400 upgrade
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From: Bozeman, MT
400 upgrade
I have a rebuilt 400 bored 40 over with a 600cfm edelbrock carb, edelbrock intake, new 2.5" exhaust, 9.5 compression pistons (supposedly), timing chain, and other little stuff. The shop I bought the engine from said it had a "cleveland" cam but couldn't tell me and specifics on it. My question is this: it doesn't feel like this engine has tons of power. it doesn't smoke the tires by any means. could an incorrect cam be robbing me? Now to the fun stuff, I plan on upgrading my engine further this summer by adding a "correct" cam, roller lifters and rockers, and a double roller timing chain. Will this bring out the true potential in this engine? Am I forgetting anything?
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From: chicago burbs
what's the timing set at?
what trans, gears, tire size... what's it in? 4x4?
stock setting the timing alone can turn a monster into a wimp. a little too much cam and you're into stall converter territory. moderate cam, not enough gear and big tires in a heavy vehicle... dog. it's about matching and tuning the entire combo
what trans, gears, tire size... what's it in? 4x4?
stock setting the timing alone can turn a monster into a wimp. a little too much cam and you're into stall converter territory. moderate cam, not enough gear and big tires in a heavy vehicle... dog. it's about matching and tuning the entire combo
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From: Bozeman, MT
I'm not sure what the timing is set at, the mechanic shop set the timing. It has 3.50 gears with a C6 auto and has 31X10.50 tires but I am going to put 33X12.50 on it this summer. And yes it's a 4X4. For some reason I want to say that the mechanic shop retarded the timing 6 degrees but I'm not sure...
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From: chicago burbs
i'd say that you should find out more details about what you have now and how it's tuned before worrying about changing anything.
i'd set the timing at 12* or 14* and see how it reacts, timing could make all the difference. you also need to watch the total, and how fast it pulls in. big heavy 4X's don't like too fast of an ignition curve, could be the reason the guy dialed the timing back some causing sluggish performance
once you find out what cam it has in it and if you decide that it's too much, changing to a smaller cam would be cheaper than changing the stall and gears
i'd set the timing at 12* or 14* and see how it reacts, timing could make all the difference. you also need to watch the total, and how fast it pulls in. big heavy 4X's don't like too fast of an ignition curve, could be the reason the guy dialed the timing back some causing sluggish performance
once you find out what cam it has in it and if you decide that it's too much, changing to a smaller cam would be cheaper than changing the stall and gears
