grumpyvette

in my experience many items at HF are basically cheap crap but there are exceptions or stuff that's cheap enough that you can use it and throw it away if it fails without feeling bad about the cost, the first three items are in the cheap enough category, the jack stands can be found on sale cheaper but are a very good value as they are the correct height to work under your car and strong enough to be safe, with a 12 ton rating and a 3 ton car, four of them provide an except-able safety margin, Ive used four in my shop for over 15 years or more and never had the least problem, the 12 ton jack stands are a good value in my opinion http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=91214 these work surprisingly well for most welding and if they get screwed up your only out $50 http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=96451 this can save you some serious time trouble shooting even if its not dead on accurate http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/itemdisplay/displayItem.do?itemid=94357 working under a car without some safety glasses is rather stupid at this price http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34924

it sounds like the accellerator pumps not adjusted or the floats are not set correctly. possiably the power valves bad, start by verifying your fuel pressure is a constant 5 psi and the floats are correctly adjusted and that theres no vacuum leaks http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=109 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1966 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1790 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1115

http://www.antechlabs.com/K0GFM/GMCylinderHeadInfo.pdf both those heads are basically VERY RESTRICTIVE and ID use them only for engines designed to operate like a taxi, (low rpms 99% of the time) the 624 heads flow about 194cfm, they came on the cross fire corvettes and are one of the least effective heads available, and a light weight casting that's slightly more prone to cracks http://books.google.com/books?id=78TGjioWJOIC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=chevy+%23624+heads&source=bl&ots=N7fqUhwDpf&sig=4w8BXJojywNqfRbQAQawGvt7DZM&hl=en&ei=oVN5S5w8qKa2B8KPrMYK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false yes JUST LIKE YOU .PROBABLY ARE< Im buck$ down and can,t afford to buy a lot better heads, but theres no sense in lying,or telling you to port them, those heads have extremely limited power potential, and youll be far better off looking thru salvage yard for at least vortec truck heads yes you can improve either set of heads some with careful port work but its still beating a long dead horse http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=1563 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=240

I think youll have fewer problems tuning the car with that cam, rear gear and heads with the vacuum secondaries, its what ID select for a car driven on the street

proven engine combos, following a plan, and those deals. theres an old saying about "theres more than one way to skin a cat" well building engines is a bit like that in that if your goal is to produce a reasonable level of horsepower,for an engines displacement theres usually several fairly well known, combination's that can be built that will allow you to arrive, at that power level. the difference in each engines parts list and machine work is usually a compromise in the engines cost, durability, or power range, and while almost everyone works within some budget restraints,most of us want to build the engines in our cars for the lowest possible cost in the least possible time, and in an ideal world have an almost indestructible and extremely durable combo. Ive built enough engines, for my self and for other people, and given advice on, and worked on enough engine projects that were completed by other people that it became obvious that although, theres thousands of ways to build an engine for your average street/strip muscle car, theres also many more ways to take what potentially could be an excellent engine,and change just enough of the components, the machine work or the drive train its mated too, to make the intended results fall below your expectations. One of the recurring reasons is that almost invariably, the person building that engine is presented with a (DEAL) on parts that cost less or that don,t match the rest of the engines components intended air or fuel flow rates, heat range,or power band or rpm range or the parts sacrifice some durability.you look thru the parts catalog and see the trickflow, air flow research or brodix heads listed in the component list cost lets say $1450 and about ten minutes later when you tell your friend he points out that you can purchase vortec heads for about 1/2 that cost...and while thats true, if you go for the less expensive heads your power potential takes a huge hit. the same thing happens when you point out the component list indicates you need a hydraulic roller cam and lifters and you friend quickly points out that "there is a cheaper generic version or even worse that a flat tappet cam with a similar duration should work just fine" the same thing applied to intakes, pistons, rods, etc. EXAMPLE lets assume your goal is to build the very common 383 sbc and your goal is a reasonable 425 flywheel horsepower, you can rarely pick up a handful of the current, corvette, hot rod,Chevy, muscle-car or exotic car magazines , without finding an article telling you exactly how they exceeded that goal, so how hard can it be? well, that depends on your skills and budget, and your machine shops attention to detail,and the parts you select and I can tell you from experience that theres a great many cars out there that have spend a good deal of time and effort trying to reach that goal that have yet to reach it. If you look over this site you'll find a great deal of info on selecting & matching components, and calculating the results, and a fair number of proven confirmations that did in fact reach or exceed that goal. you'll also find links to engine calculators and software that can be used to detect trends, point out potential flaws or predict results with some accuracy. HERES SOME EXAMPLE OF THOSE ARTICLES, AND SOME USEFUL RELATED INFO http://www.airflowresearch.com/articles/article085/A-P1.htm http://www.airflowresearch.com/articles/article019/A19-P1.htm http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/383ci_chevy_small_block_build/index.html http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=519 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=2645 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=38 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=428 youll quickly find the combos are different as are the power produced, and it would seem that its just not all that difficult to build a decent 383 sbc, and while thats true to some extent, its also true that all those combos that produce a known and tested power level can be significantly reduced if you were to start swapping, a few key components. drop the compression,ratio,go with a set of less expensive heads,use that old intake and carb of your current engine, use what you think is a similar cam, don,t use the rockers or headers or oil pan, and windage screen suggested in the original parts list and your results will frequently be lower than you might expect those changes to make. and even if you do follow the component list exactly the machine shop you use and the care taken during the assembly and tuning can and will result in a different power curve. but its the attention to details, care taken during the assembly process and following the know trends that allows you to build a decent engine.now Im not saying you can,t experiment or use a different component, but I am saying that any changes you make will have an effect on the results, that may or may not be to your benefit and the more changes you make to a well tested combo, the less likely that your get the result to match, the original planned results. WHEN I started building engines many years ago, an older engine/machine shop owner and a Pontiac dealer mechanic took the time to answer many of my question, I remember the engine shop owner saying one day that building an engine correctly is a bit like baking and decorating a wedding cake, you use a component list on an engine build similar to a recipe, youll use to bake a cake and that recipe will list ingredients like flour,sugar , eggs, milk, baking powder,vanilla extract ,which ingredients get added at what stage,the amount of the ingredients used, the temperature you must bake it at, the pan size,etc and an engine combo will in a similar way list the intake, carb,rotation assembly, compression ratio, etc. now lets say your well into baking that wedding cake and the recipe, calls for 6 cups of white sugar, but youve only got 5 1/2 cups in your pantry,your on a strict budget , so looking around you notice that SALT LOOKS THE SAME, and the only other choice you have is dark brown sugar, which looks totally different,, because the salt looks like its a far more similar component you select the salt,and when you add it to the batter,to make up the difference, it BLENDS IN JUST FINE, and the cake looks identical once its baked, so whos going to now the difference? I think you can grasp the significance, a small change will ruin the expected results, just like swapping some component in the proven engine package will also at times ruin the results, and if you had selected the brown sugar,when baking the cake, which appeared to be a total mismatch, you might have also ruined the cake but you might have improved the taste. the same thing applies to engine building, some changes can improve the combo, but experience has a huge effect on making rational choices

ok lets look at things logically a 350 spinning about 6500rpm which is a reasonable upper rpm limit for use of flat tappet hydraulic lifter can at least in theory digest 350 x 6500rpm/2 or about 657 cfm but keep in mind theres potential restrictions to air flow and the draw rates at the carb are computed at a constant vacuum, but on an engine theres not at a consistent plenum vacuum signal, now having run both the 600cfm and 750 cfm carbs on many 350-383 displacement engines Im forced to point out the rather obvious fact that the vacuum secondaries on the holley carb will by design compensate for the engines needs and that max power is almost always reached at an air fuel ratio between 12.4:1-and 12.8:1 and at a vacuum reading in the plenum near the 1.5" to .05" of vacuum at W.O.T.

http://www.holley.com/0-3310C.asp youll be hard pressed to beat your performance on a basic , 350-383 hydraulic cam engine, with a HOLLEY 750 vacuum secondary carb for both ease of tuning and low cost ,high value in most street cars looking to make under about 450hp. and a decent street/strip intake that matches is the 8501 - Weiand Intake Manifold

http://www.skipmorrow.com/html/galleries/cats-frameset.html always good for a grin

BTW if your ignition, or any other electrical component is blowing fuses step one is getting a shop manual so you can easily trace the wires and colors, obviously if it blowing the fuse the indications point to a short or ground, being the cause,but a component that got wet or a wire that got pinched during an accident or during a repair is most likely, I generally remove the fuse and Ive got a test fuse I soldered two wire leads to that connect to a 9 volt battery powered buzzer, it plugs in where I removed the fuse and buzzes,unlike a light so you don,t need to keep looking at it, I then I go looking for loose or rusted connectors, pinched wires, loose grounds, etc. when you find one the buzzer either tends to get louder or stops you simply take a blown fuse and solder the leads to the buzzer to the legs and insert it into the fuse box just during testing, but its a very good idea to put a inline fuse in the leads so you don,t have problems, obviously you don,t need more problems caused by testing http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102786 http://www.futurlec.com/Buzzers.shtml

thats an exceptionally clean looking car with very impressive hp/tq

then one option is to roll with the punches, is there a fairly common, sporty light weight bmw , JAGUAR or ACURA or mercedes you can find with a large engine bay,that a decent large American V8 can be installed in? never limit your options, think thru your choices and budget, and parts availability, stick a 454 bbc in a BMW, ACURA or mercedes or JAG and there potential for a fun car a nice ten year old 2000 jag xkr with a blown drive train seems like an option if you can locate one in a salvage yard, or on craigs list

IVE found over the years that magazine dyno test results depend a great deal on the company that's paying for the testing to be done and the components they sell, seldom does the company's products come out looking badly,Ive had very good results with BOTH CLOYES chain drives and JACKSON cam drives, and ID doubt theres a two hp difference between them on an honest dyno test., to say theres a 5% reduction in power for a gear drive (thats 25hp on a 500hp engine) is ludicrous, but its also easy to "PROVE" a chain drive OR a cam drive is superior with a skilled dyno operator doing the testing

without knowing WHAT ENGINE your referring too, or if its a CARB, or INJECTION, or what IGNITION, I can,t give you a reasonable suggestion as to where to look

Im glad to see you make progress,but Id point out engines NORMALLY run coolant temps of 180F-210F, and if you have not verified the damper and timing tab TDC and your vacuum readings, fuel pressure, ignition advance curve and FUEL/AIR RATIO ,ETC., ETC. your just guessing always drop back to basics have you verified TDC on the damper and timing tab? did you degree in the cam or just DOT-to-dot install it? whats your fuel pressure? have you verified the carbs float levels? does fuel run out the site holes at idle? are the needle& seat valves working correctly? whats your ignition timing? have you done a compression check? whats your plenum vacuum? have you verified the engine got no vacuum leaks? whats the oil pressure? have you adjusted the valves at idle? does the distributor timing advance with rpm increases? have you tried a different carb? what are the plugs gaped at? does this happen without an air filter? have you verified you've have functioning power valves? what jets are you using? is there visible fuel flow from the boosters? whats your battery voltage? whats your exhaust back pressure? are you totally sure the fuel free of water and fresh?

id need a good deal more info on your combo of engine and components you used ,without knowing the engine size type and your ignition, cam, and induction system, fuel system, ETC. figuring out the probable cause is a bit of guess work at the best of times

personally if it was my car Id swap to a different carb as a, quick test rather early in the test & tune process to see the results, as that would tend to eliminate some potential testing if it cured or failed to cure the problem, I picked up and rebuilt a 600 edelbrock carb at a yard sale for $15 that I use just for testing

every time I hear that (GEAR DRIVES CAUSE VALVE TRAIN HARMONICS REPEATED) I would LOVE to find ANYONE who has any data to prove it, in fact for 40 plus years Ive looked, and have YET to find conclusive PROOF, even smokey yunick used gear drives in many engines and took lots of high rpm photography, and advised the use of gear drives in some applications

always drop back to basics have you verified TDC on the damper and timing tab? did you degree in the cam or just DOT-to-dot install it? whats your fuel pressure? have you verified the carbs float levels? does fuel run out the site holes at idle? are the needle& seat valves working correctly? whats your ignition timing? have you done a compression check? whats your plenum vacuum? have you verified the engine got no vacuum leaks? whats the oil pressure? have you adjusted the valves at idle? does the distributor timing advance with rpm increases? have you tried a different carb? what are the plugs gaped at? does this happen without an air filter? have you verified you've have functioning power valves? what jets are you using? is there visible fuel flow from the boosters? whats your battery voltage? whats your exhaust back pressure? are you totally sure the fuel free of water and fresh? if you were local Im sure I could get to the cause in a few minutes and correct it, checking and correcting this stuff just takes a few tools and experience

http://www.petejacksongeardrives.net/index_files/pjgdfaqs3.htm http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=430 if you correctly install the quite cam drive per the instructions youll have zero problems, but in most cases a CLOYES CHAIN DRIVE is a lower cost option

http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/12-803BP/10002/-1 thats a dead head style regulator and its FAR FROM IDEAL, all QUALITY return style regulators that Ive seen, have THREE PORTS (1)FEED from tank (1)CARB feed line (1)RETURN to tank and a pressure adjustment screw, and a vacuum line connection to the plenum http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=635 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=211 if your running a carb, you need to have a correctly set up fuel system, one of the more common complaints is related to fuel pressure at the carb inlet port, many fuel pumps produce 6-12 psi of fuel pressure at higher rpm levels , some even provide that at idle speeds, that much pressure tends to flood carbs and make float adjustment difficult or useless, only 7-9 psi will almost always overcome the needle & seat and constantly flood the carb, that is probably the source of your major problem, install a RETURN STYLE fuel pressure regulator, and a line back to the tank or at least back to a TEE thats located before the pump intake point http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_10001_10002_10019_-1_10267?sendroicid=bbef8492-2d00-41d6-b158-38db0de2603c&sendroiad=3824188001&sendroikwd=Fuel+Line&gclid=CNrLsez3opkCFQudnAodtC_cpQ yes the diagram says 8PSI your far better off with 5 psi in most street car applications these cheap ones, that are dead head style seldom work well http://www.jegs.com/p/Holley/745059/10002/-1 much better http://www.jegs.com/i/Mallory/650/4307M/10002/-1 http://www.jegs.com/InstallationInstructions/600/650/650-4307M.pdf http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-4309/ High-flow for your fuel system. When using high-pressure fuel pumps, a fuel pressure regulator must be installed to prevent carburetor flooding. These Mallory fuel pressure regulators feature housings fully machined from 6061-T6 billet aluminum, and specially designed high-flow fuel passages. These features, combined with a quick-acting diaphragm assembly, make them extremely efficient. A mounting bracket is provided to allow quick and easy mounting. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-4307M/ http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AEI-13351/ http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=635

http://www.pbm-erson.com/store.php?catId=327 sounds like this cam 110040 specs>> 2000-4800 290°IN/ 300°EX 224°IN/ 234°EX .465"IN/.488"EX 112° $72.35 ersons web site

ok, basics your noise level will tend to increase with larger diameter exhaust pipes but thats only ONE of MANY factors in the exhaust design and its not necessarily true that you can,t build a reasonably quiet performance exhaust. glass packs tend to mellow the tone frequency but don,t tend to reduce the DB (noise levels a great deal) noise is basically vibration strength,thats transmitted to outside the exhaust system. having rubber insulators or exhaust hangers helps,placing glass packs between the (X) pipe and the (H) pipe helps and having quality mufflers helps. your exhaust noise level is dependent on several factors that you can control,but clearances and finances will effect your choices, basically the idea is to reduce the exhaust pulse strength , you can blend pulses with an (X) as close to the header collectors as clearances allow and placing a secondary (H) pipe before the muffler entrance points tends to further reduce the exhaust pulse strength, but the length of the pipes and muffler design also play a huge role. everything's going to be a compromise in some area, the object is to maintain a low restriction to flow (low back pressure) system, that effectively allows the headers to scavenge the cylinders, to promote high volumetric efficiency levels with tolerable noise levels and/or you can insert baffles that will break up the pulse strength, a set of these in the collectors helps read thru these links http://www.pontiacstreetperformance.com/psp/exhaust.html http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techarticles/mump_0812_how_to_install_flow_master_mufflers/index.html http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1507&p=5456#p5456 http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1507&p=3448&hilit=backpressure#p34

IT MAY HELP! but the cure is getting all the systems in the carb operating exactly as designed getting the fuel pressure and float levels correct and then the jets and power valves correct for the application and adjusting the acellerator pump cam and throttle plates for the application, and maybe changing the boosters and squirters, and vacuum springs in rare cases

if it was a clearer picture I could tell a GREAT DEAL MORE about conditions in the combustion chamber but its obvious the lower plug pictures running real rich