BlackBird20

Hello everyone, newbie here. Here's a little story for ya. I owned a 94 Dakota Sport, but standing 6'2", the legroom was non-existant. My boss proposed and offer, in trade for my Dakota, I get his 84 Trans Am and a 76 Datsun 280Z. The T/A runs and was a M/T but the rare 5 speed 280Z (I'm an old skool Nissan guy) is rust free and just needs a little TLC to the 29 year old SFI setup. Now before I even drove the T/A, I said deal!!! Well I go to drive it yesterday, and it decided it didn't like my carb hating attitude. I was idling a 2100rpm, woundn't kick down and misfired to no end. Reluctenly, I still drove it. I decided to teach it a lesson, I waited for it to warm up and then floored it. OMG!!! Running like crap, my Dakota's 3.9L and 5 speed never stood a chance. This thing was flat out quick!!! I was in Love Now I don't know why it was being stubborn, Any ideas??? I then mad a deal with my boss for some spare audio equipment, he would buy me a Edelbrock 600CFM carb, and Lunatti cam/lifter kit. Tonight i'm picking up a Holley Street Domintor dual plane intake and gasket kit for $100. Now before we rip apart the motor, I am buying a plaine jane set of Dynomax Headers so I don't have to mess aroung with the smog junk. Does anyone have any idea what cam kit I should get? I intend on this being my daily driver with some attitude.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

that intake is an excellent choice. for a car with streetability first and speed second, i would suggest the comp cams xe 262 or xe 268, but nothing bigger, you'll kill the valve springs. i would also suggest a holley over an edelbrock, but the edelbrocks are notorious for being able to pull them outta the box, put them on the car, and never worry about them again. but the again, the holley will outperform the edelbrock after tweeking. the dynomax headers are great for someone with no cash, but i would suggest the Hooker SuperComp shorty headers/y-pipe combo p/n 2055 for the best performance for the money. they are a bit pricey, but they are truely a work of art as far as shorty/y-pipe headers go.

go to my cardomain site for specs on my motor, which started out as an l69. link in sig

84L69TA

Why in the world would you take the stock carb and distributor off the car?

Vader

BB20,

Welcome Aboard!

All carbs suck. It's the nature of the beast, with the pressure differential below and above the throttles. Some just suck more than others. Well, you get the idea.

The E4ME can be set up to make some decent power, and still meter fuel well enough under a light foot to provide decent fuel mileage. It sounds like you may have some cleaning and adjusting to do if you plan to keep the carb. It's not difficult at all. If you're stuck on the Edelbrock version of the E4ME, you'll have the same kind of setup to perform. Perhaps the cash from the carb could be better applied to valve springs and exhaust upgrades.

BTW - Nice dealing.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Mine has attitude to spare and the smog sniffer doesn't turn its nose up at it.

I'll 2nd the keep-the-CC-carb sentiment. Spend your $'s in areas where performance will be increased. The Performer isn't one of those areas.

blacksheep-1

Stop the madness!!!
Relax, take a deep breath.
I'm certainly no fan of the feedback carbs, and if mine was crapping out I would definately consider cutting it loose. But, I live in a no emission state, my car was a beater, and the replacement cost of all of the butcherred and melted wires and switches made the decision easy. I removed the computer harness and bought an early Q-jet and non computer HEI. I've been very happy with this.
but if all you have to do is fix the carb, I would've kept it, the holley is no cherry when it comes to mileage or driveability, in my opinion I'd rather run the Q-jet on the street, and that Holley intake, if you look at it, the runners are smaller than the stock L69 intake.
So, I'd sit down and come up with a long term plan on what you really want from this car, instead of just collecting parts.
This page is a wealth of information, we may not always agree but with each other but there are some very knowledgeable folks here, so take advantage of it.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

holley intake has smaller runners than the l69? WTF? i have it on mine and my father's cars. (his runs 11's) it's pretty beefy. are we talking about the same one? this intake(jegs p/n 510-300-36) has a power range from idle-7200rpm, and the runners are pretty big. here is a pic:

blacksheep-1

The Holley street dominator does, which is what he mentioned. The bolt broke off on my thermostat so I picked one up until I could get the stock manifold heli-arced and rethreaded, When I dropped it on the block is when I noticed the difference.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

there are two versions, you must have the lesser of the too. the smaller one only breathes till like 4800 or so rpm. the one i have is huge. it is very tall and the runner are pretty wide. i will get some close up pics of the intake on my motor today. the only way to run anything that's not a drop base airfilter is to run a cowl hood. even with a drop base, i rubbed the stock hood. this thing is pretty big.

BlackBird20

Well, the T/A lives, with a vengace! After a few severe cuts, lots of cussing, and some nice parts, my rear tire will now pay I went with a Holley Street Avenger 670 carb and the Street Dominator intake. Once we had the motor ripped apart (my boss and I) We notice one thing that put a smile on my face, The inside of the motor was clean enough to eat off of!!! Once the A/C, Smog, useless wiring, and EFE was ripped off, on went the carb and intake. She started right up and purred like a tiger. A joy ride a 3am equalled a a big grin, until it broke down. Appartently I completely fried every electronic device in the distributor. The next day, we hopped in my boss's 99 Z28 RS and headed for Heaven a.k.a. Summit Racing. A lot of drooling and $190 later, we walked out with a nice Mallory HEI setup. Once installed, my T/A fired right up!!! Now my only problem is a lovely header leak and every $@#tang in sight want to race.

BlackBird20

Oh yeah, another thing that has me confused. My RPO state that my engine is a LG4 and a 6KK rear end, yet It had the L69 dual snorkel intake and will spin both tires quite often. Everything on the car was more than obviously original, yet my car will just about run side to side with my boss's Z28 with the LSI and T56. Is it possible my dash was replace once before and that car's RPO sticker was transfered. The RPO sticker that matches the dash's VIN is taped over another RPO sticker, but that arm resy is from a 87 Camaro

84L69TA

So you think because the car has a dual snorkel, that means it has an L69? Also, a lot of LG4 cars were equipped with G80. The only way to find out if it is equipped with G80 or not is to pull the cover and look. BTW, I dont care if your car really is an L69 car, no 305 is gonna run anywhere near an LS1/T56 car. Unless your boss is a complete moron who cant drive and let you win. And theres no such thing as a 99 Z28 RS. Why in the world would you remove the A/C and smog equipment? You think youre going to go faster without it? People like you are who give thirdgens a bad name. You tear out the computer and all your accesories, completely butcher the car inside and out, and after "modding" it, youre stuck with a 14sec car at best that wont pass emissions and gets 10mpg. Gimme a break!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

get it to the track and get some numbers so we can see what it really did. oh, and as far as beating the ls1, i have done that with my 305. got the timeslip to prove it too.

84L69TA

What do you run with your car, and how much money do you honestly have into it????? An LS1/6-speed can get pretty close to 12's if not high 12's if you drive it right. You to may have beat an LS1, but I guarantee you the guy didnt know how to drive it.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

got MAYBE 5g's in the whole car, car run 13.75 on the pass with the ls1, but this year, should run 13.3's or quicker. and never once did i imply that the driver of the ls1 was a good one.

oh, and i am n/a

91sleeperRS

thats what i'm talkin about!

SSC

I agree to a point. The smog equiptment can be tossed as long as you live in a no testing zone AKA "Happy Land" but there isnt a need to butcher the car unless it serves a pourpose. It's funny too since alot of guys get thier car and rip out the AC. I feel very sorry for the hard top owners come summer time.


As far as header leaks, Percy or Flowtech dead soft aluminum flange gaskets will cure that problem.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

The above just looks like bait for a flame war to me...and instigated by a moderator no less.

Or are you speaking from experience?

Vader

Maybe not so much a "flame war" as a "candle competittion". Yeah, I'm keeping an eye open too. We're wandering a wee bit from the "tech" content, but keeping it civil - so far.

BlackBird20

Actually I didn't think that just because my car had the dual snorkel setup it had a L69. Yes, there is such a thing as a Z28 RS, it's a Z28 with the RS bodykit installed from the factory, the title even show Z28 RS. I'm just stating what is says. BTW, I stated just about ran with him, not I did. His best track times ar 14.0's. Luckily I don't live in a E-Check County here in Ohio. The car didn't even have a catalyst on it when I got it, so the smog crap was in the way, the AC was junk, and the EFE was shot, so keeping it in the way would just be stupid. If i was looking to run 13's and get 30mpg daily driving, I would have bougt a classic SE-R, But I much prefer the style and the comfort of the T/A.

Now, has anyone heard much about Flowtech headers?? Since I work at an auto parts store, I not only get a 20% discount on top of price-matching, I'm also supporting my company. These will cost me less than $100, and the Dynomax's will run me about $80. I intend on buying these withing the next month along with a Lunatti Cam/Lifter Kit (along with springs,retainers,and rockers.) However i'm not fighting a little oil leak that seems to eminate from the rear of the oil pan mating surface.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

to me, the flowtechs are really useless. there are much better options out there. if your looking to stay shorties/single large exhaust, i would go with the hooker 2055's. i understand supporting the business, ect. but those headers plain suck.

what are the specs on the cam?

SSC

I have a set of flowtech headers and 2055's. The flowtech are fine for a 305, most people dog them because they dont know how to install headers (leaks) or expect thier $150 investment to net them 100hp. Anything is better then the stock logs most of our rides came with.

BlackBird20

The cam I intend to get is a Lunatti Bracket Master P/N 00011LK. The specs I have are as follows

Adv. Duration- 285in, 285ex
Gross Lift- .455"in, .455ex
RPM Range- 2000-6000

I'll also have to purchase the springs, reatainers, and rockers that it calls for. It's not a wild cam by any means, but remember one thing, not only is this a "Budget Racer", but also my daily driver until I can find a 88-89 Grand Prix with a 5-speed. I would love to get the Hooker Headers, but they are pricey from what I've come across. Today I was able to roll around with the T-tops off!!!