I recently bought a 1986 camaro z28 with a 350 vortech motor with all edelbrock parts. But here is the problem. when i first bought it it was at a car auction and some people did not think it was running right so they kept turning the distributor. I bought it and the guy said the time was off. when your going down the highway and you stop and try to floor it. it will spin the tires but it won accelerate that fast. Like its not realesing all of its power. and you can tell just by listening the timing is off. Could it be the timing off bad to keep it from accelerating or could it be the carberater?

Thanks to all who reply!

 

You will need to get the car timed correctly. An incorrect timeing will have an affect on how the car handles. Is the car back firing at all?

 

Welcome aboard.

First, I need to understand what you mean by "vortech". Do you mean factory "Vortec" type heads, or it has a "Vortech" supercharger? My guess would be the former, but it's important to know.

Next, what do you mean by "all Edelbrock parts"? Induction? Heads? Exhaust? I'll assume you mean carb, intake manifold, and perhaps heads and exhaust.

Now, assuming we're not talking about a computer controlled system, do you know what type of distributor it has on it? It's not unheard of for someone to change over everything else but leave the computer controlled distributor on. Does the distributor have a vacuum advance can on the outside?

The only way to know if the timing is set properly is to check it with a timing light. If you don't have a timing light, now is a good time to go get one.

If you can provide the info requested above, we might be able to help determine if there is a "problem" or not. Being able to turn the tires and not have much power isn't all that uncommon, though (such as a stock LG4 set-up).

 

I took it to a mechanic. He could not tell me what the motor was but he did time it for me to a basic 350 and he figured out that the carb needed to be rebuilt or a new one needs to be purchased. He also said that it needed new spark plug wires and new spark plugs. But right now with the timing better it will get up and go! I cant emagine what a new carb would do to it.

Also it has edelbrock heads,valve covers,intake manifold and carb(which is really worn out). He said it is sucking air in threw the bar wich goes threw the carb to the accerlator cable.

but what will any carb fit the edelbrock intake manifold and if it has been bored out and if it has a crank in it if the timing is off just a little will that hurt the motor?

Thanks to all who reply!