i think my ignition might be weak. i know my car sould be faster but i can't figure out what is wrong. i know i need new headers and y-pipe but i don't think that could cause it to be so slow. i have a 455 TA that runs high 8s in the 1/8 and it's like a rocket ship compared to my Z28. i would say i would be lucky to break a 10.5. its got a stock non CC HEI. tomarow i might put some better wires on it and see what that does. other than that i think it might be cam timing. it feels almost like it falls flat on top. part throttle below 3000 it feels great but it dosn't pull on top. any ideas?

 

What's the plug gap? Coil secondary resistance?

 

the plug gap is i think around .035-.045. they are regular autolites for a 96 vortec truck engine but i closed the gap from .060 which seemed like it was a little to big. i'l pull one and check.

how do you check secondary coil resistance?

 

i just pulled a plug, the gap is .045 and it seems to be running very lean. it is very clean and the electrode is a little white. it also looks like it might have been detonating a little because it has a few little black specs on it.

the carb had 7547 rods, .98 primary jets and .101 secondary jets. i think i'm going to try 7347 rods, .101 primary and .104 secondary jets.

 

You can check the coil resistance from the secondary main tower to the engine ground. Resistance should be in the 6-9,000 ohm range, depending on the coil type you have.

Your plug gap doesn't seem excessive for an HEI, unless you're runnig a lot of compression and a stock ignition.

 

i'm running about 9.5-10:1, its got flat top pistons, 64cc chambers and .042 gaskets. i'm guessing the pistons are about .020 down because they looked pretty tight but thats just a guess.