C3 Engine! Wich Is Best! Post Your Opinion

[Evolution1980]

...price dosnt matter (engine wise)

First of all, congrats on getting a 'vette. You are in special company.

As for price doesn't matter? :L :L :L That's a good one!

Realize, that with any car, especially Corvettes, when you increase performance in one part fo the car, the rest of the car is going to have to be fixed up as well (if you're doing this properly, which is the only way to do it.) If you don't upgrade the rest of the car, stuff is gonna start breaking. And broken vette stuff is expensive to replace. Example, you replace the engine with something hi-perf, you had better be sure that your entire driveline is up to snuff. And let's not forget updating/upgrading your brakes. You wanna go fast? Better be sure you have the equivalent braking ability.

I second what the others have said here. Go with either a ZZ4 or a FastBurn 385. Personally, from what you've said thus far, I think the ZZ4 would be your best bet. Get that, and take all the rest of your "price doesn't matter" money, and put it into all the other things that are going to be necessary. All new exhaust from the headers on back ($1000+), digital ignition system $400-$500) (I recommend Jacobs over MSD), upgraded brakes ($400+), new polyurathane motor mounts (<$100).
Secondary things would include new tires ($350), new suspension ($1500-$2000). And this doesn't even tap all the other things...interior, nuts & bolts, etc...

The other thing you need to keep in mind is if your county requires e-checks. If so, you may be very limited in what you can do.

No matter what you do, I feel pretty confident that you won't find much better real world and practical advice than from everyone here at the CAC. But with any project, learn as much as you can.

 

[VetteSpeed76]

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what kind of exhaust do you suggest... and what kind of suspention.. nice car by the way

 

[VetteSpeed76]

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what kind of exhaust do you suggest... and what kind of suspention.. nice car by the way

 

[sscam69]

I would suggest a True Dual exhaust system with an X-pipe or H-pipe. It will help quiet the beast down and improve your low end torque and get the most out of it. Thats off course if you can get by the smog nazis.

As for mufflers Flowmaster 40 series would give it a nice tone or borlas as well.

Frank

 

[Mako]

I would suggest a True Dual exhaust system with an X-pipe or H-pipe. It will help quiet the beast down and improve your low end torque and get the most out of it. Thats off course if you can get by the smog nazis.

As for mufflers Flowmaster 40 series would give it a nice tone or borlas as well.

Frank

An X pipe setup is, to put it mildly, awkward on a Shark. It can be done, but it sux for drive line maintenence.

Better to use an H-pipe with flanges at both ends so you don't have to cut the !%$# pipe when you need to drop the tranny.

Here's how to figure out where to put the cross pipe:

Paint a stripe down both pipes for the run that goes under the floor boards on up to the kickup area in front of the diff..

Now fire the beast up and make a couple of WOT runs and shut it down. Don't run the car more that say 10 minutes or so.

Look for the areas of the paint that took the most heat (it should be pretty obvious). You want to put the cross pipe there.

Cut the pipes, weld in the flanges, bend and install the cross pipe. Glue some heat shielding on the 'glass above the H pipe and ensure your not going to touch the drive shaft if the heat marks are that far back.

Use a sander to pull all the remaining paint off the pipes so you don't smell burning paint smoke for the next month.

A cross pipe will definitely mellow the exhaust tone and allow you to run a less restrictive muffler setup for more power. It's a very good win-win setup. Highly recommended if you can afford the hassle and expense.

FWIW: A properly set up out the back exhaust system with an H or X pipe has the potential to make more power than a sidepipe setup. Your challenges on a Shark are the 3" diameter X-frame holes. 2.5" is the largest pipe you can get through there without rattles and other annoyances, this is not good for power.

It's rather common to section the X-frame and get rid of those pass throughs entirely so you can run a 3" exhaust or larger. I didn't have the desire to fire up a plasma cutter, so I went with side pipes instead.

My preference is Borla for the mufflers. Walker Turbo's work well for a street rod too. I'm no fan of Flowmaster's on a street car due to the sound, which is raspy and reminicent of a pickup truck with a blown muffler to my ears, not to mention the droooone they have at cruising RPMs.

CYa!
Mako

 

[Evolution1980]

Re: .

what kind of exhaust do you suggest... and what kind of suspention.. nice car by the way

Exhaust is all going to depend on what your county has for e-checks, if any. You MUST know that info first.

My exhaust is Hooker headers straight back into Cherry Bombs (glass packs). What you should get is all up to you. Depends on your budget, what kind of sound you want, possible performance variables... I had DynoMax TurboFlows on my car initially and it wasn't loud enough for me. Too muted, not throaty enough. It didn't have that classic muscle car rowdiness about it. I went to the the Cherry Bombs then. The Cherry Bombs are quiet at idle and up to 3000rpm. Past that, they start to get noticeably louder. Also, they had the right bends that allowed me to follow the contour of the rear end. That's not as much a problem on a '76. The DynoMax Bullits also have a pretty cool sound when you open up the car. Slightly more muted than the cherry bombs, but still pleasant.

I'm with Mako on this one pertaining to the Flowmasters, especially if done with an X-pipe. That's total Rustang territory. I could not fathom having anything remotely similiar sounding on my vette!

If you're interested, I have sound clips available of my car at idle, with a blip of the throttle, and 2 fly-bys. There's also a clip of me at the drag stip in the downloads section here.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

The paint trick is quite neat and works well, it's to determine where you have a standing longitudinal wave (actually knot) in the system and there it heats up fastest.

I had a 2,75"dual system with NO H-pipe. I liked the sound but it was really really loud (Borla mufflers)

Sound <- !!

ASs for the balance pipe, there's no absolute proof that they make more power but they don't rob power and mellow out the tone so if that's what you are looking for then go for it.

 

[EYESOFTEX]

The Best C 3 Motor is............................

The Best C 3 Motor is :

#1 The one that makes you smile so much your face hurt`s

#2 The one that makes you feel young

#3 The one everyone turns to looks at

#4 The one that makes grow men in the passenger seat scream like little school girls

#5 The one that does all of the above in your car

This is the one that does it for me , 72 402 punched 60 over , dome piston`s , large oval port heads , VooDoo Cam , Spread bore 1000 Edellbrock Carb

 

[kpic]

Big blocks are great fun, but for a daily driver, 10MPG may not be your thing and converting a small block car to a BB car means stuff like changing the front springs, radiator and other misc. bits of the car.

I owned a 69 BBC and I never saw 10.

 

[koolaid117]