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Whats a good place to consider a crate zz4 redlined?

CherryK5

CherryK5

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whats a good place to consider a crate zz4 redlined?
5200? more or less?
i think the birth sheet put all the power at 5250 but that seems soooo high.

and whats the easiest way to put a limiter on my motor?
 
thats wierd there is no max rpm spec. published.
if it makes peak power at 5250, then 5500-5800 should be the max.
if i remember right 300rpm above max hp is the norm.

as far as shifting it that high- dont worry bout it. sbc's are tough

msd- mallory- all the major brands make a stand alone rev limiter.
 
My old '88 TPI 350 IROC would rev, i was suprised at how high that thing would run when i took it down that track at Firebird in Phoenix....well, in comparison to the previous 305 carb'd motor i had been driving for a few years :tongue1:

manual shifting the auto and running up near that 6000 mark it still seemed to pull, i just didn't like running it that high :D

if i remember right, about the 5000 was a yellow line, and 6000 was redlined,
 
Damnnnnnnnnnn. I get nervous at the 4800 mark. But if I can take it that high it gives me some ease of mind. And I couldn't imagine shifting an auto that high. Wayne would kill me (TexasSilhouette), I'm borrowing his backup trans. Sounds like that monster I'm getting here in the next few months should be a nice upgrade.
 
Tach's are overrated........wind it up till it stops pullin' and grab the next gear....:woot:
























seriously....put a spark box on it with a chip to limit the revs...cheap insurance if you miss a gear or break the driveline with your foot flat on the floor...
 
wasted wages said:
Tach's are overrated........wind it up till it stops pullin' and grab the next gear....:woot:

seriously....put a spark box on it with a chip to limit the revs...cheap insurance if you miss a gear or break the driveline with your foot flat on the floor...
Click to expand...

do you guys recommend one? I would really like a limiter on it because I'm pretty sure with a stuck throttle cable or a driveline break like stated, that motor would go until it threw shrapnel.
 
nvrenuf said:
MSD is a proven company and product. ;)
Click to expand...

everytime I hear MSD, the word unnecessary comes to mind. I don't know why, but I feel like I'm paying for the name. Kind of like mickey thompson. As great as their stuff is, it could be less expensive.

So would I be getting what I pay for or is there another product out there that will do the same thing for less moolah
 
I guess it's a personal preference. I have a ~10 yr old MSD distributor, coil & 6AL on my K5 so my opinion is biased as I've had nothing but good luck. I can honestly say if it all crapped out tomorrow I'd save my pennies and buy it all again. I have known guys locally that have used Mallory stuff and they all had intermittent problems while mine has been flawless.

That said, if you go with a box you may not feel a difference at all in the way that motor runs. The ZZ4 motor makes good power on it's own so any single add on other than a blower isn't going to stand out. For me, the benefits that I have seen are smoother running at both idle and WOT along with way fewer fouled plugs (heavy carb on roller 454). I have used the rev limiter too. :doah:

Edit: I should add that at the moment you actually use anybody's rev limiter it's worth every penny. :D
 
MSD.....you get what you pay for...:waytogo:

I have a MSD-6 box with a pro billet distributor, coil and plug wires..
The dizzy is a work of art...the plug wire are the best I have ever used..
I put a 6K chip in the spark box for rev limit...don't even run a tach...

maybe partial to MSD....but their stuff flat out works.....
 
As far as a redline goes, wail on it in 2nd gear until it blows then set your redline at 500 less:D

I've got an Accel 300+ ignition system on my Vette. Very happy with it, and one main feature I like over the MSD's at the time was the ability to dial in the rev limiter by 100 rpm increments. No chips to buy. It has been very reliable, and has "lethal" voltage. I got it through Norhtern auto parts, for 189$ about 10 years ago.
 
my friend here ( manchildau65 ) has a 400sbc that ran good in his k30. we each had somthing we wanted that the other had.

i tradded him my msd pro bullit dist / tylor wires 8mm / blaster 2 coil. and he got a new box msd 6al.

we installed that and fired it up. real easy to install and do.

he said that motor has never started that easy cold or hot. and it sounds great better than before. also said its a little smother. he was not 1 bit sorry he got that stuff for the truck.

and when i had it in my old carbed motor truck it did everything for me like his. i was also never sad that i spend the cash.

now with efi stuff dont feel it as much . and thats why i stopped runnin it . i run tbi injection now and use factory dist and ignition stuff.
 
by all means if you are going to buy a spark box pay the price for a good one. Ive had two of the cheaper ones, one made by summit and I dont remember the other but they both sucked. trucked died on occasion and I would have to sit and wait for a while then it would run again, kinda like a bad module.

msd makes a replacement module for around $100 that has a built in rev limiter. I think that would work well if you didnt want the full spark box.
 
Years ago when I had a Camaro to play around with, I built a motor that was comparable to a ZZ4.
Whenever running it at a track, or the local place we raced...I usually shifted right at 6,000 rpm. This was with a built manual shift TH350.
At 6,000 it hit the next gear pretty hard...never any issues with the motor
 
We have a motor that was previously a zz4 and still has the crank and hydraulic roller lifters, and have had it to valve float, The rev limiter is set at 6800 right now, I'd estimate it was probably around 7500-8000 when floating :haha:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1v-eHzWI8
 
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