Well today I determined that my fuel pump(brand new summit brand maybe a Holley in reality) is only putting out 3-4 psi at WOT.I am suspecting this is why my truck hasnt been running properly. I built a 351W that went 0.30 over forged pistons,fully balanced lower end, full roller top end, windsor senior heads, 202-160 valves, 200 cc intake runners, 64 cc combustion chambers, 64 cc exhaust ports, a nice off road cam, edelbrock performer dual plane intake and 1406 edelbrock performer 600 cfm 4bbl carb,short tube headers, true duals with no cats, MSD ignition module, blaster coil, and pro comp distributor. So far this motor wont even begin to sqeal the tires. I have been having issues with the carb and the secondaries not opening properly. However, I have been borrowing my neighbors 1406 tthat has nothing wrong with it and it still wont bring the kind of power this truck should be laying down in my opinion.

Am I asking too much for this engine set up? Is it really not performing like it should? It wont even pin you back in the seat. I think something isnt right.

 

Seems odd....that should have plenty of giddy up for sure!!

I'm assuming you broke it in on first start up?

 

3 to 4 psi should be enough. If you were not getting enough fuel, you should still be able to let it idle and fill up the bowls in the carb, and then it should perform well until it used all the fuel out of the carb. It's the fuel pumps job to keep the bowls full, and so long as it does that, the fuel pressure doesn't matter that much.

 

Assuming everything internal is ok, valve timing mainly, then it has to come down to ingnition and fuel right.

Since you've put a carb on that is known to work well it seems to come down to ignition.

Timing is set correctly
Vacuum advance connected correctly and is actually advancing the timing
have a good strong spark from the new ignition system with new coil
spark plug wires connected in correct firing order

might be worth doing a compression test to make sure your rings got seated properly and your valves are sealing.

Connect a vacuum gage to the intake and see what you have there...that can certainly tell you a lot

 

Isn't there also the mechanical advance?

 

What are you doing on Friday? We are leaving Sat morn early, so can't go late, but let's do a leak-down test on it. That'll let us know if the valves are seating and sealing, that the rings have sealed, and the head gaskets aren't leaking. Further, if there is a concern about the fuel pump we can put one of mine on.

And, I'll PM you about the oil.

 

I think I could be free all day or at least by 10:00 AM friday. I am curious as to how it would do with a leak down test. The best I know is the new engine has around 200-250 miles on it. I think I still see some blow by coming from the oil fill in the valve cover when its running. So possibly the rings arent quite sealed yet. Also I keep having a re occuring issue with the radiator cap. I dont know if the radiator has a funny fill neck or what. However, the cap keeps coming off and spraying coolant all over the motor. I was beginning to wonder if the radiator was getting pressured up by the engine or something serious like that.

I did a test on the cooling system. I pumped it up yo about 16 psi and the cooling system held that for at least 15 minutes. I would think if it was getting some by pass pressure from the engine that would blow the cap off then surely it wouldnt hold pressure like that .

 

Let's plan on Friday. As for the radiator cap, it should cam into the neck such that it has to be depressed to come of. You shouldn't be able to blow it loose, and to blow it off would take lots of pressure.

Did you get any further on the 1406 tonight?

 

We cut off another piece of the gay bar. I think we whooped that issue. I am still having trouble trying to understand the running out of gas issue before I put it back on b/c the other 1406 pulls strong through 2nd into 3rd. I jumped on the hwy and really flogged it. You could hear these secondaries opening as well as feel it. I let it shift into Drive and stayed in it to see if it would quit, but , it didnt. I shut it down around 90-95 because it was getting silly fast and I didnt want to explain that to the OHP.

That carb used to be his cousins on an old Malibu. James said he had complete metering rod and jet kit for the Edelbrocks. So I am wondering if his jets are bigger than mine. Like his keeps enough fuel coming in to satisfy it. I dont know there is something different. Gary you messed with the floats. I am sure if something looked strange or not correct in there you would have noticed it.

I will bring my carb and still have James's on there so we can look at both of them to compare.

I still think that stupid fuel pump is hurting me somehow. I ordered a bigger Edelbrock pump . I think it was rated at 130 gals per minute at 10psi. Where this Summit pump is rated at 8 psi and delivering 110 gals per minute. It was $30.00 more than the one I had and it is still under warranty . Summit said they would give me my cost of their pump plus shipping back. Maybe it will be here before Fri and I can start fresh with that one.

 

We can check the jetting on both carbs, as well as the metering rods. Maybe you could borrow the track kit (the jets and rods) from James so if we do find a problem we can make yours match his. And, there are different needle/seat assemblies for those carbs, so we can check them.

Sounds like there's no real need to do a leak-down test, although we can if you want. But if it is running that strong with James' carb then we know where to look.

 

He doesnt have posession of the kit. I wish he did though. I dont know how available the parts are for the carb,but , I bet someone in town has them. If it comes down to it we can use the ones James's carb and just replace them later. It's just sitting on a motor he doesnt have a car for yet.

 

Oh, ok. That'll work. By the way, I have a book entitled "How to Rebuild and Modify Carter/Edelbrock Carburetors". We can cheat.

 

Grand prix and car & fleet would be the 2 places in town most likely to have edelbrock bits in stock. O'reilly can get them, and may even have some in stock at the 46th/memorial location.
Summit would be the cheapest place to order the "calibration kit".

Going to ask a seemingly dumb question, but what type of fittings came with the fuel pump? Running a 3/8" or even 1/2" ID fuel hose to a fitting that screws into a 1/4" NPT port, only leaves a 1/4" ID for fuel to flow thru......

 

RW - That's true about the fittings, but I think James' carb is being fed by the same fittings as Bruno's is. And the problem follows the carb, not the engine, fuel pump, or fittings. At least that's my understanding of the words I'm reading.

Bruno - Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

One thing that hurts the "off the line" power, is the tire size. Seems like they were 31-33" "off road" tires. Which brings up the next question, 3.08 or 3.55 axles?