[79firebird_99TA]

I had been waiting all week until my son was off work so that he could be there for the 1st crank of the 400 tonight. It fired off with no problems but wouldn't stay running due to a carburator leak - possibly at the base. I didn't really get into troubleshooting.

It was lopey and strong. It was also very loud as the Hedmans are the only exhaust on it. I didn't tick off any neighbors. I actually had one walk up and introduce himself. He's a mechanic too...lol. He could here it loping all the way down the street. I had power steering fluid spewing out from a bad hose that I repaired. A brake line was leaky.

Despite the problems, it was great to finally hear her run.

[79firebird_99TA]

I had been waiting all week until my son was off work so that he could be there for the 1st crank of the 400 tonight. It fired off with no problems but wouldn't stay running due to a carburator leak - possibly at the base. I didn't really get into troubleshooting.

It was lopey and strong. It was also very loud as the Hedmans are the only exhaust on it. I didn't tick off any neighbors. I actually had one walk up and introduce himself. He's a mechanic too...lol. He could here it loping all the way down the street. I had power steering fluid spewing out from a bad hose that I repaired. A brake line was leaky.

Despite the problems, it was great to finally hear her run.

[Jeff]

I think there is (or should be) a federal law stating that all fresh motors must be fired sans exhaust system.

Get those bugs worked out and check back in with the details!

[form406]

congratulations...just got mine running as well and had a neighbor (100 yards away)get in my face about the noise after walking in my garage unannounced at 1 pm in the afternoon...headers into 3" pipes into two chamber flowmasters into pipes that cut off at the axle... i checked with local authorities and i am within my legal rights...i was stoicly diplomatic..i told him id keep him in mind when running it... (keep in mind too fricken bad your really gonna hear it now)...my landlord is in a big crew harley's...he said hed come up with a dozen friends and we could all tune are vehicles together...

[79firebird_99TA]

Ha...ha..ha.. that's funny.. about the landlord's harley - that is. But not so funny about the neighbor. At least you know you won't get kicked out or anything with your landlord liking loud toys.

[Chris C]

When I got mine running last year about this time, I took me about 3 weeks to get the exhaust installed. So naturally I had to drive it around the block so it didn't sit too long with out being started.

[nap5]

Did you also take it around the block once with no hood? I heard that was mandatory.

[Joe71T37]

79Firebird/99TransAm Glad to hear you got your engine up and running I hope you broke in your cam before you let It idle and lope. Good Luck

[79firebird_99TA]

nap5 - I did not. But I will when I get my clutch fork seated on the ball. I had trouble getting the ST-10 in and the clip must have come loose as the fork is just flopping around a bit in there. So I still have to pull the tranny back out before I'm gonna be able to drive it.

Joe71T37 - the cam was broken in 8 months ago when the engine builder finished the build. I had to baby the throttle to keep it running because of a vacuum leak.

[Joe71T37]

Glad to hear that cam was broken in...Bet she sounds Sweet!

[Brian Baker]

Feels great, doesn't it? Now get those leaks fixed and get out there and burn off a strip.

[79firebird_99TA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brian Baker:
Feels great, doesn't it? Now get those leaks fixed and get out there and burn off a strip. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It feels great. I'm guessing that I'll have over 300HP with the combo. The block is stock and the cam is a Comp Cam 270. The heads are 6x-4s and the intake is an Edelbrock Performer, which I guess is just a stock replacement. I also have Hedman headers. The carb is a good old q-jet that I pulled off of my `77 350 - which is where the heads came from. Oh ...and the rear and is a 3.08 behind a 4 speed Super T-10. Any thoughts about the HP and torque that this combo should crank out?

[79firebird_99TA]

Well...I located the source of the vacuum leak and it will now idle on it's own - for the most part. It's running a bit rough though and is missing some when reving. It's definitely lopey and sounds pretty wicked at idle.

I'm a little confused about the timing. When trying to adjust the timing, the mark on the damper was showing like 25 degrees advanced (without vacuum to the vacuum advance - of course.) I knew this couldn't be right because when I tried to retard it - it was way too sluggish. It's almost like that mark is not true on the damper. If I tried to set it by ear just to rough it in at idle - it was way too far advanced by it's inability to turn over when cranking. I saw another mark on the damper (looks makeshift) that makes me think that someone knew that the original mark was wrong - or something. The throttle response is too sluggish when setting the timing with that mark as well.

So I've got two issues: timing and running a bit rough when reving.

Could it be my spark plug gap. Should they gap at .035 which is the spec for the `72 400 or .060 which is some of the later V8s?

[form406]

sounds like you a tooth off on the timing gears..or the distributor...?...check your balancer to make sure its on correctly...ive had them crack and slip before..especially if really old....

[79firebird_99TA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by form406:
sounds like you a tooth off on the timing gears..or the distributor...?...check your balancer to make sure its on correctly...ive had them crack and slip before..especially if really old.... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Shouldn't matter on the distributor, right? I would just be out of range on being able to turn it.