So my 22r blew a head gasket a few weeks ago, and I saw this as an opportunity to buy the new head and intake manifold I have been dreaming of. Here is a list of the mods before the head gasket blew. Everything worked well, and the truck smashed down the road. LCEngineering 1 5/8'' primaries pro header, Engnbldr 270/430 cam, Weber 38DGAS, Aluminum radiator with Spal fan, LCEngineering Pro exhaust, and DUI distributor. So I purchased an Engnbldr StreetRV Head, Offenhauser C-port intake, and ARP head bolts, along with the top-end gasket set, including head gasket. After installation of everything and driving the truck again, I noticed something weird, the truck is slower than before. It accelerates hard up to the mid range, maybe 3k rpm and almost falls on its face. It acts like it has less top-end then before. I really have no clue at this point what I did to screw this install up, anyone have a clue what is wrong?
Whats the total spark advance on the distributor at high rpm? A chevy distributor can have too soft of advance weights, (or too stiff) and make the thing run like poop. Whats the base timing?
I have it at 12 degrees... I would say that is a possibility, but the DUI was installed before I changed out the head gasket and the truck ran really good. It did not start running like poop until after I changed the head gasket, installed Engnbldr head and Offy intake. I was thinking maybe not enough fuel because of the added air intake, as it felt as though it was leaning out up top, but that is not the case.
With a timing light, see how far the spark advances till it doesnt advance anymore (sometimes at 2500 rpm, sometimes more). You want to know how many degrees the distributor advances the spark totally. 38 degrees total advance is a good start (If I can remember right ). Its all very hard to explain, but simple to do. So Ill try my best. With an adjustable timing light, dial set at 38 degrees... Run the motor at a steady, IDK 3500 RPM. Now align the timing slot on the balancer to the zero mark on the oil pump. Lock her down there. Done. I just had a hunch your distribtor advance springs were too stiff (like every new HEI Id ever put on a chevy). It turns them into a different animal when you curve them properly. WAIT A MIN!!! You got the chain 1 tooth off. Thats whats wrong, you advanced the cam tens of degrees and it needs to be re-indexed. It just struck me
Ok, thank you for your advice, I will give that a try tomorrow when the rain ceases. I thought the cam timing was pretty simple to do.... #1 piston TDC, zero mark on balancer/timing cover, reinstall cam gear with dimple at 12 o'clock position, then install dizzy. Did I miss something? How would I be able to tell which way to position the cam gear one tooth?
it looks like you also stepped down on the cam profile........ you went from their slightly hotter cam to their milder low end cam...... this can also be a factor (imo) ive felt that the lce cam's always worked better in delivering a more noticeable pull and power..... but thats just me. the stage2 or "offset" cam was my favorite. the stage 3 cam needed more rpm and flow for it to work well so unless you got some mild porting, or bigger valves, the stage 3 might not do well for your app. lce vaguely states what their cams work well with but enough to give you an idea of what to run and the rpm range they work well in. as previously mentioned, you can try an adjustable cam gear to curve your power out of your cam, but if you dont like what you get from it at that point, i would try a different cam profile....
I must have mistyped earlier. I still have the same camshaft as before(270/430), the only modifications I made were with the Engnbldr StreetRV cylinder head with the over sized valves, and Offenhauser C-port intake manifold which is rated to make power from 2500-7000rpm. I think maybe my cam and intake are mismatched. The truck has a noticeable gain in low end as if the intake and new cylinder head woke up the camshaft, but now the cam is not allowing enough airflow up top, does that make any sense to you? That is just an uneducated guess
All those parts are for high rpm power and you have a small ie lower rpm cam. Dump the engnbldr cam for a higher rpm model from lce or delta and you'll have a screamer.
sorry, that was my misunderstanding. but yea...... WT is right VVV dump that cam and put in either LCE's stage 2 or stage 3 cam....... it will considerably wake up the power band up top. that was the only thing holding back mine. had the same setup as you do..... i also had a 9lb flywheel..... but right around the 5500 rpm range it flattened out....... was gonna go to a bigger cam before i sold it....
Along this same vein how do you guys change cams without swapping the head gasket? I drain the coolant and put a ratchet strap under the engine from intake to exhaust and crank it down TIGHT to keep the head from shifting. It seems to work so far, jut wondering if anyone else has any successful methods.
Well, when I swapped to the Engnbldr cam, I drained the coolant, but did not use the ratchet strap. I only got maybe 15k miles more out of the engine before the HG blew, so hopefully your method works better than mine I mean, the engine only had a total of 35k on it when it blew, so someone did something wrong Either the previous owner did not rebuild it correctly, or i pinched the HG when I tightened the head back down. I now have the ARP head studs in at 90 ft-lbs, so hopefully everything stays buttoned up a bit longer when I rev the piss out of the truck. Thank you guys for your advice, I am ordering the cam now, I cant wait to see the difference.
