289 engine problems contineu need help please!!

[cardude]

kind of long but please help. about 4 - 6 years ago I had my 289 rebuilt with stock lower end and the person put in a hot cam and rebuilt heads, performer intake, edelbrock 600 carb, stock alt, stock fuel pump, stock distrib, etc...

it has never ran quite right and after a few hundred mile it broke some springs because the cam was too big. long story short had the heads built with 190 and 160 stainless valves, double springs, and the shop matched it to the cam (specs still unknown) ran real rich not quite right. then it started dying at idle. run good at 2K but kind of bogs below that and dies off. still only have less than 500 miles on it total

I have replace and tested out:
new carb - still had the problem old carb ran beautifully on a chevy my neighbor has
new alt - one wire, 140A
complete fuel system - new tank, electric pump, new lines, filter etc...
new distributor -
new plugs, wires....

still wont idle and dies.

this has been a 5 year saga and I am at my end. I have dumped enough money into it and my wife wont let me buy a different engine... so I am at a loss.

could a cam cause this issue, or cam intake combo? I could possible swing a new cam and install, but seems extensive to put it together and find it still has a problem... any issues with performer intakes?

any remote thoughts, no matter how far fetched I am all ears. I have had 5 different people look at it and still no one has a clue..

 

[rbohm]

what kind of vacuum readings do you get? where is your initial timing set?

 

[D.Hearne]

Sounds to me like no one has ever taken the time to properly tune it. Who was doing this task ? The intake and carb combo, while not really matched to a hot cam and better heads, should have been fine for 75% of operation, only limiting the upper rpm rev limit. Also what ignition system are you running ? If it's got points, then that's half the problem, as a set of points that are out of adjustment will give you more fits than any other cause. They will also seem to make the carb be the culprit.

 

[2+2GT]

Sounds to me as though the probelms started with the cam, so you should start there with the solution. You need to use something streetable and reasonable, such as the Ford C9OZ-6250-C hydraulic cam. Since the springs have been stressed, you should replace them, too. Nothing else will matter until this problem cam is gone.

 

[robbz28]

Definately sounds like the camshaft. The higher the lift and duration on a cam the worse it Idles and the worse it behaves at low RPM, but i couldnt imagine a camshaft built for the street having any problems idling around 1000 rpm. What size carburetor is it? What motor was in your buddy's chevy?

 

[hivewax]

You definitely need to post the specifications of the "hot cam" and the rest of your engine, especially the heads to get any kind of progress...

 

[robbz28]

Vaccum problems definately fit the bill, also I had a fuel pressure problem once (too much pressure) and it kept blowing my needle and seat open forcing fuel down the venturi and i had to keep the car idled up to burn the excess fuel....but it took me 2 days to find that problem, car also ran like crap too, anyway, cranked the psi on the fuel down, replaced the needle and seat and no problems!