What vacuum can I expect from a TA 288-94H cam?

Say you got it put away for the winter,glad to here that at least. I think they are some people on the board that can set-up your dist. ,if you are willing to pull it and send it to them. Check with Jim or Burke. Don't give-up.

 

exactly, Steve. The disappointing thing is that I thought I had answered these questions about how to make these parts work together and i missed something somewhere. It's aggravating to have to pull the trigger, and then look down the barrel of the gun to try and figure out why there was no bang! Without any testing time or ability, I'm just guessing, and that's frustrating

 

:laugh: after all this you think i'm gonna give up? I've been wrestling this car since July of '89. I force it to work

 

First off....

I think you have to degree the cam, send a 800 Qjet to John Osborne, and send a stock dist to the Ignitionman (unless you already have, I don't recall your ignition system). Wait until you get the 500 questions from John! :grin: :TU: That 4* mark doesn't mean anything. o No:

 

I understand your situation with the weather, but since you really don't know where the cam is installed...its a crapshoot.

That being saidYour combo... cam, gears, converter, doesnt sound all that far off.

But I would sell that AFB to somebody with a 350 or SB Cheby...it may drive ok but NOT the best carb for your new combo. Jusmy2cents.

Start with a proven carb, (borrow if you have to) verify the ignition curve, then degree that cam ASAP.

BTW, does your combo include headers?
Hard to take real advantage of those heads and cam with stock manifolds.

Get her in storage, step away for a few days, then come back in earnest. Good luck :TU:

 

I still think converter. Stall is important, but it could also be too tight or too loose. Your gears sound like the perfect ratio for what you want to do.
I have taken a ride in a car with a 228 duration cam that had a 2000 B&M in it, and it would leave VERY soft and then turn on at 2500-3000. It was very noticeable.
It will be interesting to see what the deal is. I read some posts on here about picking up 50 hp in timing, so maybe it's a combination of everything being a little off. Good to see you have it running at least. Good luck and keep us informed on your progress. It's interesting reading.
________
Ipad Guides

 

The AFB isn't staying on the engine. I have two 800 cfm Q-jets, one of which I will send out to John Osborne. I haven't decided which. One is old and crummy looking, the other is a brand new pro rebuild that isn't high quality.

I use 1 and 7/8" primary headers.

At the moment, I think that getting things like the ignition and carb in order are going to be best to concentrate on- I don't need to actually play with the car, I can toss some numbers around instead.

Once I get that sorted, it should be a matter of finding just where the cam needs to be.

 

Hey Chris.Good to hear it`s running good enough for the drive to storage.:TU:I think a 2500 stall would be better suited for your cam.My TA29094H is a 1500+cam and I was told from TA that a 2500 stall should be used.I used a 2000 and it works o.k. o No: A carb/dist/cam degree is a lot easier than pulling a trans for a converter swap,hopefully tuning solves it.Later,Tony.

 

Sounds like a plan...just remember to change one thing at a time.

You will find the right answers.

Hang in there! :TU:

 

Interesting is one word for it. I use a different one :laugh:

One of the reasons I went with the 2000 rpm B&M unit was it was cheap, and if it was the wrong one, I hadn't wasted 300 bucks

 

Before you put it up . Hook up a timing lite and see if you have any advance or not and if you do how much. Is it a hei or stock points?

 

Street/Strip HEI from Poston. No timing tape. I measured off on the balancer to get approximately 20* initial

 

Chris,

Do you know how much total the HEI has (assuming the advance mechanism is working)?

If it's not, you could have just 20* total.
If it has as much as 18* of mechanical in it, then you may have too much total ~ 38*

...just thinking out loud.

 

I'll have to find the card that came with the HEI. I have seen it recently...I just don't remember where. The distributor was set up for 13* initial, so if I understand that correctly, it definitely is a possible cause for some of my power loss. I'll have to find the distributor card and hash that out

 

I wish I new how to post a tread for you. There is another tread in street and stip about engine dieing while driving. Larrygs knows a guy who sets up dist. Check it out.

 

It's easy. Go to the thread, and then right click the address on the address browser bar. Select 'copy'


Then post a message here. Right click the area for your message or reply, and select 'paste'

That makes a link

Like this:http://www.msn.com/

 

like this http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/ This a web site to someone who can set-up your dist. I think he likes orginal dist. conversions, but can set-up a HEI.

 

Hey Chris I have same set up as you i spoke to mike at TA he said this cam needs comp. 9.6 or better. i have 10.3 with good heads new 850 Q-jet with 331 rear with sp400 i don't have to use high stall motor has plenty of low end.I just had carb off drilled out idle circuts and it idles great with 16 degrees on the block.Sounds like your timing or carb are way off that thing should scream.Good luck

 

I am running 10.1:1 advertised pistons- from TA Performance i made sure that when I rebuilt the engine in '99, that I was doing it as close to 1970 specs as I could, so later on, I wouldn't worry about things like low compression pistons. With those pistons and my new heads, I am in the upper 9's for compression if not at 10:1. I like to buy all my stuff from the same supplier if possible, and TA has really been the way to go for me


I really think they key to this is degreeing the cam, having the right carb, and the right ignition curve. If I need another converter, well, I'll make that decision after I know everything else is right and the car still doesn't go like a scalded cat.

I just drove it to get gas. It isn't shy about spinning the tires. The problem is basically with the tune and the cam isn't quite right just yet. With a cam like that, the power band starts at 2000 rpm, but that shouldn't rob me of bottom end so much; this is still a Buick 455 based engine.

I am always very hyper critical of work like this, when I do it. It makes me stay objective. I never think "well that's good enough", it's rather "why isn't it better"


Things to do:

adjust the rockers again, I can still hear some clatter.

Fix a coolant leak at the lower heater core fitting.

Decide what I really need for an ignition curve. My bet is that distributor setup I have is choking me at least as much as that oddball carburetor I'm running

Send out a Q-jet and have it done over, to my engine's specs

get the tool I need to turn the crank without using the crank bolt, so I an degree the cam

 

Yes, just like that
:TU:
Now you're a computer nerd :laugh: