Thread: Tune up/ final setup ?

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This i kind of a strange request, and it is aimed more for you shop mechanics and techs, but i will take advise from all that can help.Could you guys give me a pretty detailed list of things you would do if i brought my car to you and asked to tune it up, or to really dial it in.

The reason im asking is becuase my car never really seems to run super good and no matter how much i tinker with the settings it still does not seem to be in top running condition, i hear these cars at shows and they seem to run super good, like a finely tuned car should, and i cant get mine that way, so i would like to hear what you guys do, so i can copy it and learn how a pro tunes one up.


right now i have fresh plugs , wires and cap and rotor, i have not fired it yet, im gonna take the carb apart and clean it, and follow edlebrocks directions for setup in the rebuild kit. The dizzy is less than a year old, the heads are rebuilt also less than a year, its a stock 350, 74cc heads, flat top pistons, 650 edlebrock on a performer intake. what steps would you take from here? to get max performance and running condition?

thanks for the help guys.

How would i be able to do this without a scope? Or can i?

I have a standard timing light and a vacumn guage, plus i have an auto multimeter. I cant find my compression tester, so i have to borrow one, thats about it, nothing real fancy.

It seems to like around 12 degrees base timing, i start at 8, but it smooths out around 12, then when i set the mix it likes around 15 to 17 on the dial when the needle stops jumping around, but since the first day i got the carb it has ran rich. I stopped at a local garage and the guy said that there is no way an edlebrock can run rich, theres nothing in them that will cause that, i told him to tell that to my carb, cause someone forgot to give it the memo.


How do i ground out the plugs? And what am i looking for to see how hard its working? Also i do have a tach, its in the car, but i have some laying around i could hook up out of the car.

John, I took my 351 Cleveland powered Mustang to a guy who did exactly what Denny is describing, and when I left it was like an entirely different car. He was able to view each cylinder firing and read fuel mixture, etc. He set it up for the correct air/fuel mixture and spark timing. It was the best money I ever spent.

Don

Denny offered some great advice!!!! A scope is really great for a tune up. When all the cars went to plug in analyzers the scopes got really cheap! But if you don't have one IMO it's worth the $$$$ to put in on a scope withe a good operator and do the cylinder balance checks Denny described. Another thing I do (I don't have a scope either) is use an ohm meter to check the plug wires, plugs, and most everything else that has voltage going through it..... It's usually something really minor that separates a tune up from a really great tune up!

Denny said:

If I was closer, I could also show you a few other things

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Jacksonville is nice this time of year. A week's vacation could be just the ticket.

Thanks guys, Looks like i have the basics down, i just need to do a little more to really get her running good. Ill start searching the forum some more to find some tidbits of info that might point me in a good direction to try some of the stuff you guys mentioned. I got the carb back toghether last night and set it to the specs in the directions, so ill see if that helps any.