So you got your exhaust all sealed up now?
How's it sound?

 

It has a nice hollow sound that reminds me of the old Yamaha 500cc bikes with a single piston. (The intermittent rattle in the muffler still sends me around the bend, but next to the diesel growl of the ZF, it sounds tame.)

I only have about 100 miles on it. It runs at a diff. temperature than the last engine, in the 190-205 range with a 198* thermostat. I guess that is normal for a new engine.

When should I change the oil? I'm going to continue to use the zinc additive.

 

Id change at 500 then drop again at 3-5k or so

have any videos ?

 

For what it's worth, I have a 195° thermostat and can see the temp on my EFI dash display. On this morning's 30 minute drive to work, I had a low of 182°, a high of 197°, and an average of 191°.

I changed my oil immediately after I broke the cam in.
Again at 100 miles, 500 miles, 1000 miles, and then 3000 miles. Regular oil changes after that.

At 100 and 500 miles, I continued to use break-in oil.

As for the Zinc additive, I still use it and will always continue to do so.
This is what I use

For the extra protection on the engine, the cost is nothing.

 

I finally installed the sensor bung for the A/F/R gauge and dialed in the carb. I also bumped the timing down from 16* to about 12*. While I was under there I welded up the last of the mega holes in the exhaust. There was no room to get my head up there and look, so I had to weld blind and lay down bead all over and hope I plugged the hole. I did. What a difference in the sound that made! Now it has a rich, subdued sound.

 

How's it driving now that you have it all dialed?

The exhaust leak fixes should make a big difference!

 

Plugging the leaks has made a big diff. It is so much more enjoyable. However, there is a terrible noise when I accelerate after shifting into 3rd. I'm going to give it a while and find out if it is my lack of manual driving skill or the trans itself, then make a decision about having the trans rebuilt.

Oh, AB, a while back you asked what happened to my parking brake. A common upgrade for the older trucks is switching from drums on a Dana 60 rear to discs. With the hydroboost the brakes are superb ... but, I don't have a parking brake, and now that I have a manual trans, I really need that p.brake. I believe I'll install some p.brake calipers from a 76 El Dorado. I have a set and they fit my rotors.




Oh, today I am going to cut, shorten, and weld back together my steering column. It is impossible to find a shop that will cut a new spline on the end of this shaft, so I have to shorten and weld it back together myself. As the EPA restrictions and laws got tighter, machine shops made an exodus out of the LA area. Yesterday I practiced with a piece of 4' x .750 steel rod. I cut off four 6" pieces and welded all four back on. Then I took the 4' rod, put one end on a 4x4, and stomped on it. It held perfectly. Then I beat it with a large hammer and it held fine. Of course with the real shaft I'll grind down the weld and slide a piece of tube over it, and weld that on either end as insurance. There is just something unsettling about cutting and welding a steering shaft.

 

That's definitely cool. I didn't know you converted to rear disc brakes. That's something I'd love to do in the future.
But yeah, once you do, the parking brake becomes an issue.

Honestly though, I find I use the parking brake less with the manual than with the auto. Resting on the Parking pin in an automatic is a big no-no, whereas leaving it in the deep low 1st or reverse seems to hold it just fine. Granted, if I'm on a steep hill, I still do the parking brake for good measure.


Good luck on the steering column shortening. I hope that goes really well.

Definitely not something you want to do a half job on though. I can't imagine losing the steering wheel while maneuvering at high speed. Actually I can, and I don't like what comes to mind!
Triple check your work.

 

I am a bit perplexed. My truck has the acceleration of a vw van. When I shift into 2nd (actually 3rd since 1st is granny low) I have no power for about 4 or 5 seconds as the rpm's climb, until the rpm's reach 2500 or so (no tach). I've checked the v.advance, timing, and everything I can think of, and can't come up with an answer or resolution. Because the gear ratios of the zf are very close to those of a c6 which I had in it, I ask myself: what has changed? The only answer I can come up is the fuel demands of this new engine and the power curve. Am I wrong to believe this is a carburetor issue?

 

First things first, unless something is actually binding up (like a bad bearing putting load on the transmission), it's physically impossible for the C6 to out perform the ZF5 aside from faster shifting. The manual transfers nearly 100% of the torque from the engine to the drivetrain. The auto (and the C6 in particular) will always have torque loss due to the hydraulic fluid transfer through the torque converter.

So, I would definitely be inclined to believe that if you feel like you have less power with this engine/transmission combo, then it's engine related, and not transmission related.
Unless you're in granny 1st, the ZF5 has a 2.94 starting gear and the C6 has a 2.46. That alone (even if both were manuals) should give a bit more oomph with the ZF5.

You should also be able to calculate your RPMs based off of your speed in a specific gear:

Engine RPM = (Speed * Transmission Gear Ratio * Differential Final Drive * 336) / Tire Diameter

Don't recall what your tire size of gearing is, but for example, with me (32" tires and 3.55 gearing) at 20mph.

Engine RPM = (20 * 2.94 * 3.55 * 336) / 32
Engine RPM = ~2200

Might give an idea what what your actual engine RPMs are.


Have you had your wideband O2 sensor in while driving?
Also, have you done a compression test on the engine now that it's broken in?
Unless your cam is just a bad combo with the other factors of the engine, it seems like something with the way its running is just out of sorts.
Can you grab a video of your dash while doing a pull or something?


This is one I took recently. I had to turn onto the interstate so I couldn't do it from a stop, but it gives a pretty good idea.
It would be worthwhile to see how yours compares.

 

I have not done a compression test. I am almost afraid to do it, but will.

Thanks for the formula for calculating rpm. I am using an app since my speedo is way off due to cable gears being wrong.I can run a wire off the msd into the cab to my dwell meter that has a rpm function. That will give me a tach. I know this is engine related. When I shift into 2nd (3rd) I have very little power, as though I shifted into 3rd by mistake.

 

Could it also possibly be an issue with your ignition? Maybe a dying coil, or the like?
Or a bad spark plug, wire?

I remember driving my friend's car, and under 2000 RPMs, it probably had about 10 horsepower. That thing just barely had enough strength to get moving and up to speed. Once it was moving, it was fine.
Turns out, the spark plugs had about 150,000 miles on them...

 

Well, I don't quite know what all is causing the lack of power. I swapped out the msd coil to a summit brand with more power, and that helped a bit. I'll continue to search for the problem, but in the back of my mind I wonder if the large duration cam with a 112 lsa played a part in the lacking bottom end. I know the 112 lsa lowered the c.r. below 9.0.

 

here is video of truck in my sig for comparison, please excuse the tire shredding torque

 

I think that I'm comparing my new engine to the old, and they were vastly different as far as the t. curve is concerned. With the c6 I would routinely rev past 5k before shifting into 3rd, and I could the engine get a boost around 2500 rpm. With this engine I don't get that 'afterburner' kick in performance, just a steady, strong flow of power. I am missing that burst of power, when actually it is there, just spread across the entire rpm range. I guess I'm afraid to find out how high the rpm has to reach before I feel that burst of sudden power. I simply need to tune in a bit more pep off idle.

I'm considering putting my Quadrajet back on. The small primaries should add some down low zip.

KubotaOrange, Very nice vid.