77RED

I am posting this for a friend. He is looking to buy the GM ZZ4 385 HP longblock in his '77 4spd Vette. Is there anything that he has to change from stock to get it to work??? Will his stock headers work, if not which ones do you suggest. Also, he had pulled his motor out before with the tranny. Can the motor be pulled out with leaving the tranny in the car to make it easier?? Any advice will help. If you have or know about that motor in a Vette, how fast is it?? Thanks

Smokehouse69

He'll need a flywheel for the long-block, the ZZ4 has a new type rear seal and the 77 350 flywheel won't work with it. His headers should work, his fuel pump should work, I'm not sure about the intake. I think the intake for the Fastburn heads is different from the 77 L-82. He should check with Scoggin-Dickey or Jim Pace Performance websites, I think they have some FAQ's that'll answer a number of your questions.

page62

Hey Steve, have you got that ZZ4 running to your satisfaction? What's it like??? :seeya

Ganey

Dynomax coated. Yes. Capable of 12s.

Smokehouse69

Yeah, I've got it running. :D It scares me it runs so good! I still need to do some tuning on my transmission vacuum modulator and governor. I changed out the springs and weights on the governor to increase the WOT shift point. At this time it won't shift automatically unless I let off the throttle a bit, and the shifts are sluggish.
But as far as the engine goes it is great, even with the undersized Holley it pulls like a Demon. I can smoke the tires at will and I've had to train myself to take off in my normal manner without leaving some scratch.
It starts great, even without a choke hooked up and warms up in about 3 or 4 minutes. The dual Spal fans are working great. Depending on the weather I'm going to drive it up to Schertz on Saturday to visit my parents and to see how it handles a 100 mile road trip. So far the longest trip I've driven was about 60 miles round trip on the hiway and it performed faultlessly.
So far I'm very happy with the swap, I'll be happier when I get the tranny tuned right and the Demon carb on the car.

77RED

Does anyone know the part # of the flywheel he will need. Also, the engine he wants is the Fast Burn 385 HP Longblock; Has anyone here heard of the Hot Cam swap to make it 400+ HP??? What's needed for that if possible?? Thanks

77RED

Anyone know easiest way for engine removal?? Is it possible to unblot engine from bellhousing and just pull engine, or does both have to come out at the same time??

PROSOUTH

I have one sitting in my Garage. I too am using a manual trans. I bought a hydrulic clutch setup and bell housing from an '86 Vette to hook my TKO up with. I am changing from an auto to manual and thought this would be the easiest way to do it.

Careful on the headers, Not all seal with the D ports. Most recomend the Hooker Super Comps. I used a specific fastburn header from Sanderson but it is a blockhugger style. I need this because of suspension mods.

I will be using a set of the Crane Gold Race Roller Rockers. This brings the 385 up to 410 with no cam change. Change the cam along with the rockers to an LT1 HotCam and it goes to 430hp.

If you have any more questions I may be able to answer let me know.

Oh yeah, you will need at least two sets of the ZZ5 decals I had made for the 385 and maybe a couple of sets of ZZ4's for yours. $3.00 a pr shipped :lol: JIM :seeya

Jason Staley

The long block comes with a long water pump that will have to be changed to a Vette water pump if you want to keep your factory pulleys. The only trick is that a couple of the bolts for the plastic timing cover will interfer with the short pump, so some modifications are in order. I bought an aluminum pump and ground away some material on the back side of the pump (be careful!! :yesnod: ), and switched a couple of the bolts to button head cap screws to get everything to fit correctly. Not hard, just be careful.

Also, be careful on which manifold you choose. My ZZ4's aircleaner barely fits under my stock hood (the wing nut rubs the hood :crazy: ).

As for the stock manifolds, they will fit but I wouldn't use them. Tried that but the restrictive exhaust killed the HP. I use Dynomax Ceramic Coated headers, and they work great. Exhaust ports on a standard ZZ4 are .100" higher than stock heads. I'm not sure where the 385 Fastburn heads exhaust ports are. Anybody no this one??

As for performance, the ZZ4's are pretty good buys. Mine, with the GM Hotcam, AFR rev kit, and a home port job (just cleaned up ports - nothing fansy), has ran a 13.4 with me missing 3rd gear (~80mph) - driver issues here :rolleyes: :rolleyes: . Fastest I've had it in the 1/4 mile so far is 105mph at 13.5. Need to work on the whole shifting thing. I'm too use to racing a modified automatic big block car - :bb .