Ok, got my TH350 in and went to a 1/8th mile track. I ran SLOWER than before running a couple 10.65 passes. I noticed while driving that I seem to be starving for fuel, so I checked and my fuel pump seems weak. But I also noticed that the motors revs real slow till aorund 4500 rpm or so and then revs ALOT faster, liek it got into its powerband or something. Heres my questions:

- Is it possible to botch a cam job? I put the cam in last august and havnt really driven the car much, maybe 300 miles. I put it in according to Stekmans instructions but I think I messed up perhaps. I vaguely remember moving the crank some while installing the crank sprocket....is it possible that it messed it up? I didnt degree it either and Ive been told that may be the big problem but I went by the instructions and it didnt include a degree wheel.

- I have a 2400 stall but my car takes off at idle, like a normal convertor...is it supposed to do this? I though a stall wouldnt take off till you hit the stall speed, which is 2400 in my case.


Something is seriously wrong here...it has gotten slower and I know I have more potential. If I somehow messed up the cam job, did I perhaps mess the cam and lifters up and will have to get a new cam/lifters? any help is appreciated, Im about to dig in this week because I know something is wrong and cant stand it beingl iek this. Thanks.

 

Did you degree the cam? Sounds like its retarded... generally a 350 turbo will be slower because of the taller first gear. Especially if you are running a tall rearend ratio 3.08 ish...

 

it does have 3.08 gears right now and the th350 is a short tail tranny.

 

Ive got another problem. When I reassemble the motor last year I used the wrong timing tab I believe. Where is it supposed to go, over the top or in the 2 o'clock position? Is it the same timing tab used for the 70's SBC where its flat and not angled? thanks.

 

Good lord, sounds like you got a whole mess of problems that are not helping you any.

First off about your convertor, just cuz it's rated 2400 does not mean car wont move until 2400-BIG misconception thought by many on this board. That is the rated stall speed and many refer to it as a flash point. there is NO WAY possible to foot brake a stall convertor to it's actual "stall speed" torque multiplication will over power the brakes everytime. Best way to see what ya got, when your staged and the light turns green, floor it and see where the tach needle goes and hoovers for asplit second that will be the actual stall point. This is only good if you have 100% traction for an accurate test.

If this was just mild rebuild degreeing a cam is not a necessity, more guys are doing it now since the tools are more affordible, but for years nobody gave it a second thought and many still dont degree the cams. They simply rotate the motor to TDC, then line up the marks on the cam gear and crankshaft gear. Hopefully you used the right marks as more and more timing chains are coming with 9 way aadjustible crank gears and you could easily get screwed up as opposed to the ole cloyes cheapy rebuild unit.

Before you put on your timing pointer is is essenctial you find TRUE TDC. If you are off even 1 degree it will have adverse affects. So I'm thinking you have issues there as well. Might be better off at this point to go back, find true TDC and reailgn your timing tab and mark it when it's bolted down tight so at least that's accurate.

A 2400 stall and 3.08 gear are just not the right combination, get into at least a 3.42 and you'll start seeing benefits. I know when I had my 700r4 with 2800 stall, I switched to a TH350 and added a 3500 stall and 60's were identical, in a nut shell the TH350 gearing needs more stall to compensate lack of gear reduction you get with the 700r4's granny 1st gear.

Either way, sounds like your timing and cam phasing are to blame for most of your doggey ness. Go back and double check you got everything right and let us know what you find out. This is why I have my motors built, just dont trust myself

 

Im going to check my TDC and cam timing to make sure it is aligned right, I thought from the beginning it was the cam job and I figure its what is slowing me down. I wont degree it but everyperson has told me you HAVE to degree it...even though they've never done a cam job. Me and a buddy have pretty much concluded that it is coming in too late and is seriously retarded.

The Stall speed thing is something I thought I wa wrong about once I took it for a spin. Thanks for clarifying on that. Right now Im stuck with the 3.08 gears until I can get some 3.45's to put in it. Its going to hurt my times but I dont think it will hidner me hitting 9.5's or lower once the cam is straightened out.

Thanks for all help.

 

I used the cloyes but it has like 3 dots on the crank gear which I assumed was for retarding it or advancing it but I think those would seriously destroy a powerband if dont so on a 305, so I went to the middle one but I think the motor may have been rotated once over or even twice, putting #6 at TDC, not sure but Ill be pulling the timing chain cover off tommorrow or so to check it all out. Hopefully it can be fixed easily and I can stop getting laughed at for camming a car and slowing it down...hopefully

 

Consider running the cam a bit advanced a degree or two, this will lower the powerband and help with pulling the steeper first gear. And of course read the plugs at the end of the track, don't let the motor idle. You may also be running lean.