Wet Hot American Vantasy: Pursuant To Megan's Law

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Wet Hot American Vantasy: Pursuant To Megan's Law

chrisgt: Sep 6, 2011

I don't really have a good grasp what's what with GM products. Someone will need to sperg me up a list of what to look for, or I can just go to the yard and take stock of what's there for late 90's trucks. I should be able to get a set of heads for around $50

# ? Jan 4, 2016 16:53

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 09:51

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

Oh god did they ever make the Ford Escort panel van in left hand drive? I've just found out about these and I already NEED one.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 17:07

Fo3: Feb 14, 2004; RAAAAARGH!!!! GIFT CARDS ARE FUCKING RETARDED!!!!

(I need a hug)

Maybe? They were also made in Germany so there's a hope.

E: last time I was in a ford escort panel van was the mk1 van my mate bought for $500-700 in 1994. He had fitted a sanpet under dash guage cluster consisting of : oil presuure (yes, a plastic tube fed straight from theblock fed into the passenger compartment/gauge), ammeter (yes, wires straight from the battery and alternator), and other straight mech feed guages like water temp and something else too. This isn't legal anymore as far as I know.
Anyway, poo poo got real bad one day while I was riding as a passenger; burning smells and smoke that traced back to the gauge cluster so I had to yank out the ammeter leads. I had a burn mark left on my fingers for 2-3 years after that. I guess I should just be glad I wasn't covered in oil and set alight at the same time from the lovely oil pressure guage.

Fo3 fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jan 4, 2016

# ? Jan 4, 2016 18:26

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

chrisgt posted:

I don't really have a good grasp what's what with GM products. Someone will need to sperg me up a list of what to look for, or I can just go to the yard and take stock of what's there for late 90's trucks. I should be able to get a set of heads for around $50

'96 to '99 fullsize truck, or up to '02 in the vans. Looks like any other 350, but the Vortec give-away signs are:

A/C pump on the driver side, alternator on the passenger side (TBI had the opposite configuration)
Vertical intake manifold bolts, instead of being perpendicular to the gasket surface
Plastic intake manifold with weird throttle body on top, but not TBI. Looks like this:

# ? Jan 4, 2016 22:29

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

chrisgt posted:

I don't really have a good grasp what's what with GM products. Someone will need to sperg me up a list of what to look for, or I can just go to the yard and take stock of what's there for late 90's trucks. I should be able to get a set of heads for around $50

According to Wikipedia,

1996�2002 Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana full-size vans
1996�1999 Chevrolet/GMC C/K full-size trucks
1996�1999 Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Suburban full-size long-wheelbase SUVs
1996�2000 Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon (and 2000 Tahoe Limited and 2000 Tahoe Z71 models) full-size short-wheelbase SUVs
1999�2000 Cadillac Escalade

Are the vehicles you're looking for. The pic above from Raluek should be helpful too. Apparently "1996 G-Series vans over 8,500 lb (3,856 kg) GVW w/ 4L80E transmission" have the L31 with a regular ole TBI setup, too - if you find one of those, grab the intake from it, but don't bother with the horrifying spider-injector setup most of them have.

I need the valve covers too, as it turns out. I think these might have roller lifters too which could theoretically be useful.

Fo3 posted:

LAF when are you going over there?
Back in the day I had a dream about taking over my own aussie PANEL van (drifter or sandman), but unless I had contacts or a lined up buyer I would do what you did, ie get a US van to travel and sleep in.

Whenever the next NEAI is, which according to Fart Pipe is anytime between May and August :v:

I'll be hanging around for a week or so beforehand and a couple weeks afterward too to tool around the east coast and do all the touristy things.

kastein posted:

You need to get that thing the gently caress out of the seller's hood like NOW, because who loving knows what he's doing to it right now, as people have already noted. Last time I went on a "buy a car/parts car in the hood" adventure like this, the guy swore up and down on CL that it was a complete running truck just the windshield was smashed and it was too rusty to fix, and should make the drive to my place fine. I show up, and...

[description of fuckery]

I told the guy to get hosed with a pineapple full of AIDS, stop bullshitting people, and made my escape.

I'd go as far as saying you should have it AAA'd to the nearest walmart parking lot or storage unit and deal with the rest once it's titled. As long as he doesn't know where it is and it's got some sort of license plates on it, it's better off.

e: I'll see if I can find heads for this thing if chrisgt doesn't find em sooner.

That's... That's something. It is/was iForge's call, but I agree, myself - which is why from the looks of things I've accepted a quote to transport the thing to his house that's a bit higher than i'd have liked, totally fine in order to get the thing moved ASAP.

Thankyou all for your support and laughter. This is gonna be RAAAAAAD

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:17

Tyro: Nov 10, 2009

This thread is going places.

Possibly dark places, but I look forward to it.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:32

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

literally a fish posted:

I need the valve covers too, as it turns out. I think these might have roller lifters too which could theoretically be useful.

Oh yeah, good point. If you grab the spider and dogbones from the lifter valley, you can drop that (with some new LS7 lifters and shorter pushrods) into any '86+ block and use a roller cam. Might need to drill and tap two holes, but eh.

I guess if you're going for cheap instead of right, you could re-use the lifters and pushrods instead of replacing them. Would hate to wipe out a brand new cam from having a worn lifter though.

Why do you need the valve covers? They should be the same on your '92 TBI motor.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:41

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

literally a fish posted:

I need the valve covers too, as it turns out. I think these might have roller lifters too which could theoretically be useful.

I don't think you do, actually. Your '92 van should already have the centerbolt-style valvecovers on it. When I did my L31 heads, the shop that declared my original '70 castings unfit for further use sold me a couple of random SBC valvecovers off of their pile of used stuff for $20. I don't think they came off of another L31 since this was in 2002 or so. The lifters would be in the shortblock, not the heads, and again a '92 might already have roller lifters. The factory rockers on the L31 were probably just regular stamped-steel non-roller pieces. I can't recall if my L31 heads came with rockers or if I just reused the ones that were on the old heads.

Edit: This thread is really appealing to us SBC nerds here :v:

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:43

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

IOwnCalculus posted:

The lifters would be in the shortblock, not the heads, and again a '92 might already have roller lifters.

I don't think so. IIRC, no trucks got roller lifters until the L31, but any block '86+ can take a roller factory setup. I think it's just so they could use the same blocks for the TPI cars.

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:46

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

From what I've read, the valve covers MIGHT not fit (some people report needing to change valve cover on a 92 block to fit the Vortec head), so I figured for the $10-25 they'll cost it's worth getting them just to be safe.

AFAIK no truck L05 has a roller cam/lifter, but they're roller-ready. All the holes are drilled and tapped and everything, it all bolts right in.

Ripping the old roller lifter setup would be awesome because then I don't have to deal with possibly murdering a flat-tappet cam during break-in, and DEAR LORD WHY ARE ROLLER LIFTERS $400-1000?!

I was under the impression that roller lifters basically don't wear out, so it'd be OK to use them - awesome if true but if false not the first time the internets lied to me.

You're welcome, SBC nerds :v:

how hard is it to break in a flat tappet cam properly (using break-in oil and everything) - if I buy a conversion-to-rollers kit it's $800 for the cam I want vs $200 for the flat tappet equivalent (w/lifters, retainers, and springs)

Edit: Oh also, the factory L31 rockers are self-aligning stamped steel pieces that I'm going to reuse unless someone gives me a reason not to (or aftermarket ones are cheap)

literally a fish fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 4, 2016 23:52

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

You don't need a 'convert to roller lifter' kit, that's for early SBC blocks that were only offered as flat tappet only. A '92 block, even if it came with a flat tappet cam, is ready to use a roller cam and the cheap factory rollers, instead of the expensive retrofit rollers.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 00:09

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

IOwnCalculus posted:

You don't need a 'convert to roller lifter' kit, that's for early SBC blocks that were only offered as flat tappet only. A '92 block, even if it came with a flat tappet cam, is ready to use a roller cam and the cheap factory rollers, instead of the expensive retrofit rollers.

Excellent.

I shall revise my order with the junkyard goons to include the necessary bits of bracket :v:

(or I would if I knew what they were called...)

# ? Jan 5, 2016 00:14

Gingerbread House Music: Dec 1, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Lipstick Apathy

gently caress rollers. They won't make your engine any louder or van any faster.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 00:19

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

literally a fish posted:

Excellent.

I shall revise my order with the junkyard goons to include the necessary bits of bracket (or I would if I knew what they were called...)

Raluek posted:

If you grab the spider and dogbones from the lifter valley, you can drop that (with some new LS7 lifters and shorter pushrods) into any '86+ block and use a roller cam. Might need to drill and tap two holes, but eh.

I guess if you're going for cheap instead of right, you could re-use the lifters and pushrods instead of replacing them. Would hate to wipe out a brand new cam from having a worn lifter though.

literally a fish posted:

DEAR LORD WHY ARE ROLLER LIFTERS $400-1000?!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12499225/overview/

literally a fish posted:

I was under the impression that roller lifters basically don't wear out, so it'd be OK to use them - awesome if true but if false not the first time the internets lied to me.

I dunno. I have heard that if you're putting in a new cam you should do the lifters at the same time, and when I didn't do that the machine shop pointed out that my new cam had some premature wear on it from not putting new lifters in, but I dunno how much it actually matters. How long are you going to keep this beast?

Raluek fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 00:22

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

Raluek posted:

I dunno. I have heard that if you're putting in a new cam you should do the lifters at the same time, and when I didn't do that the machine shop pointed out that my new cam had some premature wear on it from not putting new lifters in, but I dunno how much it actually matters. How long are you going to keep this beast?

Yeah lifters seems smart after discovering I was looking at retrofit lifters when I don't need to retrofit.

Ozmiander posted:

gently caress rollers. They won't make your engine any louder or van any faster.

I'm definitely struggling to justify the increased expense of roller cam. It's a lot more money and doesn't seem to actually provide much in the way of advantages beyond "you don't have to break this in"

ROLLER VS FLAT TAPPET: GO

It's probably going to spend most of its life doing gently caress all and get used like four weeks a year for three years.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:04

Noise Complaint: Sep 27, 2004; Who could be scared of a Jeffrey?

Use Rotella oil. High Zinc content. Then don't worry about it with the flat tappet poo poo.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:12

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

Roller cam:

Reduced valve train wear
More freedom to use radical lobe shape, you can open the valve faster using a shorter/steeper ramp

Flat tappets:

Cheap, readily available

So basically, it's a cost vs performance tradeoff. :shrug:

I have a roller cam in my motor, which is pretty similar to yours (TBI roller-capable block with L31 heads and roller stuff added), but I have a carb on it. I used the LT4 hot cam and 1.6:1 rockers.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:13

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

Flat tappet it is then :V

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:22

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

literally a fish posted:

Flat tappet it is then :V

Yeah I went with roller because it's my daily driver and I intend to keep it for awhile, whereas for something that you just want to make some noise for a few weeks I guess it doesn't matter.

Although, this seems pretty affordable if you're not going to machine the valve guides.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-14097395/overview/

Raluek fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:25

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

The cam by itself is fine, but once you add up the other bits required to make it all behave, it's $300-400 extra for no real reason. That's an entire nitrous kit!

E: VAN NEWS FROM THE EASTERN FRONT

The van is being picked up tomorrow and will be at John's Wednesday or Thursday. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

# ? Jan 5, 2016 01:54

8ender: Sep 24, 2003; clown is watching you sleep

I haven't gotten van lust this bad since the local carpet installer rolled up in a 1976 Chevy used in the Montreal olympics. It had side pipes and orange stripes. ;-*

# ? Jan 5, 2016 03:08

Beach Bum: Jan 13, 2010

edit: removed

# ? Jan 5, 2016 06:18

Pomp and Circumcized: Dec 23, 2006; If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.

Beach Bum posted:

edit: removed

Come on man, it's OK to be jealous!

# ? Jan 5, 2016 15:50

SuperDucky: May 13, 2007; by exmarx

Jesus gently caress. I hope this thing makes it down to Atlanta at some point. Godspeed goonsir.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 16:15

iForge: Oct 28, 2010; Apple's new "iBlacksmith Suite: Professional Edition" features the iForge, iAnvil, and the iHammer.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:54

scuz: Aug 29, 2003; You can't be angry ALL the time!; Fun Shoe

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmffffffffffff

Lookin' WAY good.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 20:55

Seat Safety Switch: May 27, 2008; MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.; Pillbug

This is gonna be great.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:00

MrsAdiabatic: Feb 26, 2015; Gotta get up to get Down's

I think I can dig up a decent variety of sound equipment to put in there whenever it gets to hubby's house. Subs, amps, etc. Maybe a couple rolls of 2AWG stranded copper

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:06

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

MrsAdiabatic posted:

I think I can dig up a decent variety of sound equipment to put in there whenever it gets to hubby's house. Subs, amps, etc. Maybe a couple rolls of 2AWG stranded copper

I fully support this. Make it a bangin' party-van.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:09

meatpimp: May 15, 2004; Psst -- Wanna buy

EVERYWHERE
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

It.... It.... It's beautiful. :swoon:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 21:31

literally a fish: Oct 2, 2014; German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized); Slippery Tilde

I CAN ONLY GET SO ERECT, iFORGE.

KozmoNaut posted:

I fully support this. Make it a bangin' party-van.

Totally down with partyvan. It needs at least twelve inches of subwoofer.

Beach Bum posted:

edit: removed

BUT WHAT DID YOU WANT TO SAY
It's OK, goon, you can't piss me off, I HAVE A BITCHIN' VAN

# ? Jan 5, 2016 22:27

Beach Bum: Jan 13, 2010

I think I was going to suggest Valvoline Racing as a lower-priced oil with high ZDDP content for your flat-tappet cams but then thought better of it after I'd posted because I wasn't able to find conclusive evidence of VR oil actually still having high ZDDP. It's what I used in my M20 E30 that had a flat-tappet valve train.

It is quite a bitchin' van (and it seems it's only going to get better), and now I'm asking if you NEAI folks would accept a Floridian, since you're accepting Aussie crooks and all :v:

I need a summer vacation anyway

Beach Bum fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Jan 5, 2016

# ? Jan 5, 2016 22:50

Gingerbread House Music: Dec 1, 2009; by FactsAreUseless; Lipstick Apathy

Beach Bum posted:

I think I was going to suggest Valvoline Racing as a lower-priced oil with high ZDDP content for your flat-tappet cams but then thought better of it after I'd posted because I wasn't able to find conclusive evidence of VR oil actually still having high ZDDP. It's what I used in my M20 E30 that had a flat-tappet valve train.

It is quite a bitchin' van (and it seems it's only going to get better), and now I'm asking if you NEAI folks would accept a Floridian, since you're accepting Aussie crooks and all I need a summer vacation anyway

it's ok, he can get Supertech from walmart and dump a bottle of zddp in it. Not like a 350 cares, lol.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 23:11

Raluek: Nov 3, 2006; WUT.

Ozmiander posted:

it's ok, he can get Supertech from walmart and dump a bottle of zddp in it. Not like a 350 cares, lol.

I just ran cheap Costco oil in the 327, so yeah I bet you could get away with a lot. But for initial break-in it probably matters. Not that he's going to own it long enough for it to cause any problems, lol :shrug:

# ? Jan 5, 2016 23:18

Terrible Robot: Jul 2, 2010; FRIED CHICKEN; Slippery Tilde

Goddamn I can't wait to get started tearing into that big blue bastard.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 23:32

Coredump: Dec 1, 2002

If I only I could ship in 14 inch from the PNW so he could ~~curse~~ bless the van with his gift of spiders before you guys got into it. Cuz I'm a bastard like that.

# ? Jan 5, 2016 23:37