[mike leech]

Originally Posted by p4msi1

Slowbird and Mike, so in your experience if I left the compression alone and went with more cam, I should make the power? Are there any specific "issues" or general "issues"?

Well here goes best as i can. There could be many things that are hurting you. 1st indicator that something is really wrong is the hp per cfm on the heads. At 440 cfm with the area of the tiger head making 2 hp per cfm should not be an extraordinary feat. 880 is what i would be looking for as an acceptable number. The fact that it requires 39 deg timing is also an indicator. I've helped a couple guys sort out situations like this and heres how it goes...one of 2 directions productive or basically not. The guys who never find it are the same ones that will not actually check everything, they say things like "i know thats not it" or have too much pride to have a pro look at something. Not sayin this is you....but this is were most people are. They will live with a wrong converter or cam because they picked it or its too much work to change in the racing season. Not tooting my horn at all but i sent my converter back 5 times to get it right just this last year. So the moral is its gonna take some work to find it.
Heres what i recommend for a productive plan to find the issue...
1. verify actual static compression ratio. If you are at 13.2/1 you should most likely be beating the bearings out of that thing on pump gas. This is also where i find the most deviation from the specs i'm given at the start. really look at the deck hight and pour the combustion chamber and piston top. You need to KNOW what you have.
2. I would contact a reputable cam guy and have them design a custom cam around your combination. Keep in mind that any cam manufacturer or arm chair quater back is going to have an opinion and try to sell you something. They all think they are experts...most are salesmen trying to sell you something. I use scott at http://www.buyracingparts.com/ Most times he does what i think i would have ordered....sometimes not but the results have been consistently really good. The cam you have is not what i would have picked for your engine and goals btw.
3. Take your heads to a REALLY reputable head guy with a reputation for getting results and have him look at them. there more to it than just the flow bench number.
4. See if you can borrow a tiger or bop intake for testing from someone. Your sheet looks good but there is a lot to consider when designing one. I personally posses the fab skills to make one but would never attempt it because i care about results more than i want to prove i could do it. That said yours may be close....or it just might be 100hp off. It wouldn't be the first time.
5.ensure that all the machine work was done correctly. A bad hone/ valve job etc can kill hp.
6. after all this is done schedule a dyno session with a good operator. If the dyno is stingy even better. But you really want a good operator with a lot of experience that can shed some light if you are having issues while there. Chassis dynos are notoriously off for a lot fo reasons. A bad converter can show a miserable performance loss. They are really good at helping you find things in the car though. If it improves it was an actual improvement in other words.

I hope this helps...