My engine is finally done...WOW!!!

Larry,

It is a Marshall, liquid filled gauge. On the way home, I stopped at a friend of mine's house in my subdivision. I noticed my original gauge was leaking fuel. He let me use his, that was on his small block Chevy. That is the one I am using. It reads 10lbs at idle, same as the non liquid filled I had, that leaked. I will fire it up tomorow and check it cold. Can I run a regulator, between my filter and the carb, without mounting it on the fender? I really don't want to go that route. I am thinking of throwing a regular style vacuum/fuel pressure gauge on it over the weekend, to see what it says. Thanks for the help.

Regards, John.

 

Larry, I am thinking that I have some sort of obstruction, or kink in my return line. Or, my 1/4 inch return line is too small to do its job, with this pump.

Regards, John.o No:

 

Jim,

I have had two different "Marshall" fuel gauges on the car, both pointed to 10lbs. One was liquid filled, one was not. I will remove the gauge and put a "Lisle" traditional vacuum/fuel pressure gauge on the car this weekend. I will let you know what it tells me.

I will also remove the return line, first, and run it to a can, and look for a changre in pressure, in my current set up. I will also look for fuel vapor rising out of the carb, on shut down.

I have never had air blowing out of the gas cap, ever. It is not a vented cap.

I am not sure the 2 dyno sheets I have, are going to be much help. Fuel pressure on one reads .1, all the way thru the run, w/fuel lbs per hour @ 2.972, all the way thru.

The second sheet says, fuel psi .4 all the way thru and fuel lbs/hour @ 2.404, for most of the run.

As far as the timing, I will put my electronic timing light on it, and let you know what rpm it is at total advance, and the total advance number.

If this does not work, I will bypass the mechanical, and plumb the Mallory in, by itself and see what the numbers are. Thanks again for all you personal attention. I am just a nobody, but REALLY, REALLY appreciate your interest in my car! Thanks again Jim!

Regards, John.

 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your kind words. I would love to go to the track, but I think I need to work some issues out first. I am sure you will have issues, not my issues, but issues of your own. Take your time, and ask for advice, I am sure you will get everything sorted out.

regards, John.:TU:

 

Ok. This info is leading me to believe the pump or return line my be the problem like Mike said. Running the return line into a bucket will do the trick.

Always a good thing to keep an eye on with a new setup. Sometimes you might have a carb leak, but what this really tells you about is fuel pressure.

On my 70, the rear of the tank is vented with two lines coming off the tank and going up to the plastic vent mounted to the trunk pan up under the car. I see you have a 70, so you must have the same setup. Good.

Here is something easy to do that you might already know about. Say you want 36 degrees total timing in the engine. First, check to see if Mike marked your balancer at the 30 degree mark. If not, and if you are using a stock balancer, get a timing tape strip from the parts house. They cost a couple bucks. Find the 0 degrees mark on your stock harmonic balancer, and using your timing tape find the 30 degree mark on the balancer. When you find the 30 degree mark, take a small file and mark the balancer at 30 degrees. Then take a small paint brush and paint this new mark to make it easy to identify while setting the timing with your timing light. Now, when you set the timing, bring the rpm up to say 2500 (full advance will be in by then), and put the 30 degree mark on your balancer at the 6 degree timing mark on your timing tab. You will then have 36 degrees total timing in the engine. This is best, because you dont drive the car at idle, so who cares where the timing is at idle.

Your welcome. I have a personal interest in Wildcat Racing Engines, so I want to see this engine run well, as Mike is a close friend.

Isnt horsepower fun?!? ou: Dont sweat it. These things happen with new combos. Especially new combos that make good power like yours does. EVERYTHING changes. ou: Trust me, I have been where you are now, but once you get the small problems out of the way, its gonna run awesome. I think you are going to be surprised at the track numbers when the weather is cool.

Well who the heck do you think I am? :laugh:

 

Hi Jim,

I did a few tests tonight, and these are my findings:

My fuel pressure started out at 10lbs cold. By the time I ran it for some time, in the garage, it lowered itself, to between 8 and 9lbs. It seems the warmer it gets, the lower the pressure gets. (At least for today.) When I cracked the throttle, it lowered itself to 7 to 6 lbs. It seems as though my obstruction may be relieving itself?

My idle is rough. At first, I thought it could be a vacuum leak. I am begining to think, I am retarded, on the initial timing. My idle rpm is 750 to 820, or so, back and forth. It smells rich. Mike put painted timing marks on the zero, of the timing tab, and 36*, on the SFI balancer. I am having a bit of a problem establishing the initial timing. I would assume, that I would want it to be in the 20* range, at idle, with this cam. It hangs well below the zero mark, on the timing tab at idle. When I rev the motor up, it reaches 36* total timing, but at way too high an rpm. Over 2800, more like 3200.

It looks like I have the correct total advance, but don't have it in early enough. I don't think that I have enough initial timing as well. I am affraid to just advance the distributor, as it will most likely over advance my total number.

I think what I need to do, is to find the zero mark on my balancer, and mark it. Then I can use this, to find my initial timing. Although, it will not help me to recurve my distributor, since I have no paperwork about it from Mike. I do not know how to set my distributor up. I guess I should call MSD, and ask for an instruction sheet for the distributor.

By the way, my vacuum is 9-10 inches, at idle. That is why I think I am running retarded. I will stop for now and wait for your advice. I will still check the return line, tomorrow night.

Regards, John.ou:

 

Oh, by the way, I do not see any steam rising from the carb, when the car is warmed up and shut off. If I blow on the carb, some very light smoke will rise, from the bottom of the carb. I don't think this is what you are looking for? I cannot explain why things have slightly changed, but I will be changing the oil and filter tomorrow, just to be safe! I have plenty of Delo 400, 15w40, and G.M., "E.O.S." oil suppliment, and will continue to frequently change my oil.
I cannot thank you enough Jim Rodgers!!!

Regards, John.

P.S. I was the one who was asking you, about how you mounted your torque strap on your awesome red GS, at the GS Nationals. Thought I should do the same some day.

 

John:

You'll want to limit the mechanical advance in the distributor and quicken the rate with the springs (lighter springs and/or heavier weights). If you limit total to 34 to 35 degrees which I think your engine would run best at (the dyno sheet from Mike will show total timing at each rpm check point) then you would want only 10 degrees of mechanical timing in the distributor. That will leave you with around 24 to 25 degrees initial. I think you have the 8552 dist. I'm at work right now so no paperwork, but I also have that dist. for Jim Dillons car yet to be installed. I can check the paperwork later today after work but the MSD website will have that info. available.

On your trans shift points. As was mentioned you can swap the governors out or just modify the weights and springs of the current governor. Part throttle upshifts are handled by the vacuum modulator, WOT throttle upshifts by the governor (since there is little to no vacuum). I'd guess you're still building decent power in the upper 5K area pretty easily. Shift points of 5,800 with that cam and setup should put a bigger grin on your face. You'll be leaving some power untapped by shifting at 5,300. Take a look at the dyno sheet. Lots of info. that will help answer many questions to get you started in the fine tuning dept. (timing, shift points, jetting and carb tuning)
Out of curiosity, what are the BSFC #'s?

 

Thanks Larry,

I did not receive any bushings, springs, or instructions. When I figure out where I am, I will get a kit from MSD.

Regards, John.

 

Hi Dave,

I have the #8552 distributor. The BSFC1 #'s are as follows: Heading: BSFC1 1lb/hphr. .006, till 4700 rpm, then .005 the rest of the way. My other pull reads: .005 untill 4600rpm, then .004 the rest of the way. I hope this is the info you were looking for? When I find out what my initial timing is, I will let you know. It looks as though I need to order an advance curve kit. Can I do this on the car, or do I have to remove the distributor to do it? Is it pretty straight forward?

Regards, John.:TU:

 

O.k., here are some updates. It appears that my initial timing is at the 20* to 22* mark. Garage was dark last night, hard to see. My advance curve, is still in question. I do not want to run this engine anymore, untill I get the fuel regulated, and the elecrtic pusher pump installed. I believe my idle problems could be due to partially washing the cylinders down, due to excessive fuel pressure. I may have lost vacuum due to this? I talked to Mike, from Wildcat today, and he seemed to think that it would be o.k., provided I got the fuel pressure fixed. Fuel pressure is still high, went back up to 11, to 10lbs, and fluctuating, even with the liquid filled gauge. I did not warm the engine up as much as last night, because, I do not want to put any more gas in the oil. Will post again, when I get my fuel issues fixed. Happy Fathers Day to all.

Regards, John.o No:

 

Put a new Holley regulator on the fuel line. I thought it was easier to regulate the pressure, than find a problem, that I could not solve. (Like the return line is too small etc. Fuel pressure cold, is 7 1/2lbs. If it heats up, with the liquid filled guage, it drops. I will set it cold. Idle smoothed out as well. even dropped some rpm. May need to bump it up. The overall look in the engine has changed, it is not as clean looking. I have to accept what I must have, to run the car. I will post some new pics. It is, what it is, maybe I can figure out something in the months to come. I move on from here.

Regards, John.

 

Pics.

 

Once small step at at time. Worry about what it looks like over the winter.
Get it running and reliable so you can have some fun this summer.

 

You are right Bill!

I have set my fuel pressure, on the new regulator, 3 times. I set it cold, with the liquid filled gauge, to 7 -8lbs. When it warms up, and the heater hose gets hot, I lose about 3lbs of pressure on the gauge. Next week, I am going to go back to a non-liquid filled gauge, and set it and forget it! Since I installed the pressure regulator, I no longer have the needle fluctuation, but I do have the pressure changes. Anyone have a similar experience? I Need to install the electric pusher pump, and head to the strip. After I make a few runs, I will be switching to my new 8.5, 10 bolt 3.73. I will post some times, with the 8.2, 10 bolt, 3.64, in the interum.

Regards, John.ou:

 

I have a new robmc pump. Rated to 550hp. I get needle fluctuation sometimes as well. Mine will bounce between 3 and 6 psi actually more than it is stable. Power has never fallen off at the track at wot. Probally will also add a pusher pump too. Get it running and enjoy it. Get the other parts on hand ready for a rainy weekend, do the little things then.:TU: Matt

 

John - is that your #'s matching rear ?? If so - and you know how hard parts are to find for the 8.2 rears you may want to forego beating it up on the track. I puked 2 of them getting stranded at the track both times

... not fun and I wouldn't wnat you to have to go through it AND waiste your #'s rear at the same time o No: