Anyone thinking of using one? We put a Moroso on my 494, quite an in depth unit and install. Mandrels and bracketry all custom made. Made up to 18 hp at 8-10" all the way through. We will go up to 12-14 and it should make more. Oil pressure was not affected by the unit, and we installed a regulator to moderate vaccuum. The inside of the motor and the oil is spotless. After each pull we drained only one or two drops of a nasty and black fluid from the reservoir. We are pulling vaccuum from rear of intake manifold, had to make some modifications to keep from pumping large quantities of oil out the motor. The system works perfectly, though quite expensive. If anyone is looking to install one of these units, and I can help save you some trouble, let me know. Get ready though, its quite an arduous process.
Vacc pump install Yes Jim, I have to do one shortly for a customer's car... pretty sure I have it fugured out... but you never really know until you do it... can you give some motor specs (did you find a super-low tension ring set) and if you could post a quick rundown of the parts you used, a quick synopsis of the install and a couple pics of the finished install would be great. Thanks, JW
Jim, I'll help out with info/specs. Will post back tonight when I get home. I have some pics but no scanner. Any ideas?
Jim, If you want, you could, find a friend with a scanner, or you can snail mail them to me, and I will put them on, so everyone can see and follow along. Address to send them to is at the bottom of the home page of the company website, in my sig. JW
Hi Guys, Jim R.......Charlie did your's right about the same time he was doing my manifold. In fact his adding the fittings to your intake, he convinced me to do the same! Looks great too on my Wildcat! I'm thinking of using the Peterson wet sump/vacuum pump single unit to kill two birds with one stone! Also the Peterson vacuum adjustable regulator. What brand are you using? The modifications used to avoid pulling in big amounts of oil.....did they involve a baffle below the intake fitting and a custom valley pan so prevent the "splash" under the intake?? These are a few of the things I'm incorporating into mine but didn't know if you are going a different route or with additional "things". My lifter valley is completely filled w/(6) vents and dual return lines out the back directly into the pan so I shouldn't suffer from a lot of oil being aerated and sucked into the pick-up point of the vacuum line. It also has a couple of drain holes in the front of the block behind the timing chain for drain back upon decelleration. Did you also employ any of these things? I was invited down when Charlie, Mike and "the gang" was dynoing your engine but couldn't make it. I talked to Charlie a little later and heard it was "healthy" though!! He said he wished he still had my Wildcat to try on your engine. With all the work he did to it he thought it would have picked up power over yours??? Thanks for any info. in advance........
I would be interested in seeing how yours looks. I have been looking at parts and tring to decide how to install one on my street car. Was wondering if a smog pump bracket would work? I'm running about 216-220 pressure and have problems weeping oil out the front seal.
Bear with me.......... Guys, A brief ??? rundown of my system. We use a Moroso 3 vane pump and aluminum pump pulley. We pull vac from the back of the intake instead of the valve cover. Reason being the underside of the intake is easier to baffle, and the pump doesnt have to pull thru the two small oil drain holes in the head. We fabricated a valley pan for under the Wildcat intake. (had to, we were pumping large quantities of oil thru the pump and into the breather tank very quickly) You wouldnt believe how much oil is flying around inside your 455. The valley pan solved the problem. We tried a small baffle under the intake fitting to no avail. It took a large valley pan baffle under the intake manifold to fix the problem. For safetys sake, I would also use a small baffle under the intake vac fitting as well. We did not epoxy the lifter valley. We regulate vaccuum with a $2 needle valve from the hardware store with a small K/N filter on top. We use a Stefs breather tank. We fabricated an aluminum bracket that bolts to the driver side cylinder head to hold the pump and breather tank. The bracket allows for adjustment of the pump AND breather tank. Since the intake manifold, pump, and breather tank are connected by Earls fittings and braided lines, both the tank and breather needed measures for adjustment. We used the crankshaft mandrel for a smallblock Ford, as I dont think Stefs or Moroso make one for a Buick, and a 3" pulley on the mandrel. We had to do minor machine work to the mandrel to make it fit properly. (fab a spacer, etc...) Thats about it in a nutshell. This was a major ordeal putting this thing together. A LOT of trial fits and running to the parts house to make everything work together. Expensive and time consuming. But worth 15-18 hp at 8-10" vacc. Very likely more with 12-14". All the way thru. And keeps the oil and inside of the motor absolutely spotless. I have a offset ground 494 with aluminum rods (6.800, small journal, small Chevy) and 13.0-1. Aluminum SE heads 2.19/1.75 that flow really well (ported by Champion and touched up by Charlie Evans). 1150 Dom and Wildcat, girdle, Meizure water pump, Childs and Albert 1/16 rings opened up some for the vac pump, flat tappet cam designed by Perry Carlini, block honed with plate, KB booster on oil pump, ATI dampner, Stefs aluminum pan and fabricated windage tray, and all the other little mods and pieces that make one of these things live when they shouldnt. Not to toot our horn but the motor made peak 782 hp @ 6300 and peak 706 torque. Over 700 torque from 4900 to 5300. Determined the valve springs went away as the motor fell off above 6300, when it should pull to 7000 or so. Same cam in another nearly identical motor went to 7000 and beyond. Once I got home a quick call to TA solved the problem. No track time on the motor yet, but hope to soon. Want to thank Charlie Evans for putting the whole time consuming, nail biting, deal together, AMP for good machine work and dyno time, to Perry Carlini for a good camshaft, to Champion for excellent heads and intake manifold, and to TA Performance for a ton of good parts. I will send some pics to JW to post here to help all this bull make sense. I hope this will help some of you avoid the trial and error we have fought. Good luck, and if I can help out let me know.
Jim R. .........I've been plan'g a similar system myself. I understand Your set-up, but some photos wouldn't hurt anything. I'm not in any major hurry........so, whenever You find the time. Thank You in advance....... Jeff jkalltheway7@juno
