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-   -   Two reasons to love the Pontiac Community - Shaker455HO and Len Caverly (https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=658767)

73LeMans 02-23-2011 01:28 AM

Two reasons to love the Pontiac Community - Shaker455HO and Len Caverly
 
Sent my three circuit dominator to Shaker455HO (Jeff) for a two circuit conversion and let me tell ya, I could not have spent smarter money. Not only did he do the conversion, but he hand delivered the carb back to me and then he and Len Caverly (yeah, the Engine Masters guy) together spent the next 4 hours tuning my combo on the car. Oh the carb ran great right away; that wasnt what needed the tuning. It was my distributor that was all out of whack, and they fixed it right in my own garage. Who does that??

Jeff had some idea from our conversations that my HEI may be causing some issues so he came prepared with a trunk full of tuning equipment and some custom machined bushings to straighten it all out. Sure enough, as we dove into it he discovered the HEI was taking 3-4 degrees out of the initial timing once the car was placed in gear. Fixing this cured my low rpm stall. And here I was always chasing the carb as the root of that problem. On top of that, we discovered the distributor was adding in way too much timing as the RPMs increased. This distributor had been curved some years ago and the car doesn’t see a lot of run time. I would never have thought the springs were giving up. Sure enough though, the springs in this dist were fatigued. Changing them out and modifying the curve just a tad made the car run so much better.

I dont know about you guys, but living in the big city like I do where neighbors dont talk, crime is high and people are all in it for themselves, its hard to remember that there are people out there willing to step in and help. And a day where I can learn from some guys that clearly have their heads on straight, talk Pontiacs and have fun with strangers like we've been friends for years, is a day well worth having.

So to anyone wondering if Jeff is the man to make this happen, rest assured not only will he do the job professionally, on time and with pride but he'll stand behind it all once its out there and on your car. On top of that, for two guys that know a whole hell of a lot of Pontiac knowledge, they never once came across as arrogant or pompous. Just two great guys helping out their Pontiac brethren. They’re a credit to our sport and the Pontiac marquee is better for having them.

Good to meet you Jeff. Extend the gratitude to Len again for me too, will ya? His insight into intake manifolds, engine plates and pump gas, camshafts, cylinder heads and everything else we talked about has me ready to make some changes to discover more power. We'll see each other again for that track rental. Maybe the TA will make an appearance? Be great to see it. Work on Len too – Id love for him to roll out some of Pontiac missiles.


Mark

Formulabruce 02-23-2011 02:46 AM

Jeff AND Lenny in the same place, WOW!!
Jeff tuned my car, and lenny ran some head numbers for me once on a flow bench, after which he spent days porting my old 13 heads for another competition! Jeff also alerted me to HEI issues mine had, and I was thinking carb as well.
You got some first rate attention there Mark, Grats!

shaker455 02-23-2011 06:16 AM

Mark,
We had a great time working with you and we'll hook up when your ready to run the car at NED for final tuning.

Maybe once we're done you can run it on a chasis dyno local to me and post your results?

Thanks again
Jeff

nh68gto 02-23-2011 07:55 AM

Yes two very great guys. I can't count how many times they have helped out.

BDHABT 02-23-2011 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73LeMans (Post 4246893)
Sent my three circuit dominator to Shaker455HO (Jeff) for a two circuit conversion and let me tell ya, I could not have spent smarter money. Not only did he do the conversion, but he hand delivered the carb back to me and then he and Len Caverly (yeah, the Engine Masters guy) together spent the next 4 hours tuning my combo on the car. Oh the carb ran great right away; that wasnt what needed the tuning. It was my distributor that was all out of whack, and they fixed it right in my own garage. Who does that??

Jeff had some idea from our conversations that my HEI may be causing some issues so he came prepared with a trunk full of tuning equipment and some custom machined bushings to straighten it all out. Sure enough, as we dove into it he discovered the HEI was taking 3-4 degrees out of the initial timing once the car was placed in gear. Fixing this cured my low rpm stall. And here I was always chasing the carb as the root of that problem. On top of that, we discovered the distributor was adding in way too much timing as the RPMs increased. This distributor had been curved some years ago and the car doesn’t see a lot of run time. I would never have thought the springs were giving up. Sure enough though, the springs in this dist were fatigued. Changing them out and modifying the curve just a tad made the car run so much better.

I dont know about you guys, but living in the big city like I do where neighbors dont talk, crime is high and people are all in it for themselves, its hard to remember that there are people out there willing to step in and help. And a day where I can learn from some guys that clearly have their heads on straight, talk Pontiacs and have fun with strangers like we've been friends for years, is a day well worth having.

So to anyone wondering if Jeff is the man to make this happen, rest assured not only will he do the job professionally, on time and with pride but he'll stand behind it all once its out there and on your car. On top of that, for two guys that know a whole hell of a lot of Pontiac knowledge, they never once came across as arrogant or pompous. Just two great guys helping out their Pontiac brethren. They’re a credit to our sport and the Pontiac marquee is better for having them.

Good to meet you Jeff. Extend the gratitude to Len again for me too, will ya? His insight into intake manifolds, engine plates and pump gas, camshafts, cylinder heads and everything else we talked about has me ready to make some changes to discover more power. We'll see each other again for that track rental. Maybe the TA will make an appearance? Be great to see it. Work on Len too – Id love for him to roll out some of Pontiac missiles.


Mark

This is why I ALWAYS recommend Jeff for carb work.

He spent a few hours tuning my old combo in his driveway,while running ideas by Len.

Let me tell you,the car ran awesome when done.

I`ll be sending my two Dominators up to Jeff when the new motor is closer to completion.

Cant wait to see what he can do with an all out race motor.

Johnny406 02-23-2011 10:18 PM

This is why Jeff is doing my Dominator. Of course he's invited to come over and help tune my combo.

66bonne 02-23-2011 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny406 (Post 4247793)
This is why Jeff is doing my Dominator. Of course he's invited to come over and help tune my combo.

Wonder if he'd like to come to sunny Florida ??
Always great to hear such stories about Pontiac stalwarts.

Jim

twov8sandat4 02-24-2011 09:56 AM

Jeff worked his magic on my carb also. He went above and beyond on my car. Did the wideband tuning, also working on the HEI just to make the thing work like it is supposed to.

I am glad you posted this. I have not seen him post in a while, and I thought he took a sabbatical from the hobby :( I am hoping to catch up with him someday, and with the help of Len, give my old 'bird some more oomph :cool:

73LeMans 02-24-2011 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaker455 (Post 4246936)
Mark,
We had a great time working with you and we'll hook up when your ready to run the car at NED for final tuning.

Maybe once we're done you can run it on a chasis dyno local to me and post your results?

Thanks again
Jeff

You bet Jeff. Just point me in the direction of who you like up there running the dyno and I'll set something up when the time comes. I wouldnt mind having some numbers for this setup.

RAIV-Z 02-24-2011 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73LeMans (Post 4248237)
You bet Jeff. Just point me in the direction of who you like up there running the dyno and I'll set something up when the time comes. I wouldnt mind having some numbers for this setup.

Let me know when you guys are going to put it on the dyno, I wouldn't mind tagging along.
Ed

shaker455 02-24-2011 07:24 PM

Great!
We'll head over to Kinetic:
http://www.kineticmotorworks.com/

shaker455 02-24-2011 07:27 PM

Fly-N- Tune
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 66bonne (Post 4247808)
Wonder if he'd like to come to sunny Florida ??
Always great to hear such stories about Pontiac stalwarts.

Jim

Jim,
I would be happy to come down and I offer Fly-N-Tune.

You buy me a round trip ticket and I tune your car for the weekend.

grandville455 02-24-2011 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaker455 (Post 4248436)
Jim,
I would be happy to come down and I offer Fly-N-Tune.

You buy me a round trip ticket and I tune your car for the weekend.

Deal! Bring another carb tho , Hot Air Balloon ok? :D

shaker455 02-24-2011 08:59 PM

This is not the 1860's silly guy!

Okay..Okay I'll take the balloon!

Do I get lunch????

GTOYANKEE1970 02-24-2011 09:30 PM

Winds going in the wrong direction!

shaker455 02-24-2011 11:52 PM

I better leave early then!

hectore3 02-25-2011 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73LeMans (Post 4246893)
Sent my three circuit dominator to Shaker455HO (Jeff) for a two circuit conversion and let me tell ya, I could not have spent smarter money. Not only did he do the conversion, but he hand delivered the carb back to me and then he and Len Caverly (yeah, the Engine Masters guy) together spent the next 4 hours tuning my combo on the car. Oh the carb ran great right away; that wasnt what needed the tuning. It was my distributor that was all out of whack, and they fixed it right in my own garage. Who does that??

Jeff had some idea from our conversations that my HEI may be causing some issues so he came prepared with a trunk full of tuning equipment and some custom machined bushings to straighten it all out. Sure enough, as we dove into it he discovered the HEI was taking 3-4 degrees out of the initial timing once the car was placed in gear. Fixing this cured my low rpm stall. And here I was always chasing the carb as the root of that problem. On top of that, we discovered the distributor was adding in way too much timing as the RPMs increased. This distributor had been curved some years ago and the car doesn’t see a lot of run time. I would never have thought the springs were giving up. Sure enough though, the springs in this dist were fatigued. Changing them out and modifying the curve just a tad made the car run so much better.

I dont know about you guys, but living in the big city like I do where neighbors dont talk, crime is high and people are all in it for themselves, its hard to remember that there are people out there willing to step in and help. And a day where I can learn from some guys that clearly have their heads on straight, talk Pontiacs and have fun with strangers like we've been friends for years, is a day well worth having.

So to anyone wondering if Jeff is the man to make this happen, rest assured not only will he do the job professionally, on time and with pride but he'll stand behind it all once its out there and on your car. On top of that, for two guys that know a whole hell of a lot of Pontiac knowledge, they never once came across as arrogant or pompous. Just two great guys helping out their Pontiac brethren. They’re a credit to our sport and the Pontiac marquee is better for having them.

Good to meet you Jeff. Extend the gratitude to Len again for me too, will ya? His insight into intake manifolds, engine plates and pump gas, camshafts, cylinder heads and everything else we talked about has me ready to make some changes to discover more power. We'll see each other again for that track rental. Maybe the TA will make an appearance? Be great to see it. Work on Len too – Id love for him to roll out some of Pontiac missiles.


Mark

I could not have said it any better! The main thing is that they stand behind their work and are not pompous! For a long time in this Pontiac hobby there have been many thieves and charlatans. It's great to see two guys that are stand up folks.

Jeff and Lenny helped me out with my own 428ci engine. And it's not just that they do. They are also tapped into an extensive network of like minded individuals who do bodywork,have blocks,parts etc. I'm lucky enough to live fairly close by here to those two. Bravo zulu to the both of them Lenny and Jeff. :usa2:

grandville455 02-25-2011 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaker455 (Post 4248522)
This is not the 1860's silly guy!

Okay..Okay I'll take the balloon!

Do I get lunch????

Steak and beer on me :D

johnsma22 02-25-2011 09:21 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There are only two kinds of Pontiac people. Those who Jeff has selflessly helped, and those who Jeff will eventually selflessly help, LOL! Seriously though, Jeff is one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure to meet!

shaker455 02-27-2011 11:52 AM

Thanks Guy's


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