mg62

WOW!!!! This baby is SMOKIN'!!! I will never (and when I say 'never', I mean NEVER) forget the moment when I fired her up for the first time this afternoon. She just jumped to attention with an immediate responsiveness to my foot on the pedal that said in a soft but growly voice, like a southern stripper, "take me where we're goin'...."

The difference between the ZZ4 and my old engine is like spending a few months driving an old Jeep and then sitting down and turning the key in a Jaguar.

Cool new crate anecdote. I'm being gentle. I'm breaking her in as recommended on the GM Performance website. As a result, after about 70 miles of city driving today, varying speeds as much as possible, never over 50 mph, I went to get an oil change.

I pull into Mr. Lube, yank the hood release and get out. The hood's not up yet, but the guys are all over the car, oohing and aahhing (you've all been there). After they get out of me what year she is and so on, one guy asks, "How many miles on 'er?" I say, "70". He says, "Really, only 70 thousand?" I say, "No" (at this point I open the hood to reveal the shiny new ZZ4) "not 70 thousand ... just 70 ... seven ... zero". Ha!!! Way more oohing and aahing!

:D

Now I've just got to get enough mileage on her that I'll feel comfortable stomping on the pedal to see what she's really got off the line. Opinions on that mileage figure would be appreciated.

Many thanks to all the ZZ4 guys who piped in with suggestions and info when I was trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't be happier with this engine.

Oh, one other thing. The mechanic who did the ZZ4 installation gave me the happy news that my old block was, in fact, the numbers matching block for my car. It's the original Vette engine. My inclination is to put it into storage rather than sell it. Any thoughts on this?

Pictures of the ZZ4 coming soon.

MotorHead

Your gonna love that power, you won't be able to keep your foot off the happy pedal :D

mg62

Ha! I'm sure you're right! While we're here, thanks again to Motorhead for selling me the Dynomax Cerama-Coat headers that he had handy. I might otherwise have gone without headers rather than put off the installation for a number of weeks waiting for parts to come from the U.S. Thanks Wayne!

mg62

OK, here's a couple of pics of my ZZ4:





When I get more pics of the ZZ4, I'll post them with other information about the ZZ4 installation on the engine page of my website, here

1Bad69

Mark...congrats...i cant wait to hear the beast on Saturday..welcome to the world of gas guzzling... :D

0Mike69@ECS

Congrats!!!! :cheers: :cool:

He's right you know... you wont be able to keep your foot off gas! :cheers: :D

theanswriz42

That's awesome! For the cost of a ZZ4, you can't knock it.

:cheers:

MotorHead

I want my pipes back, man those look cool :cry

mg62

Ha! No dice, amigo. They're mine now!

Dwayne 76

Mark your headers look almost identical to mine, minus the nice shine

FeedVaal

:cool:

PRNDL

Definitely save your original engine. It will be worth more with the car than to anyone else. How much do you really think you could get for it anyway? :lol: I suppse you could put it on ebay: ORIGINAL NUMBERS MATCHING CORVETTE .....engine .... and start the bidding at $5,000. :D MJ


[Modified by MNJack, 9:54 PM 5/30/2002]

mg62

Jack, you make a good point. But where am I supposed to put the thing? I don't have an acreage.

gdh

Looks great Mark, I hope to be there on Saturday, just got off the phone with Mike. Are you sure that all you need is a 70 mile break in? I have been given much different instructions for my new build up, but maybe a crate motor is different.

1Bad69

put it in the livingroom with a piece of glass on it and call it a coffee table.... :D

mg62

Greg, I think the break-in is more like 500 miles. The 70 miles was just the initial running around at low rpms before the first oil change. As I understand it, you can drive the car gently up to and including regular highway speeds during the 500 mile period, then get another oil change at the 500 mile mark, and then ... let 'er rip.

Does that sound closer to the instructions you got? I'd be interested to know.

mg62

Maybe I could get Flavio to store it for me as a modern sculpture, in his garden.

CDaniel525

glad your happy with the zz4...wait till you fell it at WOT going through the gears ;) What headers did you go with?
Chris

theandies

I did the same thing almost. Ran the engine for 100 miles varying the speed and no WOT's. Changed my oil at 100 miles and the did normal "civilized" driving for the next 400 miles. Changed the oil again and cut open the filter (old aviation thing) to check it out also and it was clean. After I changed the oil the second time I took my car out and layed a 200 foot burner and chirped 2nd 3rd and 4th :yesnod: :eek: :yesnod: :eek: . ZZ4's ROCK :yesnod: :yesnod: :yesnod: Keep your original engine. Just buy an engine stand and coat the thing in oil and put it in a plastic bag. Like it was said above it will be worth a lot more with the car then if you sold it now.


John


[Modified by theandies, 11:27 PM 5/30/2002]

mg62

Yeah, I'm certainly anxious to find out what she feels like wide-open off the line.

My headers are Dynomax Cerama-Coat. If I had insisted on either the Hooker Super Comps, or the Hedmans made for the D ports on the ZZ4, I would have had to wait a minimum of 3 weeks to get them up to Toronto. And I just wasn't willing to wait. Fortunately, Motorhead had a set of the Dynomax's that were waiting to get bolted onto his Vette, and he was willing to sell them to me and get another set for himself.