O.K. Since starting this thread on 7/18/2013 after concluding my head gasket had failed (actual failure happened on late April 2013) I declare my 380 project is 98% complete. I am expecting a PROM unit from Marc in 2-3 days and some fine tuning to continue.
I went up to Jim's garage yesterday and expected to wrap up in 2-3 hours. Boy, was I wrong. It took 7 hours of chasing some mundane problems to sort things out enough to turn the key. 380 LT5 started after about 3-4 seconds of cranking and came to life. Drove my Z around the block to make sure all vital signs are good and the car to be drivable before heading back to my home about 65 miles south of Jim's.
What a drive back home. To be able to drive without a fear of running my radiator dry AND running a brand new, bored and stroked (lightly) motor I actually helped build! It took a lot of restraint not to take her to the redline.
Just can't wait to put 500 miles, an oil change and take her out for a few revs to 7000 rpm!
Thank to all who actually made this possible and cheered me on. Now my Z is also a secondchance.
