be worked on,
to keep those that have yet to be enhanced from looking drab or out of place!

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/powder-coating.1519/#post-26293
 
Thanks everybody! I like the color too, but as I told Rick last week, a girl I was seeing was with me when I picked the engine color, she suggested it, I liked it, so I bought it.
 
The long awaited update, finally got my nova back at my house, gonna have to get some cheapy tires for it, they are eat up with dry rot. Gonna get some cheapies so it will roll. In the process of deciding on what overdrive transmission I will use. Rick and I gave discussed it several times, I am hoping he will help me build a 200-4R.
 
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