383, final assembly

383, page 1  Stefs oil pan  Blackstone heads

The first shot is the new motor coming home in the trusty old V'ger, a veteran motor hauler that has transported a couple thousand horsepower.  You may have noticed another ol' timer in this pic - a Cloyes double row "True Roller" timing set.  The Meziere electric water pump enabled the use of a real timing chain, instead of the ridiculously overpriced single rollers most of us have been stuck with.  The center pic is a close-up.  The pic below right how I like to route the passenger side plug wires, which are 8.5mm MSD's.  The split loom prevents sharp edges on the block from cutting the silicon.  The lathe-turned aluminum plug that fills the water pump driveshaft hole is visible above the Opti.

Here are three more final assembly pix courtesy of Nikon Ace Joe Gervais.  On the left is the Vortech oil return routing.  After 3 tries (caused by 3 different oil pan setups) I finally got it right.  It's short, solid, and very easy to R&R.  The other 2 pix show the Vortech intake tube made by Craig Hill of Top of the Hill Race Car Fabrication.  As usual for Craig, the fit is perfect and the welds are beautiful.  The 2-piece construction makes it cake to R&R, and the welded-on mounting tab visible on the right edge of the right-most pic makes it very solid.  I tried to talk him into a small production run, but no dice.  If you want one, call him at 925-460-5297.  And don't worry, I won't get anything out of it ;).