Quote Originally Posted by techinspector1 View Post
You know, hot rodding is fun....until you add an overdrive transmission....and vary the elevation between 5000' and sea level.... The other variable is elevation. If you jet the carb for running good at 5000', the motor will go real lean at sea level, with a very real possibility of holing some pistons. If you jet it for running good at sea level, it will be hog-fat at 5000'. The obvious answer is programmable electronic fuel injection with O2 sensors in the header collectors and using a cam with a 114-116 lobe separation angle, like the OEM's do. Again, are you up for that?
Not trying to hijack, but I remember a sign at one of the real "service stations" (the kind with mechanics on duty...) back in the early '60's as we drove the road approaching Pike's Peak in Colorado, "Get Your Carburetor Adjusted Here". We were from south Missouri, elevation about 1000' ASL driving at about 6000'ASL and getting ready to be pushing 14,000'. I remember that I couldn't tell the car was running at idle at the top, as it was only turning about 250rpm, and pressing on the gas got a sloooooow ramp in rpm's, zero "snap" to the throttle. I wondered at the time how many people paid a few bucks for smaller jets to drive in the mountains, then wondered why their car ran like crap when they got back home.... We didn't stop, but I expect the mechanic told his customers to stop back in before they headed home, and he'd re-tune them back to flatland specs using the jets he removed a few days before....for another few bucks, of course.