My engine blew in my 92 camaro rs tbi. My father in law the mechanic in the family knows what he is doing but knew we were on a budget to just get things going. Well Im not happy with the power this thing puts out for a 385.
It got a holley 750 carb, dart 195cc heads, 1.5 rocker, hedman 1 5/8 shorty headers.I also have underdrive pulleys. Will be putting in a 3 series posi with 3.42 gears next week because it didnt have one. What should the fuel pressure be.(stock in tank pump connected to adjutable pressure regulator). What timing is optimal? I did notice when running premium ofcourse I get better gas mileasge bu tdoesnt seem like better performance.It idles about 1100 can or should I adjust the carb? It has a corvette converter with custom shift kit and before I put the new engine in it shifted crisp and hard. I tried to adjust the tv cable and that helped a little bit. Im hoping next week to talk him into putting in a set of 1.6 rocker to pick up a little. Thats in between putting in new springs front and back, struts up front and shocks in the back, ne w calipers up front along with bearings and cross drilled rotors and new pads, next is I bought aluminum drums and will replace everything back there,then I have a hotchkis stb, then I have an xtant amp to run the front speakers, welll front 4x6 and sail 6x9. I already have a jl audio w6 10" in the back being run by a bridged mtx amp. Then comes the window debacle which should probably come before alot of this stuff because I hate slow rolling windows. Anyway guess I got to rambling. What are some basic things I might be able to do myself? While I did help build the engine I dont have exactly a real lot of knowledge.

 

What do you have for a distributor? The total mechanical timing should be about 36 degrees with the vacuum advance disconnected.

You should expect to have to tune the carb. Jetting typically. Fuel pressure should be 4-6 psi going to the carb. Hopefully you're using a return-style regulator.

 

I have a mallory mechanical advance distributor I believe. My fuel pressure seems to be set a little low, just below 4 psi. Can give a quick guide on tuning a carb?

 

So

 

Ok I couldnt find a timing light at the moment so I tried to adjust the fuel pressure to give me an idea as to whats going on. Nothing happened. It stayed between 3 and 4 psi so either its hooked up wrong or the gauge is wacko. Any opinions?

 

Well I bought a new3 fuel pressure gauge I neeed to stick in and also bought a timing light but it was all over the place. I disconnected the vacuum from the distrubutor nut I need some technically savvee person. Anybody wanna give some input?

 

Timing all over the place doesn't sound good. You may have some ignition voltage leakage issues.

Setting the timing and tuning a Holley are pretty basic with regard to performance. You can check out the Holley website (www.holley.com) for the basics of carb tuning, or get a Holley tuning book (there are a bunch of good ones available from bookstores, amazon.com, parts stores, etc.).

If you can, get your father-in-law over to check things over with you. He should be able to show you how to properly set up the timing light and set the timing. He may or may not know about Holley tuning.

The 1.6 rockers won't do much good until the basic tuning is taken care of.

 

Not sure about igniton voltage leakage as I have a msd 6. It will get worked out sooner or later but Ive got him busy with putting my posi in with 3.42 gears. Gotta do me lca"S but I have adjustable brackets that need to be welded in. Then Im redoing all my front brakes(master cyclinder,cross drilled rotors,new calipers wheel bearing and pads.)Then for the rear brakes I bought aluminum drums, wheel cyclinders and shoes. The I bought new front speakers and an xtant amp to run them. Still need sail panel speakers but my battery is starting to go and Im just about broke cause I on disability at the moment so Im trying to sell some things I dont use anymore. Thanks for any help though.