383 doing some strange things

[bricejones41]

i had fuel pressure issues earlier, i just went to electric fuel pump, this was my first time driving it with the new holley 750 carb, and no fuel supply issues. the first thing is, 1 the port vacuum, where i plug the vacuum advance has like 10lbs of vacuum at idle, then when i hit the gas it drops to 0 then goes back up to like 20 (i hooked that hose to a vacuum gauge instead of the distributor to find those numbers) which causes an AWFUL studer when i hit it, so i tried driving it with that just plugged, and 2 when i hit it from a standstill it acts as if there is a rev limiter at 4k. 3 i took the air filter off and revved it and the vacuum secondaries of the carb weren't even opening. 4 lastly there were fumes/steam coming out of the oil filler cap when i opened it, the fumes smelt like gas, but faint enough that i might have been smelling the carb.
sorry to ask so much, but in your answers just put the number of the broblem you are refering to, just to make things simpler
here are some specs of the engine

scat strocker kit with cast 9000 series crank, forged pistons and i beam rods
the cam is a crower 234 int./246 exh at .050 Lift .497/.502
the heads are dart aluminum shp 200cc
it measured out to 10.4:1 cr
elderbrock performer intake
turbo 350 tranny,3200 stall
holley 750
stock ignition with new cap and rotor

 

[JONESYFXR]

What balancer are you using? I had the same issue with a 350 I was working on.....ended up it had a 305 balancer. The 305 had a timing pointer at 12 o'clock and the 350 has one at 2 o'clock. Ended up the timing was waaaaaaaay off.

So I had to pull #1 plug, then used a piece of wire to locate TDC while turning over the engine by hand. I marked the balancer at 0. Then I painted a mark to time it. Now the car runs great with no issues.

Hope this helps!

 

[bricejones41]

Well, I'm not sure of the timing because, it is a different ballencer that won't fit the marker, so I mocked it up, and marked it so I have idea where it is, and I adjusted it to where it was hard starting, then backed it off till it was kinda poping out the carb(so too reatarded) then I found a good median where it starts good, and idles good and according to my ghetto marking it should be about 14 degrees initial.
Ill look into that, but my other questions still remain.
Any ideas?

 

[dui's Z]

What balancer are you using? I had the same issue with a 350 I was working on.....ended up it had a 305 balancer. The 305 had a timing pointer at 12 o'clock and the 350 has one at 2 o'clock. Ended up the timing was waaaaaaaay off.

So I had to pull #1 plug, then used a piece of wire to locate TDC while turning over the engine by hand. I marked the balancer at 0. Then I painted a mark to time it. Now the car runs great with no issues.

Hope this helps!

I second, start with the obvious than proceed. Without an accurate timming pointer and light you have no idea where your timmings at. IMO

 

[bricejones41]

well, i just put a pointer on it and used a timing light, it is at 12dergees initial, which isnt bad, but the other problems (stumbling, and craping out at 4k) might be due to the fact that the vacuum advance still isnt hooked up, because it is being very weird about the vacuum, it could also be because the vaccum secondaries arent opening... when just revving it they should open right?

 

[JONESYFXR]

I'm saying this from personal experience. The 350 I worked on was doing EXACTLY the same vacuum issue yours was. That's why I re-timed the engine by hand and re-marked the balancer. Now the car runs great.

Not that I'm saying you are......but I never cut a corner or take the easy way out, especially when dialing in a engine. I'd personally re-time the engine as I described and start from scratch....something isn't right and if you keep driving the car as is, you may make things worse.

Just my .02.

Good luck!

 

[bricejones41]

oh ok thanks, ill give that a shot. what you are saying is that the notch could literally just be in the wrong place and i should find tdc, and if it isnt there then i should mark the ballencer and do the timing from there. right?, but also how much damage could i have been doing to it? the problem wasnt evident during break in, because i was going so easy on it i couldnt tell that it was all funky. i never let it overheat past 230 because of aluminum heads and iron block, i just killed the engine, but a few times it wanted to overheat. that could probably be related to awful timing?

 

[bricejones41]

well, i checked that, and the mark was right on the 0 at tdc... but i did notice the plug was fowled, so i just went ahead and checked spark plugs 1-4(the easy to get to ones) and they were all either fowled or oil soaked... CRAP!! so many possible problems, and it still has less than 1k miles, i thought i Broke it in correctly, at this point im so scared and frusturated that i think im just gonna take it somewhere and have them fix it. Well folks that is how to ruin your first engine build.

 

[dui's Z]

You didn't ruin anything. Don't be so hard on yourself. My first bb swap is causing me plenty of pains too. Not that it's hard I just didn't give it the do diligence it required. It happens to the best of us. Now plug fowling do to oil could be seal or vacuum related. Are you running a pcv valve? What's wrong with your vacuum advance? I brought a adjustable advance can and spring kit. There inexpensive. What condition is your balancer? Mabey it slipped? Is the elastomer impregnated (squishing out)? I'm just throwing some things out there to double check. Keep doing what you can when you can. I have to repull my intake cause I didn't apply enough sealant and have a huge vacuum leak. In the mean time I pulled the bed off my ranger to deal with an evap emissions leak. My wifes van has suspension issues and the Explorer is got alot of tiny leaks and is due for struts all the way around and a full real end job (it's irs and needs bearings and tie rods). So don't get frustrated. If it's not your daily it can wait. You'll be getting dumped on here soon as will I. If the camaro has to wait than it waits. Just need to keep the gas from breaking down again. Keep posting and I'm sure everyone here will give as much help as we can.

 

[dui's Z]

Oh and pull your cap and make sure your weights are moving freely. If you need a vacuum canister for the dizzy I'll be more than happy to mail ya one. It'll be stock but knowingly works. And plug that vacuum advance into the passenger side of your carb for starters too. Good luck where here for ya.