Hi guys, I am the proud owner of a 78 z28. It has a 406 stroker, 300 heads, 350 turbo tranny, slap shift, 3500 stall, front brake lock with switch, alternator cut off switch, and electric fan switch, and 4:11s. A/C and Heat deleted, along with the wipers and wiper motor (cowl hood would bump passenger arm), horn removed, and there is a new radio but it doesn't work. I want to know what things I should invest in to make this thing street fun again, as a daily driver. Yes, this is my new daily driver. I swapped out an 84 corvette that had everything in it in mint condition and all working.... now, I want to get this car back to that state. By the way, the engine, tranny, and gears all have less than 200 miles on them. Its everything else thats dead, not hooked up, or completely removed. Today, the electric fan, which was off an old BMW burned out... I made it home, and the gentleman I got the car off of, is bringing me the extra one he as, which is brand new. I wanna know, what is a good electric fan to get, aftermarket, for a 406 with 300 heads? And what would be a good power steering pump and pulley to get as well? There is a small aftermarket one installed but the belt keeps slipping (perhaps its just too old now? but the 300 heads did not have a bracket for power steering, so this is some fabrication stuff here). And whats a good set of gears for highway and around town driving? These 4:11s have me running 3100rpm on the highway at 55mph, and in town around 2500-2800 in drive, doing about 40 to 45mph. Thanks for all the help and sorry for the long thread.

 

so i will take a whack at it gears with that i would try the 3.73 gears we dont know tire size but i will assume close to stock, fan go with a used ford taurus from a 200 ish car super cheap easy to find and by far the best fan theres prolly a write up here for one somewhere. honestly not sure by what you mean 300? heads i think you have a siamese 400 block and a set of aluminum heads? power steering pump best is always stock, say what you want but they work with the car, if you had to go aftermarket i like the lokar stuff but its very spendy and its one of those things you dont want to die.

 

also you stated that the car was gutted check local laws and see what the minimum is to be road worthy in mt its lights wipers and horn

 

In North Carolina you do not need a safety inspection of the car is over 35yrs old. So I'm good all around. Also The tires are 235/60/15s... I just want that crazy high rpm running to drop. I hate doing 2600 at 45mph

 

A daily driver should be able to operate in any type of weather, so I'd figure out how to get at least a driver's side wiper. Heat isn't necessary, but often a defroster is a must, or your inside glass will be so fogged you wont know where you're at. I'd figure some sort of small aftermarket heater/defroster, to keep the windows clear. I'd also want a simple horn, even if it's just a button under the dash.
The 4.11 gears are way to low for anything but local stoplight top stoplight driving, with the TH350. I'd either swap to 3.73 or swap the trans to a 700R4, to get the OD that will reduce rpm's by about 30%.
The stock power steering pump is a good one, and I'd use it. Does your car have a PS box, or manual box? If it's a PS box, I'd guess the steering is extremely heavy without a pump. You could change to a manual steering box, and not need a pump, or put the pump on and really get light steering.
I have electric fans on two of my cars, but I'd much prefer a mechanical fan if I had room. If your clearances allow a mechanical fan, I'd put a good 6 blade fan on the engine, and delete the electric. People think they're gaining a bunch of HP with an electric, but it's load added to the alternator, which draws more HP to turn, so difference is miniscule. If you have to run an electric, then the Taurus, or Lincoln factory fans are fantastic, as they move huge amounts of air. But you'll need a big alternator, and be sure to run a good 60a. relay or you'll burn up wiring, and switches! Should have something around 100a. alternator for the big Ford fans, as they move over 4000 cfm of air!

 

I would like to go to the 700R4 And drop to 3.73s but will the 3500 stall I have affect any of this majorly? Someone told me hanging my gears down with that stall won't do crap for me. I'm not a transmission guy so I don't really wanna jump into that area. But I'll admit, I loved my TH700R4 I had on my 84 corvette. Which is what I traded for this camaro. And the problem with the wipers, is that the cowl good goes right up to the windshield, I have no clearance for a wiper let alone the arm. Should I cut the hood a bit? And is there a small aftermarket a/c unit I can install? Or must I got to factory design? I've found plenty of heater boxes that run off the coolant directly, but I'd love factory specs brand new.

 

so a 3500 stall basically means that the car will start to send pressure in at 3500 rpm stock ones are closer to 1500 rpm, the car will be revved up and into the power band before it starts to move as a daily driver go with the stock parts they were designed to last as an original car also the hood is it the corect height? sounds like the back of the hood is too low (close to the windshield) albiet there is not much clearance here just buy a stock one and see how bad it is mine needed the rear adjustment tuned a little to work perfect.

 

heater box go stock or install a vintage air kit and add ac
steps for the swap
Use a driveshaft out of a 2dr S-10 Blazer
The crossmember has to slide back a few inches. You might have to drill new holes for it
The shifter can be converted using a Shiftworks kit
You will need to wire in the lockup circuit or get a non-lockup converter
You may need a different flex plate depending on if you have a dual pattern flexplate already or not. one for a 1989 Camaro should work fine.

 

The 700r4 has a lock up converter, so the higher stall shouldn't be an issue in OD 4th. If you're not running at or near 3500 rpm in 3rd, then your trans will build up heat, so you might rethink the stall speed of the converter. Of course your TH350 converter can't be used with the 700r4 anyway, so really doesn't matter what you have for a converter now.

 

Maybe I will drop changing the gear and rpm situation. That stuff is beyond my know how. However, I want to do the heater and ac for sure and the wipers and wiper motor