Thor makes some interesting points and he's clearly brighter than I am! in reverse order, re the trans updates, Ultrabell in the USA make bellhousings to fit anything to anything else, but in the case (pun intended...) of the TF727's successor the A-518 (small-block only) I think the old TF bellhousing has to be cut off and then the Ultrabell bolts in it's place, possibly using the A518's front pump bolts? But the A518 only has a 0.7:1-ish overdrive, and a torquey old lump like a 383 would pull a 0.5:1 with ease I think - on a light throttle my car gets into top at 20mph. On the other hand a 0.7:1 is 30% better than 1:1. Ho hum....I spoke to a very helpful chap with the improbable name of Nutty Professor Transmissions, who specialises in Mopar stuff. He says 518s are v rare in the UK so it'd be a case of being v nice to the few american contacts I have to find one from a 2wd vehicle and then get it shipped over somehow. He also thought that the controllers needed for modern 5/6 speed auto double-overdrive transmissions would be a task and a half for mortals like me, although by the sounds of it possibly less so for the no doubt mighty Thor!
Re efi, my best friend has a Lotus Carlton (drool....although it has the world's heaviest clutch). He says that they used a Bosch external fuel pump which was relatively quiet, so my latest thoughts are to buy a Spreadbore/Q-jet Sniper, but not the full Kit and get a Lotus Carlton-type Bosch pump, some hardline supply & return pipes (Holley only provide rubber one in their kit) and fittings in the UK (there's a company in the midlands who do NPT stuff), which might reduce the hammering I'm going to get from the exchange rate at the mo.
Thor, on both your customer's cars and your own 409 do you use the in-tank pump or external? If external: where & how does the supply exit the tank? What did you do about a swirl-pot? And I know what you mean about the character of american V8 engines.I'm a small-block Chevy lover myself, and am gradually getting used to mopars - took several days to get over the shock of the distrubutor rotating anti-clockwise!
Thanks to all, do please keep 'em coming
Btw, if anyone knows of a prospective buyer of good user-quality '95 Corvette auto with 80k I'd appreciate it - I need the space.
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