Engine Help

[rohrt]

I would ask on a pontiac site weather or not to change the index. I would say leave it strait up but I'm sure it depends on Engine, Mods and how you plan on driving it.

[rohrt]

http://www.thepontiactransampage.com...blueprint.html

I happended accross this page. It talks about installing the 068 cam for performance. Many other things mentioned that relate to this post.

[Jeremy]

I got the front of the motor pulled apart today and the chain has more than an inch of slack in it. The dots on the sprockets show that the cam is about 20 degrees retarded.

The crank dot is at the top and the balancer mark was at 0 when I pulled things apart. At least this was spot on.

Thanks for the pontiac website, it had a lot of good info. One person on a pontiac board recommended straight up, but the link you gave makes 4 deg advanced look real good, although it will probably put me closer to detonation.

It took less than an hour to strip the front of the motor, but it will take a lot longer to put it back together. Since it is apart all the pulleys, accessories, brackets, etc will be re finished.

[MonzaRacer]

I like Pontiacs and for the record I would use the 4 deg advanced as it will give you more lower end torqe as it will build cylinder preasure.
Get the engine up on # 1 and set the timing at the 12 to 14 intial timing.
I like to use stock advance weights and then swap in lighter springs till you get the curve all in by your cruis RPM, this works best if you can source an advance type timing light.
With a advance curve kit I never use the new weights or plate. With 6X heads you need all the help you can get I would also go back to the 750 if its ok.
I then get my mixture set in drive idling then hook up your vacuum advance to manifold vacuum and then reset your idle speed in gear and readjust the idle mixture too .
Then give it a drive i will bet you will love it.
As long as your not spark knocking and its pulling hard your not gonna hurt a Pontiac, Drove mine this way for over 5 years and got some great mileage too for my full size car.
The 6X is an open chamber head with good flow and very efficient chamber and since all Pontiacs have machined chambers they are very knock resistant.
Any questions pm or email me at [email protected].
Good Luck
Lee Abel
AFTERMARKET PERFORMANCE

[Jeremy]

I got the timing set today and it is not a three way set. I am not sure if I will take it back and order a three way or not.

As for carbs the 750 is good, just dirty. I'll probably try the 600 for a while and see how it does. I checked all of the CFM calculators and according to the formulas is is plenty big. I understand that they are guidelines, but I hope to pick up some throttle response and gas mileage. Of course I realize it won't be a fair comparison as the 750 was running on a loose chain.

[rohrt]

You may want to consider going back to the Q-jet if you are wanting a little better milage and still keep your power. The Q-jet is kind of like wearing a Mullet. Buisness in the front and party in the back. Nothing wrong with using a diffrent carb but it sounds like a Q-jet would work well with your application. I had a 600CFM on a 400 a long time back and it ran great, instant throtle response.

[rohrt]

Funny I just ran into your other post about the carb. Didn't realize it was and Edelbrock. It is the worst carb in the world IMO. I had a 750 with a calibration kit and tried for a long time to get it work well. Never had any luck. My brother and I both sold our on Ebay. If your is a newer one with the quick tune feature then thats a diffrent story. My .02 cents is still with a q-jet and find out from someone who has dialed theirs in and use the same rod/jet combo. Then all you have to do is set the idle screw and the sencondary flap opening and run it like you stole it.

[Jeremy]

I would love a Cliff built q jet but this little fiasco has used up all of my car money for the summer. I've been pretty pleased with the edelbrock carbs so I'll see how that goes once everything is back up and running.

I pulled the old set today and realigned the cam. I think I should be in great shape. When I went to line up the dots I used a level and it hit the dots and the center of the cam perfectly and the level was spot on verticle.

Hopefully by the middle of next week I will have it running. It is taking longer to get everything prepped to go to the paint shop and I am still waiting on some new dress up items anyway.

I would hit it this weekend but I have to go to the in laws.

[malihoochie]

I think you'll be back in business in no time.

[Jim Nilsen]

You will think you have a totally different car!!

Power will be up ,throttle response will be crisp and your mileage will be lots better too!!!

Have fun, you are now close so don't go changing too much until it is telling you to replace it still.

[Jeremy]

I don't plan on replacing/changing anything else. I just can't believe how much was in poor shape, particularly since I rebuilt the car 6-7 years ago. Of course, that is the risk you run with rebuilding old parts.

The fact that the car ran halfway decent with a froze distributor, cracked intake and stretched timing chain is amazing.

I got all of the pulleys and brackets stripped today and will drop them off at the paint shop this afternoon. I had painted them with rattle can and they looked okay. I am going to have them shoot them with some better paint at probably 80% gloss. It should make things look much nicer.

With the new intake, new carb, new distributor, chrome waterneck, new chrome valve covers, and fresh pulleys and brackets the motor should look great. Off course I am painting the waterpump housing and the front of the block as well.

[Jeremy]

Its alive!!!

Thanks to all those that helped. I got it put back together today and it looks great and fired right up once gas got back to the carb.

I really like the 600 carb around town. It is much more responsive. It is also a lot more responsive to metering rod changes.

I also pulled a while I was at it and got new chrome valve covers, chrome water outlet, and had the body shop repaint all of the pulleys, brackets, etc. It looks better than before.