The incremental improvement plan for my turbo 383
- Thread starter furious70
- Start date
bigmoparjeff
Senior Member
Hopefully, that one can go up a size too.
Jeff
Jeff
It should. These van/rv manifolds I used upside-down actually have larger holes, the next size up bolt fit with no reaming on the other side. I imagine they did that to avoid expansion and breaking bolts on heavier duty application.
This hole is much better looking than the other one after I was done drilling twice and chiseling!
This hole is much better looking than the other one after I was done drilling twice and chiseling!
Whew. I'm apparently getting old. I was sore and tired after the past weekend and all I did was get the engine in and bolted to the trans!
All the bolts for the exhaust worked out fine. I had a heck of a time getting the trans to slide back to give me room to do the engine in. I tried it redneck style first just angling the engine to slide the converter hub into the crank, no go.
I also had bought schaumacher Magnum mounts years ago but never had the chance to put them in. I didn't test them in the saddles before hand and I couldn't get them down into the saddles enough.
So it came back up and out.
Turns out one wasn't exactly the same, it was a little short, that's why it wouldn't come down enough for the bolt hole. So I made a small shim to bolt into it.
Back in it goes, trans shimmied a little bit back, mounts actually line up!
And then I spent 2 hours trying to get the stupid trans to mate up. I didn't have the car jacked up so I couldn't get under, finally jacked it up and just couldn't get it to wiggle in and seat the dowels. Finally got it started but truth be told I did have to draw it tight carefully with the bolts. They drew up very easy luckily.
Starter went back in easy. About that time I noticed that my speedo cable didn't have a ton of slack...I bet that has something to do with why I couldn't get the trans back...I didn't take that loose
Anyway, at least it's all buttoned up underneath including the flex plate. Just a bunch of stuff up top yet.
All the bolts for the exhaust worked out fine. I had a heck of a time getting the trans to slide back to give me room to do the engine in. I tried it redneck style first just angling the engine to slide the converter hub into the crank, no go.
I also had bought schaumacher Magnum mounts years ago but never had the chance to put them in. I didn't test them in the saddles before hand and I couldn't get them down into the saddles enough.
So it came back up and out.
Turns out one wasn't exactly the same, it was a little short, that's why it wouldn't come down enough for the bolt hole. So I made a small shim to bolt into it.
Back in it goes, trans shimmied a little bit back, mounts actually line up!
And then I spent 2 hours trying to get the stupid trans to mate up. I didn't have the car jacked up so I couldn't get under, finally jacked it up and just couldn't get it to wiggle in and seat the dowels. Finally got it started but truth be told I did have to draw it tight carefully with the bolts. They drew up very easy luckily.
Starter went back in easy. About that time I noticed that my speedo cable didn't have a ton of slack...I bet that has something to do with why I couldn't get the trans back...I didn't take that loose
Anyway, at least it's all buttoned up underneath including the flex plate. Just a bunch of stuff up top yet.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I can too easily relate.About that time I noticed that my speedo cable didn't have a ton of slack...I bet that has something to do with why I couldn't get the trans back...I didn't take that loose
My brother and sister in law flew up from Houston last weekend so we threw the hood back on it hoping for the best with the rest of the work. There's nobody around back there easily available who's strong enough. Even we struggled with it more than we did when I did my first engine swap in that car in 1999. Aging sucks...
SGVert
Member
I would have but I agreed that aging sucks even more than lifting heavy things…
Well it runs. Finally. Took forever for the lifters to pump up, was afraid I wasn't getting oil up top.
I didn't have a primer rod so I filled the filter half full and let it rattle till it primed. Sometimes that's just how it goes. Idled at a good 70,lbs as it was warming up.
Now I have to shake it down in the morning and decide if the first real trip is 180mi back to Chicago...
I didn't have a primer rod so I filled the filter half full and let it rattle till it primed. Sometimes that's just how it goes. Idled at a good 70,lbs as it was warming up.
Now I have to shake it down in the morning and decide if the first real trip is 180mi back to Chicago...
Good to hear.
Pre flight checks are a go, after blowing off the upper rad hose cuz I forgot to tighten the clamp and bypassing the Hobbs switch which controls lockdown for the OD. Wasn't getting power to energize the OD circuit. Wish me luck!
SGVert
Member
Glad you made it OK, Still looking good!
Lots of computer work do to which surprises me a bit, the cam sounds the same as the old one. Maybe the new heads flow that much better 
Accelerator pump program is all wonky, start up program is wonky.
Need to check fluids when cooled down.
Warmed up it ran 50psi oil pressure @ 2200rpm, 20psi at 750rpm idle. 19-20" of vacuum hot idle which is a big improvement over the 14" the old engine made. The poor vacuum never made sense to me.
Accelerator pump program is all wonky, start up program is wonky.
Need to check fluids when cooled down.
Warmed up it ran 50psi oil pressure @ 2200rpm, 20psi at 750rpm idle. 19-20" of vacuum hot idle which is a big improvement over the 14" the old engine made. The poor vacuum never made sense to me.
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