Harry Mann 68 L78 / L88 Camaro

[Z282NV]

That is a sweet sounding motor.

[Pro Stock John]

Congrats great numbers.

I'd at least pull the axles and check them but for what they cost new, I'd seriously consider getting a fresh set.

[TimG]

Great numbers, Tim. It sounds good.

[Crush]

Miles of smiles coming, even if they are short miles!!!

[67since67]

Originally Posted by napa68

In the name of authenticity, old school is in order.........just like the owner

Old school is cool Tim!! Brings back memories, 50 some years ago the second design L88 in my 'ol red Chevelle would pull hard from 3,500 to 7,500, also using a 4781 Holley DP! Get that ign fixed and buzz it up!

Last month I had one of my L79s on the dyno for break in and several pulls letting that little small block sing up to the 6K redline (with a fresh Eric carb)!! Didn't want to shut it off.

Love this build! - Bill W

[Chuck_Burg]

That's so cool Tim, a sweet sound indeed! Which points are you running? I installed Blue Streak DR-2371XP points and DR-70X condenser in a Delco distributor, not sure if those will fit a Roto Faze. Granted, I'm not spinning 7,000rpm with my 496 but my buddy has good success with them on many high rpm applications.

[Too Many Projects]

Gotta love the old school cams with a lot of overlap. They may leave hp on the table, but they just SOUND mean. The 280H in my 496 has an attitude too.

[napa68]

Originally Posted by Chuck_Burg

That's so cool Tim, a sweet sound indeed! Which points are you running? I installed Blue Streak DR-2371XP points and DR-70X condenser in a Delco distributor, not sure if those will fit a Roto Faze. Granted, I'm not spinning 7,000rpm with my 496 but my buddy has good success with them on many high rpm applications.

It looks as though the Roto-Faze is using points from a Y block Ford. Originally, it uses 2 sets. 1 of them was removed and the remaining is utilized to trigger the MSD box. That is exactly what was done on the dyno (and they bounced). I am contemplating what I am going to do moving forward. The Roto-Faze is a locked distributor. In other words, no advance curve.

Certainly, I can change to something else and have and advance curve. I can utilize the stock L78 distributor and trigger the MSD with an M&H hall effect switch.....that's an option. I kinda dig the Roto-Faze. It's a good conversation piece to someone who notices it.

I have a Corvette in the shop that I need to get finished up for a customer, as well as another Corvette to finish and get up for sale, before I get back on the Camaro. I'll get the Camaro running and see how the starter likes 38-40 degrees of timing advance and then make some decisions. I never checked the timing before I took the car apart. Honestly, Paul had it running so good......I never thought to fiddle with it. My bad.

I'm really struggling to not work on the car.......

[napa68]

Another point worth noting, engine vacuum.

When the car was together before, the engine made 4" of vacuum. Not really knowing items such as ring seal, camshaft timing, and how much porting the original heads had received, is one of the reasons I elected to freshen the engine when switching to the aluminum heads. Another point worth making, is both the aluminum 842's and the iron 840's, each were converted to a 2.30 intake valve. Steve at AMS was impressed with the porting work on the iron 840's and noted that they were not all hogged out. I know when Jim Y. (A Stock) was in the engine 20 some years ago, he spent some good money on those heads (I have the receipt).

The rings and cylinders looked really good. All AMS did was hone and rering. The cam was checked for any wear, measured for lift and duration, and reinstalled at 106 degrees (as it had been previously) with a new timing chain and gear set.

On the dyno, idling at 1200 (where it had been idling previously) it now pulls 8" of vacuum. In short, that's how restrictive the stock exhaust system is on these cars. Over the summer, I finally had met John Karvonen (302mo) in person and saw his beautiful 67 L78 car. At the time, John just had header mufflers. Later on, John had gotten his Gardner system installed, and it changed the personality of the engine considerably. Mind you, that is in no disrespect to Gardner exhaust at all, it's just how inefficient the original design is. In hindsight, I probably should have changed the exhaust before diving in. I suspect the Camaro would have been silly.

On the last note, I have the original 396 short block at AMS as well. Steve is checking that over. Depending what is found, I may freshen that up. A while back, Eric Jackson had Bullet Cams grind up a duplicate of the stock 143 cam to some exacting specs. I had gotten one of them for the original motor, thinking I'd freshen it up one day in the future.

We'll see what happens.......it seems like I have been heaving money all over the place lately.

[Too Many Projects]

Just my opinion, but I would convert the Roto Faze to the M&H hall effect and eliminate the issue with points. You will be happier with an advance on the street too. That starter is not going to like 40* at start up, especially once at running temp.

And yes, you have too many toys to play with all at the same time.. What a problem to have, eh ?