j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Project thread: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/52170-jeds-74-type-lt-camaro/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Night Shamalayan Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I'm not a fan of muscle cars much, but I do really enjoy this shape of camaro. Top job. Looks tidy af Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Thanks man. I chose this car because it's not your typical late 60's to early 70's muscle car that I could never afford anyway. At less than 20k it represents good value for money that I can have some fun with & improve upon with my own tastes of what I like. I like the '74 as well because the rear window is still the same as the 70-73 model, before they changed to the wrap around style from '75 onward which I don't like as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 I have a question already for those of more knowledge than I with 350 chev powered vehicles. The car still has its original inlet manifold with a Holley 600 carb (1850-3) that's replaced the original Q-jet. I'm looking at getting a dual plane manifold for it sometime soon which I believe will improve hp a bit, & I'm keen on the Weiand Speed Warrior but I've read the Edelbrock Air Gap is better. Does it really matter? Also, will the current carb be good enough for the new manifold or should I upgrade slightly to the 650 Holley? And if I do need to upgrade, does it matter - vacuum or mechanical secondaries? The next thing to look at after this will be the distributor. Is there any benefit in changing from the one I already have? So many things to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I'm no chebby expert but 600 should be ok on a warm 350, really depends on how much flow your system has. Mechanicals are cool but suck more gas on a daily driver, and a well set up vacuum secondary set goes pretty well. I've got the same carb and bought a set of variable springs and quick change system for mine so's could tune the secondary operation. I used to think you had to feel them come on like an extra gear, but properly set up they should just open up smoothly rather then a sudden surge of power. Car looks great incidentally, good value 70's Mericana and should be a good honest driver. Just out of interest, when did these things go to the horrible 305 boat anchor? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I had a 77 Camaro for a good number of years.Only car that I have owned that would happily sit on the red line in top gear (2.78 diff made it about 130mph). 350 chev is pretty basic. Performer intake is a step up, although with a stock motor the biggest advantage is saving a bout 10 kgs in weight over the original cast manifold. That 600 cfm carby is plenty. A good 2.5 inch twin exhaust is important. Headers are a problem, most hang down low get bashed on the road. If that is a points dissy chuck it away and put in an HEI. Get either a genuine GM one or and MSD. Don't buy one of those cheap Chinese ones, they are junk. Chev motors have really mild cams, put in some thing with around 215 degrees duration at .050 lift. Do all that and assuming the rings are OK you will have something nice to drive, goes well and wont give a lot of grief. Edit. After writing this I looked at the build thread and see headers are already there. Definitely get rid of the cast iron intake. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Not sure when the 305 came in. I'm assuming early eighties? Yea I'm happy the car has headers, but fuck me, I looked under the car this arvo & my oh my they're pretty flat across the bottom. I'll take a pic for amusement & measure the exhaust as well but they look to be 2.5 inch. If I knew they were that flat I woulda bought the new set I saw at Puke swap meet last weekend for $225. Damn! Thanks for the feedback guys on the carb too - to know I don't really need to change it is a good thing. Pretty sure it's a points dissy, so will keep an eye out for a HEI. Not cheap by the looks of it, but are they much of a muchness? Never thought of the cam either, so will look for something along those lines too. Better to buy new?.. Cheers mate!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr.wylde Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hey man nice camaro. I know nothing of holleys. So my suggestion is slap a q-jet on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Thanks man. They do sound like a pretty good carb tbh, but I'll stick with the holley seeing as how I already have it. This whole manifold thing confuses me a little bit though. I like the Air Gap design of the Edelbrocks, allowing more air flow between the block & the manifold.. but is that overkill in my situation? The advertised range is 1500 - 6500 rpm. Or do I just stick with the performer manifold (idle - 5500 rpm).. or the Weiand Street warrior? (idle - 5500rpm) I'd rather get the Air gap manifold if there are no great issues to be concerned about. I've read also that if you check out the divider in the bottom 2 manifolds similar to the air gap one, that'll increase the rpm range.. worthwhile I wonder if I go for that style? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 The flattened tubes probably aren't hurting too much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 That's a cool vid. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Pretty much any aftermarket manifold is going to be better than stock. Keep in mind that 74 was right in the heart of the fuel and insurance crisis so all V8's were dumbed down to very low HP numbers and this was mostly achieved through dropping the compression and taking a few cubes out. I'm guessing your motor is the 307 with 76cc heads on it and 1.72" valves The best thing you can do to liven up that puppy is to put some higher compression heads on (you want 64cc and 2.02" valves) Best done in conjunction with an aftermarket manifold and one of them brand new Edelbrock carbys. But that is all relatively spendy and pointless if the bottom end is a bit tired. So it may be cheaper to source a turn key crate motor for not much more than the cost of a new induction setup. How much are you wanting to spend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Cheers man. Don't wanna spend a lot tbh. The motor is a 350, so I just wanna do a couple of basic things to improve on it without getting too carried away (is that even possible?) & at the moment I'm pretty happy with it's performance. So manifold, dissy, & cam would be about as far as I'd like to go for now as I can see the benefits of these little changes. Gotta draw the somewhere I guess Ultimate goal is to get my hands on a 454 BB for it but can't see that happening for a couple of years at least (if at all), so the above mods should keep me happy in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 You're spoiled for choice with the sbc. Tons of cheap bolt-on parts for 'em. Just try to match components so they work together. And yeah I'd look at the likes of the msd ready-to-run dizzy. Bolt on reliability and curve tuning out of the box. And if you get the air gap we'll have the same intake setup (albeit mine on the smaller 302 furd). Race ya... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Sounds cool man.. first to the middle of NZ wins. Enjoying watching your build too.. makes me wish I had the motivation to pull my engine and purdy it up more. You never know. Yea I think the MSD is gonna set me back some, but I like the idea of minimal set up. Time to sell some of my holden V8 stuff I think. Don't need it any more lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Cheers man. Don't wanna spend a lot tbh. The motor is a 350, so I just wanna do a couple of basic things to improve on it without getting too carried away (is that even possible?) & at the moment I'm pretty happy with it's performance. So manifold, dissy, & cam would be about as far as I'd like to go for now as I can see the benefits of these little changes. Gotta draw the somewhere I guess I wouldn't bother too much with the cam and manifold if you are happy with the current performance. Do cam, manifold all at once with a pair of heads. You aren't going to get very much in return for your buck without increasing compression and head flow. For reliability I would definitely invest in a new Mallory or MSD ignition kit with dizzy, leads and ignition box. (DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT buy one of the cheap Pro-Comp generic chinese dizzys. It will cause many more problems than it would solve) SBC and BBC dizzys are interchangeable so would fit your BB dreams too. Also spend the money you would have spent on a cam and gasket kit on buying a new 600cfm Edelbrock carburettor. It will see you through whatever changes you make in the future and would probably be OK for a mild BB when you go that route. (or get a 750 and lean it out for a robust BB carby in the future) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Dizzy kit http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/msd-84741/ Carb http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/edl-1411/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locost_bryan Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Nice ride , one of the handful of US cars I really like. Personally, I'd keep it as original as possible, but I like your "period" mods. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Overlooked this initially cos of the bad spelling. but interesting comparison nonetheless.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 Not sure when the 305 came in. I'm assuming early eighties? Yea I'm happy the car has headers, but fuck me, I looked under the car this arvo & my oh my they're pretty flat across the bottom. I'll take a pic for amusement & measure the exhaust as well but they look to be 2.5 inch. If I knew they were that flat I woulda bought the new set I saw at Puke swap meet last weekend for $225. Damn! Thanks for the feedback guys on the carb too - to know I don't really need to change it is a good thing. Pretty sure it's a points dissy, so will keep an eye out for a HEI. Not cheap by the looks of it, but are they much of a muchness? Never thought of the cam either, so will look for something along those lines too. Better to buy new?.. Cheers mate!! I got sick of replacing header gaskets all the time and ended up with some reasonable cast iron manifolds. The did hurt the top end power. Going to higher profile tyres helped the headers getting bashed on the road, the car had 245/50/14 on the front when I bought it. The factory tires for these Camaros was 215/70/14 Don't waste your time on a second hand cam, and new lifters at the same time. Seeing that a BBC might be on the cards I wouldn't do much more than the intake and Dissy. Another thought, BBC in Camaros make great drag cars, crap for going round corners. An LS motor with over drive trans is a much better answer in my mind. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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