Ok i adjusted my timing....

MY 85 GT

10 Year Member
Mar 7, 2008
1,852
208
104
New Jersey
Well there wasnt any..chnage in the surging problem .lol i retarded the timing a few degrees and the car ran like crap....so i brought the timing back a little close to were it was re-adjusted the carb and it ran good still had the surge tho....Im wondering if i should have tried to advance the timing more maybe that mark really isnt the mark??? What could it hurt to put more timing in i mean maybe 15 degrees really isnt 15 ...i dont know when i turned the Dist back it really went retarded quick poping thru the carb ran horrible.....i also order a cailbration kit for my edelbrock to play with springs and metering rods in there directions it says you might get a low cruise surge due to the springs being to light or maybe it might be lean in the cruise mode....i dont know im really starting to give up here..if you press the gas pedal down not hard but apply pressure its not there...pull away slow you feel the surge...weird no?:(
 
Do you have a surging problem at idle? If that is the problem did it start after you installed a different camshaft? I know the fuel injected cars are very sensitive to different camshafts and may require increasing the idle speed to 1000rpm to relieve the surging idle problem. I had the problem after installing an e303 cam in my 86. Maybe the carb cars have a similar problem.
 
As far as i know the cam is stock....the carb is new and the surge is when you start to take off in the cruise mode if you press the gas pedal harder its goes away i mean if you give the carb more gas it goes away...im thinking its running lean at the cruise mode ...power mode seems to be ok....
 
Off the wall suggestion. When I installed the new Edelbrock Performer RPM intake on my carbed 82, it ran horribly, and idled like crap and had low vacuum'

After two days of this, I found that I had not plugged the vacuum tap directly behind the carb in the intake!!!!
 
Off the wall suggestion. When I installed the new Edelbrock Performer RPM intake on my carbed 82, it ran horribly, and idled like crap and had low vacuum'

After two days of this, I found that I had not plugged the vacuum tap directly behind the carb in the intake!!!!

Ok i have the stock intake still..i have a new 650 cfm edelbrock carb part number 1806....so im guessing thats not my problem...i hope not....lol
 
Additional random suggestion...

Sorry if I missed the info, but if you have the stock 85 4v intake, have you closed off the egr passage that served the original egr spacer plate/egr valve adapter?

The passage in the intake is at the edge of the manifold, and would not seal with a standard Holley square bore gasket. It was close, but did not seal, and was a problem on my original setup.
 
I still have the stock EGR valve there its disconnected and i have the stock plate too....i took that funny looking heat shield off under the carb....i dont think i have a vac leak..i dont hear anything...and while the car was running i put my had over the front section of the car to see if it had any air leaks and the car stalled right out....do you think it could have a smal vac leak....???? can i change that plate out and put in a spacer plate and disconnect those two vac lines going to the front of that plate do you think that plate is my problem????
 
Now you have my wondering if thats the problem what are those 2 vac lines going to that spacer plate in the front where do they go???Also can i use a regular spacer like an 2 inch spacer plate on there and disconnect those 2 lines will that be ok????
 
I must have missed something in the other thread or you didn't mention it, but i bet it has something to do with the EGR or one of the vacuum ports on either the intake or the carb. Either that or this is purely a tuning issue since you said it goes away once you get on the gas. For the record a 650 is overkill on an otherwise bone stock engine.
 
I must have missed something in the other thread or you didn't mention it, but i bet it has something to do with the EGR or one of the vacuum ports on either the intake or the carb. Either that or this is purely a tuning issue since you said it goes away once you get on the gas. For the record a 650 is overkill on an otherwise bone stock engine.



Your right a 650 is overkill for a stock motor...But i have plans to have long tube headers,H-pipe no cats...and Mac cat back system...Also sitting in my apt...lol I have a B&M 144 supercharger waiting to bolt on after the exhaust....i thought why not buy a bigger carb to help out with the blower when i bolt it on.....:)
 
Right, but right now it might also be the cause of your troubles. Have you ever tried reading the plugs? That'll tell you how the car is running, lean or rich. If it's stumbling off idle then it's probably one or the other and the plugs will tell you which. You said it runs good once you get on it? The plugs will also tell you what's happening there.

How to read Plugs
Spark Plug Reading 101 by Mike Canter

Give those a read, give them a try and go from there. Make sure you start out with NEW plugs, as in you literally buy them new, put them in and then go and do the test.
 
The car ran horrible with the 600 cfm edelbrock the plugs came out pure white...they were old plugs too...I installed the new carb 650 cfm and i havent checked the plugs yet....but it was the same excat problem with either carb on it...so my guess is it was the timing and i tweaked the 650 with new step up springs and it runs awesome now...I really dont think 50 cfm is going to make that much of a differnece...until its floored because in the cruise mode its only 2% richer and in the power mode its like i think 4-8 % richer .....beleive me if i was having issues with the new carb i dont think i would be able to adjust it to run perfect at idle or in power mode it doesnt skip a beet ...no hesistation...no bogging nothing pure smooth power i think it was a combo of my timing and the step up springs....and once i go with free flowing exhaust and a blower the 650 should be fine.....i hope............
 
I don't know about the Edels so i'm kinda guessing using what i know about Holleys...on a Holley it's not as much about 50cfm as it is the jets that come in the 650. I'm running a 650 double pumper on mine too, but like you i've got heads and a cam going on sometime soon, but even then i think a 600 with some jetting would give better throttle response and better bottom end on a stock stroke 302, unless you're revving it to 7k. Let us know if you get it sorted out.
 
I don't know about the Edels so i'm kinda guessing using what i know about Holleys...on a Holley it's not as much about 50cfm as it is the jets that come in the 650. I'm running a 650 double pumper on mine too, but like you i've got heads and a cam going on sometime soon, but even then i think a 600 with some jetting would give better throttle response and better bottom end on a stock stroke 302, unless you're revving it to 7k. Let us know if you get it sorted out.

Well as of yesterday i advanced the timing a little more and put in the step up springs it seems fine now no surging no stumbling ...today i will test it out yesterday it was raining hard and ever time i went to get on it she would spin pretty fiercely...so on dry pavement today is a good test.....