Engine and Differential Done!

Picked up my rebuilt differential yesterday afternoon.  The guy that rebuilt it said the ring and pinion were in perfect condition, but the clutches and seals were completely shot.  So it's still a 3.08 ratio differential.  Still wish it was a 3.55, but this saved me $400 and gets me better gas mileage (not that I'm really expecting good gas mileage).

As for the engine...  The machine shop broke the camshaft in yesterday morning and I went in after work for the dyno.  My dad bought me a new Quick Fuel 680 carburetor.  He wasn't convinced that the old quadrajet was good enough for the new engine.  The only problem was that the Edelbrock Performer Air Gap intake we'd order was made for the a quadrajet carb.  So we had to switch to a different intake that would fit a Holley style carb.  Luckily the shop had a Dart Air Gap intake that would work, but unfortunately it's the same size as Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap which is taller than I had planned for.  C3 Corvettes have very low hood clearances.  After reading some forums, it seems like I should be able to fit a 3" air cleaner on this intake if the base drop is enough, but that will some measurements with the engine installed.

Here's the engine on the dyno.  Obviously it doesn't have the air cleaner on it, but it also doesn't have the fuel pump (using an electric pump in the test).  My exhaust headers are different and my water pump is electric.

 

Alright, so dyno results for my new 383 SBC...  421.5 HP and 478.7 ft. lbs. torque

Here's Scott the mechanic doing some final adjustments before we started doing the testing.  During the dyno he adjusted the distributor timing to get the optimal output.