Mark A Shields

As some may know before I left for college I took the car to the track after my cam/intake mods. Well, my first run was 16.22 and 2nd run was 15.49, my car was running kind of warm 230* on the first run.

Well, I had my brother take a look at a few things while I left for college. Turns out, the timing was off, and 2 plug wires weren't hooked up to the distributor that well, just kind of laying on the cap tips (those bronze things). How that happened I have no idea.

So, maybe a 15.49 run on 6 cylinders and timing off wasn't too bad.

rezinn

Come on Mark, it's hard to believe you couldn't tell your car wasn't running on all 8 What was your mph on those runs?

Mark A Shields

84 adn 89 mph.

My brother said they were on there good enough, that some spark should have made it thru the wire, but still I don't think it would be as strong as it could be.

Jer82Z28

What all did you do in the pits between runs? look at the engine?

the track is the perfect place to try different things to fine tune your engine (timing, jetting, fuel pressure, shift points, valve lash, etc)

get with it man!


don't forget to check your thottle linkage too.. I had mine stick at 75% for a while

Mark A Shields

I had no tools with me and he wasn't there. I figured it was running fine. guess not.

darbleinad

you ran a 15.49 with all your mods, including a good cam and you thought it was running fine????????

good ***

why dont you actually do some work on your car.

my LG4 ran 15.32, and it has the same compression as your motor (8.5:1) and stock, unported 305 heads.

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

89 MPH should be good for high 14's atleast. Something was definately wrong.

Jer82Z28

Who goes to a racing event with no tools!?!?

jcb999

my 400 only made 319hp at 5200 on the dynojet.
torque was 384. And in the process of rejetting, the "technician" stripped the fuel bowl threads on the main body.

Mark A Shields

Well, new wires on , plugs cleaned up. Timing set properly. Well, it still feels slow to me.

No4NJunk

Mark,
What was your 60'. I know that with a cam as big as the one you have and the the compression your motors got, that you've got a bad vacuum signal. this is why your torque is suffering. The cam is bleeding off all what little compression you've got at lower rpms. I bet you have real ****ty throttle response and when you rev it, it struggles to get to 5k.
Also check for a vacuum leak. Spray some carb cleaner around the manifold and see how the idle reacts to it. Did you install the cam straight up or is it retarded or advanced?

BTW-to those a**holes who know everything-Jer82Z28, darbleinad! This site is not meant for malicious criticism but rather informing and helping others with problems. Unless its helpful how about just not posting. darb-WOW.....you have a mid 15 sec 305...now thats cookin . Since your such a wise mechanic how about telling him WHY his car might be running so slow and HOW he could fix it. Jer-not everyone brings tools to the track.....why you ask............cause tools are heavy. And whats the rule of thumb about weight. DUUUHHHH.

Mark A Shields

My 60' times were like 2.333 or so. Terrible I know. The cam I believe was done straight up.
Oh yeah, the throttle response sucks. And it doesn'tt rev to freely.
Oh yeah also, sometimes if I punch it, the car will hesitate then take off.
Thanks for that comment too, I'm really bad at working on cars, it's just somethign I'm not good at, some people are mechanically inclined, I however am not. I'm good at others things, that some people aren't but I don't go around damn why don't you....

darbleinad

first of all i didnt say i have a fast 305, its not fast, its a 15 second car, which is not fast. and also i always take my tools to the track with me, but i never leave them in the car when i run. i just leave them in the pits.

as for what may be wrong....first of all make sure the timing is correct. you will likely want something in the area of 10-12 degrees base timing. you motor should be able to handle a fair amount of timing with the 8.5:1 compression. then i would look at your spark plugs, are they a nice tan colour or are they fouled or kinda like a whitish/grey (running lean), etc? your carb may need to be rejeted/richer metering rods (do edelbrock use both jets and metering rods or what...i am not really sure) to ensure the carb is feeding the motor enough fuel. to avoid bogging, you will want to make sure your secondaries are opening at the appropraite time (not too early and also you dont want them to open too late either as the motor will be starving for fuel). as NO4N Junk mentioned, that is a fairly good sized cam and maybe too big for your low compression motor and/or your torque convertor. do you have the stock convertor, cause if you do a high stall one maybe required.

Mark A Shields

It's a stock TC but from what I don't know. It was given to me when I got the tranny rebuilt.

My brother checked the plugs after the car idled for about 10 mins, and said they were clean, so it was running lean. But, he wasn't sure if that would be long enough to run it, so I'll take a look at the plug tomorrow, if I get a chance, I'm goin back to college.

I drove it up to our meet today, so that was about 150 miles on it. Damn thing took all my gas though on the trip.

johnyIROC

Check the plugs immediately after a WOT pass.

Jer82Z28

Well I guess you straightened me out :sillylol:

Some things in life require common sense.
How are we REALLY supposed to help someone diagnose a problem when he can't even verify whether his engine is running like it should?
If you don't know how, learn.

How do you expect to get the most out of your car when you refuse to try different things between runs?
Will you be happy when it just runs "ok"?
How does your brother 'know' what the timing should be at without actually testing it?
NOT tuning your car while racing at the track is an opportunity lost IMO.
no malicious critisicm intended, but here's a thought...
before racing, take your tools out to save weight..
but for the love of all Fbodies, take some tools with you!!!!

gmgod

Mark, have you checked total timing? Make sure you check this and bring it all in around 2500rpm. Shoot for around 36 degrees. Your car should not feel slow at all!

Mark A Shields

OK, so bring the rpms up to 2500 right, and how do I tell if it's 36*. I know there is a timing tab down there, but does it go up to 36? See, told you I'm not good with this stuff. Also, for that I still plug off the vacuum line to the dist.?

MetKiss316

Dude, your still running 8.5 comp with the mods you've got?

Boy, wait till you get them new heads:lala:

Mark A Shields

Yeah I know.

Oh yeah, guys, my brother did check the timing by bringing the rpms up to 2500 or so.

No4NJunk

Boy that was just soooo funny.

COMMON SENSE!! read that comment again. He obviously CAN verify his engine isn't running right or he wouldn't have posted would he.


I don't know where you race but where I do there is no where to just take out your tools. If you just leave them somewhere chances are they'll disappear. I'm not rich enough yet to have my own designated pit area!!!

Riley's35089rs+

hey mark check these out...you were looking at heads right?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1860092823

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

Try this one on for size. My last project had a 460 in it. I had this thing dipped and cleaned out and rebuilt. I put about $4,000 into this motor, basis of the package being the total Edelbrock Performer package. That bitch only dynoed at 218 HP and 335 lb/ft.

I'm talking, I did everything to it....Holley 750, Edelbrock Performer package, Ford Motorsport roller rockers, Holley high-volume fuel pump, Summit high-volume oil pickup, MSD ignition ( I mean the whole thing to ), TCI Saturday Night torque converter, I think there was more, but I forget.

And to top it all off, when it was on the dyno, I spun a bearing!

P.S.- Does anyone want to buy it from me? If your mechanically inclined, it should only be about $700 in parts to fix it. Everything else is perfect w/ the car. 1972 Lincoln Mark IV

^shameless plug^

Mark A Shields

How would I know if they're good though as in not fu(ked up.?

johnyIROC

Found the problem!

Sitting Bull

You can't tell.

Get F-Bird's heads or I'll have to come down there and swat you

Riley's35089rs+

Mark, I just wanted you to see the price range of the heads your brothers friend has..I think $500.oo is too much...these are going at a good price. As far as are they good? You have to check out peoples feedback...dishonest sellers do not stay on E-bay long. Ive had good luck with used parts...new parts are a different story. You E-mail the seller, ask them questions, you can weed out the BS...three hours left..$151.00

TomP

Hell, a few guys at Englishtown lost tools, and they were in their own pit area! I've always wanted to go with a car that wasn't racing, though... to throw my spare tire and etc in their trunk, along with an air tank..