Steve Shauger's "Reliving My Youth" 1969 Z/28

[Steve Shauger]

I just installed the headers, radiator hoses & filled, distributor and oil primed the engine (since it sat for 5 months). Upon startup the rear on carb stuck and I shut it down. I was inspecting for leaks and found the fuel pump weep hole had fuel leaking out. Installed new pump and tapped on the carb rear float housing and she started up and ran at 1700 rpm for 10 minutes.

The rub is the engine has about 11 in of vacuum which make it difficult to tune the idle circuit, and the power brakes are not operating correctly. This is a pretty stout cam but it was dialed in before the rebuild with no issues. I am going to play with initial advance and may loosen the lash. It does sounds more radical than before so think the lifter lash may be a little tight. The car performs well at RPMs above 1500. Low oil pressure and vibration has been corrected. I will keep you posted

[cruiserofland]

Originally Posted by Steve Shauger

I just installed the headers, radiator hoses & filled, distributor and oil primed the engine (since it sat for 5 months). Upon startup the rear on carb stuck and I shut it down. I was inspecting for leaks and found the fuel pump weep hole had fuel leaking out. Installed new pump and tapped on the carb rear float housing and she started up and ran at 1700 rpm for 10 minutes.

The rub is the engine has about 11 in of vacuum which make it difficult to tune the idle circuit, and the power brakes are not operating correctly. This is a pretty stout cam but it was dialed in before the rebuild with no issues. I am going to play with initial advance and may loosen the lash. It does sounds more radical than before so think the lifter lash may be a little tight. The car performs well at RPMs above 1500. Low oil pressure and vibration has been corrected. I will keep you posted

Steve, might I ask at what RPM is it making 11 inches? My previous owner had the idle at 750, and when I dialed up to 950 hot it helped a lot with stable idle and the power brakes (though I have the mild 30/30 cam and .030”/.030” lash). I also did not make enough vacuum when I tried .026”/.026”.

[Steve Shauger]

Originally Posted by cruiserofland

Steve, might I ask at what RPM is it making 11 inches? My previous owner had the idle at 750, and when I dialed up to 950 hot it helped a lot with stable idle and the power brakes (though I have the mild 30/30 cam and .030”/.030” lash). I also did not make enough vacuum when I tried .026”/.026”.

RPM is 1100. I connected manifold vacuum to vacuum advance and idle is now stable. This is not fixing the root cause, but car runs perfect now. I'm going to verify the PCV is not the low vacuum source. If all else fails I will increase the valve lash which is now 16 &18 to 20 & 22.