I purchased a 1987 El Camino with A350 board 30 over. It has JE Forge pistons. This is where it gets crazy from what another mechanic had told me but I'm not in touch with him any longer. The Cam that is in the motor has A502 lift and 502 go to lyft and 502 duration. I was told it was a 290 comp cam. A weird single plane manifold with an eddlebrock 600 carb. I was told I needed a higher speed stall converter. It has an 1800 in it now and had no value. It idles nice but falls on its face and can't get out of its own way. How do I select the converter and what size carb do I need. Thanks in advance AJ
Frankenstein motor
- Thread starter Ajcjr3579
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Hi AJ & all; You have found a great group for help, but you will have to acquire patients. A few things you may already know. JE pistons are expensive & usually a sign of a quality build. I would guess that you have "a 350" engine bored .030" over yielding 355" inches. Unlikely some one would retained the 4.00" bore & spent big money on JE pistons? Cams, lift is how far the valve lifts off the valve seat usually in inches .502" (a hair over a 1/2" inch). Duration is how long the valve is open either letting air-fuel in or exhaust out of the cylinder during a full turn of the lobe (circle). The intake & exhaust cam lobes don't need to be identical & often aren't. All the engine & drive line parts have to be a team to function at their best. Mis match a part or two & have a disappointment. Timing & carb tuning are the end game.
START with timing as cost is LOW & results are BIG. Learn about your distributor & how it works. How much timing can your combustion chambers support & how soon can that advance start? Then to the carb, & it has to be sized to the engine, compression ratio, intake (manifold) & intake runners (heads). At that point the cam will play a big part (how far it opens the valves). Next is the vehicle weight & finial drive ratio (rear end) that will dictate how much carb & type of carb that will perform best. And last the torque converter will have to be loose enough to let the engine idle freely at stop. Then & only then you gotta ask your self how loose do I want this converter for my type of use (street, drag, Auto-X, road course, drift) Then buy the converter. Start at the distributor, Ole' Bob.
Ps: It's impossible to have a duration of 502* as a circle only has 360*
START with timing as cost is LOW & results are BIG. Learn about your distributor & how it works. How much timing can your combustion chambers support & how soon can that advance start? Then to the carb, & it has to be sized to the engine, compression ratio, intake (manifold) & intake runners (heads). At that point the cam will play a big part (how far it opens the valves). Next is the vehicle weight & finial drive ratio (rear end) that will dictate how much carb & type of carb that will perform best. And last the torque converter will have to be loose enough to let the engine idle freely at stop. Then & only then you gotta ask your self how loose do I want this converter for my type of use (street, drag, Auto-X, road course, drift) Then buy the converter. Start at the distributor, Ole' Bob.
Ps: It's impossible to have a duration of 502* as a circle only has 360*
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