That has not been the case with the SP1 on my engine. All my plugs color the same and I use the Q-jet on the street all the time. That was not the case with the Edelbrock Performer, the middle plugs were always darker. Up to now, there has been less than a tenth and 1 MPH between my Q-jet and the AED 1000 HO.
I would tune/re-jet to compliment that SP3! Without it, it may bog /stumble. You know it will run....but you want it dialed in.
When I first bolted on the SP1 on my previous engine, I used the John Osborne Q-jet I had always used. It ran noticeably smoother than the Performer intake, and I couldn't feel ANY loss of low end power at all. Of course this was with my good flowing TA aluminum heads, but I wouldn't just rejet before trying the SP3 as is. I know Justin has noticed a seat of the pants improvement already.
When put my SP3 on i notice it ran smoother ,bolted my carb on no flat spots no bog just a good clean pull.
Went to the track (Norwalk) this evening, my one and only pass sucked:ball: 14.17 @ 95.14 mph 60' was horrible @ 2.105 Car hesitated off the line I had to shift manually, 1/2 2/3 I went the wrong way with the governor spring in the trans. I wanted another 200 rpm from 5400 to 5600 but it shifts @ 5000 rpm, ugh, good thing I like laying under my car, no biggie, easy adjustment! The hesitation has me a bit perplexed, where did my launched out of a cannon feeling go? A couple things I did different tonite: I put 6 gallons of Sunoco 112 in the tank at the track I advanced my timing to 36 total at the track. I normally have 32 total on 93 Sunoco Does my engine not like 36 deg total? Does Sunoco 112 burn slow enough to hamper my performance compared to 93? The weather was starting to deteriorate, so I bolted on my street radials and we headed home before the storms arrived
If her GN is bone stock, you will beat her by about 1/2 second in the 1/4. Most bone stock (no chip, K&N, etc) Turbo Buicks do low 14s in the mid 90s at best on stock tires. The basic recipe of mods put them into the mid 13s fairly quickly though.
This is definitely a mid to low 13s car once everything is going smooth. I'm sure there will be consistent numbers soon.
What size DR's ? If they are 275 60's thats hurting you some with the 342 gear. They look nice im sure but its too much tire for your current setup, 275 /50's or 235/60's will speed you up What rpm are you crossing the traps? What rpm is the converter flashing too when it hooks? I agree with most of the others a 750 HP style carb will be more at home on the SP3 than the qjet. The most attractive part to the holley is adjustability. And ease of manipulating fuel curve, not tha a qjet wont and cant easily run into the 12's .
Its actually mine, but when we married, she kinda adopted itp Its .030 over, 210 billet roller cam, PTE 51 turbo, Kenne Bell 70 mm intake and T-Body, Precision front mount IC, Terry Houston 3" DP, TR 2.5" stainless duals. At Auto Rama in downtown Cleveland about 11 years ago, it was up on the chassis dyno for Dyno-Techs display, they ran it a total of 32 times thru-out Sat and Sunday, it drew quite the crowd, especially when I had the cut-out open. I don't give much faith to these numbers but it was doing a consistent 380 RWHP and 519 TQ at 19 lbs. boost.
They're 275-50-15 I did some thinking before deciding on that size, and using the same logic as you went with the 50 series as I didn't want to kill my 3.42 gear. This is where my impatience shows, LOL If I could afford it, I'd rent the track for a day, invite all you Buick guys that want to run, t-n-t, or whatever, and have a Buick playground for the day:TU: The BPG was AWESOME! I had a blast:beer T-n-t night gets a bit aggravating, its fun, and everybody is there for the same thing, and I know everybody deserves a run or two, but it gets pretty crowded. Ok early morning rant done, off to Michaels to drop of my SP3 for the porting, happy happy:TU:
The other thing that just came to mind, when I was shifting manually, the shifts are all good, boom next gear, but it feels/sounds like it will (for a split second) auto downshift back to 2nd, then back to third. The trans only does this when I fully manual shift thru all the gears, it did the same goofy **** at Thompson, a couple months ago. If I let it auto shift 1 to 2, then hold it, and manually shift to 3rd, all is well, good clean pull. That's why I have to get my governor set where I want for WOT upshift, its ALOT more consistent than me, and the trans seems happier too.
Too much octane will slow the burn. Also your jetting will need to be adjusted from pump gas. Advancing the timing for added octane won't help if you exceed the optimum setting for the engine design.
Yes, too much octane will slow you down some. You want enough octane to prevent any detonation because if it detonates because of too much timing, or a lean condition, you probably won't hear it. The trick is to add just enough to give you a hedge against detonation. It may never detonate on the street, but when you are wide open for that long through all three gears at the track, you may need that extra edge.
Not sure how you guys drive on the street, but I never needed a dedicated 1/4 mile strip of asphalt to tune my Buick when the roads are full of them. :laugh: I'm leaning more toward a medium compression as the ideal street compression--9:1 for a 71* stock cam (6.75-7 DCR) and 89 octane. This way, octane is optimum for that compression without the risk of having nothing to upgrade to should the need arise for a jolt of octane (premium fuel) in extra hot months or towing applications, while possibly getting away with 87 octane regular (or a mix of regular/plus) in the winter months and/or gentle or long distance interstate trips. ...as opposed to maxing it out on premium with that small 'hedge' of protection (7.75-8 DCR), fine for track conditions where things are more controllable and race fuel is available should the need arise; and/or backing compression down to a 'safe' zone with premium (~7.5 DCR) on a daily driver means wasting octane and sacrificing efficiency 90% of the time... Gary
With my other motor, I would occasionally nail it without too much drama, but it would only be at WOT for a few seconds at a time. I could roll into the throttle from a stop and it would shift 2nd, turn the tire once and go. I would hear a ping or two once in awhile when I still had iron heads (9.4:1, 118 cam). When I bolted on the aluminum heads, it upped my SCR to 10.4:1, and with the 118 cam, my DCR was 7.5. I very rarely heard a ping or 2 at WOT. At the track, I mixed in 2 or 3 gallons of 110 with about 6 gallons of 93 to get up around 98 octane. With this motor, I can't nail it at all unless I have Drag Radials. I have no traction in first and second gears with regular street radials, and around here, there is ALWAYS traffic, so you can't have much fun without risking an accident or a summons. At the track, I still mix in some 110. I'd rather go a bit slower than risk ANY detonation at all. At this power level, you will hurt something being wide open for that long if it detonates.
Im not too keen anymore on street testing, a lot of hills where I live ( top of the Cuyahoga valley ) and in the Valley, the road winds a lot next to the Ohio Erie canal, a lot of motorcycle traffic on Canal rd. Its just to risky anymore. I like the track. They know what your going to do, people driving/riding on city streets don't, you also don't have to worry about an old person, kid on a bike, dog, cat or whatever pulling in front of you. 'Course I DID have a squirrel cross my lane at Super Summit and sit between the lanes at the top end of the trackou: Another plus of the track is they have all the timers and such, you know EXACTLY how your car runs/performs, no more butt dyno, LOL
I guess I was just a madman in my younger days. I found that the butt dyno was more reliable and more easily repeatable than taking it down the strip. I have a very sensitive butt. lol Not to mention partial throttle, repeated full throttle, up and down in each gear, drifting around curves and quieter mufflers allowed me to fine tune it just the way I wanted it. I don't care how it did with numbers, it was how it felt (for street use) that mattered. Running it 'hot' after extensive full throttle hot rodding taken into consideration too. (Derek accused me of being a moonshine runner) Easier to disconnect the kickdown though so you can do full throttle in lower RPMs too. You get more control that way. Once the tune is done, reconnect everything. Obviously, once power levels go beyond a certain point, you're going to need a more controlled environment within which to test and tune your machine. You can't take a jet down the interstate to measure its top speed, obviously. (Only a Buick) :grin: (though on a side-note, there was a jet-powered Buick once...) I can butt dyno tune a car that runs mid-high 12's on the street. Beyond that, it would be difficult due to the problems that Larry described. I don't like a car with more power than that. Sure it's fun, but I like a balance of power, economy, and longevity. I think I've found that sweet spot and I'm pretty happy with it. :bglasses: Peace Gary
