Questions about my engine/intake/carb/cam etc

[Smash It Up]

I have a Performer 351-W intake on my engine. It was on there when I bought the car. Is there a way to tell how old it is? Or were they made for year after year with no discernable difference between them? I can take more pics if it will help.

Would its age affect its performance ? If so,what can be done to make it perform better.

Also,for the carburettor (Holley 4V),how can I tell which one it is,like 600,650cfm etc?
There are some numbers on it,but I don't think it says that info.

And when I bought the car,the guy told me it has a mild cam,but I'm not sure what that implies compared to a stock cam. What difference is it meant to make?

Also he told me it had 12000 miles on a rebuild,but It does not perform like it. It is sluggish and does not like to idle.(Stalls a lot,so I turned up the idle screw,but it is a bitch at traffic lights,having to jam your foot on the brake to stop it taking off!!)
Anyhoo,after it failed a smog test,i took it to a shop and he could not set it up to pass smog on both idle and at 2500rpm. He could do one or the other,but not both. He said also that it was not burning the fuel efficiently,and was chucking too much unburnt fuel and other crap out the exhausts. Compression was also low on half the cylinders.
This makes me think that it needs a rebuild,and is not the fault of the intake or carb.. I guess I'll have it looked at properly to see if it needs to be rebuilt
If it needs it,i might as well get that done. That was partly why I was asking about the intake/carb. If they are old and would be better off replacing them,I may as well get new ones if it is going to help performance

What else can I do to increase the HP's ? I have a set of headers on there,and again,god knows how long they have been on there.

So you can see that the engine is not entirely stock,but it should be making more power than it currently does IMO

Do you think I should have it dyno'd to see what it is making now,and then again once I have it done ?

Sorry for the dumb questions,it might be simple knowledge to you, but I would like to learn some things
thanks

 

[ratio411]

The Performer never changed much.
Doesn't matter the year of mfg...

The Holley model can be determined by the "list" number on the choke horn.
Should say something like "List- 3310-3" or similar.
That would be the number needed to figure exact model.

Cam is a completely different animal.
If you don't have the paperwork on it, then you gotta do some serious measuring.

I am wondering why in the heck you have to pass smog with a classic car???
What year is the car???

I am glad they don't smog here.
That would drive me nuts.
The places I know about the testing, don't bother with old cars.

 

[Smash It Up]

For the smog issue,I was going to register it in NV,but here, the first time you register it you have to smog it,regardless of its age(69) Subsequent years you don't have to.. Anyway,it failed,so I didn't bother after that because it was going to be a PITA and cost too much at the time to get it to comply. But the issues that I mentoned in post #1 came from that episode.

below is a pic of the list number on the carb.From a quick Google search it says its a 600cfm.

 

[ratio411]

Yep.
600 vacuum secondary, single inlet...
Very basic carb. Not my personal fav, but it's reliable.

The "-3" after the list number means that it is the 3rd generation, or evolution of that model. The 1850 is up to something like -8 nowadays, so that would be a pretty old carb. Probably lacks PV protection, umbrella valve in the accel circuit, and some other minor updates.
The PV protection is the critical one.
If your PV is blown, it will drive you up a wall.
If you don't know to look for it, you can chase your tail trying to figure it out.
That would cause the car to run poorly AND seriously fail a sniffer test.

 

[ratio411]

If I was to throw out some upgrades, without knowing a lot about your car, they would be pretty generic.

Change the Performer for a Stealth.
Swap the 1850 Holley for a more performance oriented (and newer) Holley or one of it's variants. Preferably, center hung bowls/dual inlet. Shoot for up to 750ish with vacuum secondary.

Keep the headers and make sure you have a well maintained dual exhaust system.

Without knowing ALL about your car, these are some comments that I feel very confident about making. These are pretty basic street parts for all around use on a mild Windsor.

 

[stonecoldtx]

Your original post states that the shop told you that the compression was low on half the cylinders; which cylinders? How much is "low"? Do you have the actual compression figures for each cylinder?

If there is a compression difference, then there could be some problems with valves, head gaskets, or maybe even pistons or rings.

If you don't have the actual figures, see if you can get them and post them here.

 

[Smash It Up]

Nah,don't have the figures,it was something I didn't pursue at the time,money issues mainly,so I need to look into that in more detail and get all the correct facts and figures. i'll post them here for sure once i get all that info.

 

[D.Hearne]

I'm going to differ with Dave here and suggest (if you're worried about passing smog) Leaving the intake alone and get a Holley 570 Street Avenger carb on it. Smaller will make it more likely to better mix the fuel with more velocity in the venturis. Also do a tune up (actually you should do that first) advance the timing to 12* BTDC (might take care of the sluggishness) New plugs, wires,cap, rotor, etc. If it's still got points, ditch em FAST!!!!! Go with any of the points replacement electronic units. Upgrade to a hotter coil too. Investigate more on the cylinder pressure differential too. Sounds like (if it's true) it's got two different heads on it.

 

[rbohm]

first check for vacuum leaks. that will kill you in smog tests faster than anything because you get a lean misfire.

i would retorque the intake on general principle anyway.

install fresh plug, wires etc. the 1850 is a decent all around carb, but it doesnt do anything out of the box. a 570 street avenger carb, or a 600 edelbrock carb will be much better. i recommend rejetting both down a few sizes in the jets, and in the case of the edelbrock larger metering rods as well.

set your initial timing at 10-14 degrees.

once you this done, you should be passing. if not, add a few gallons of E85 to the tank(when it is about 1/2 full). that should get you to pass.

 

[Smash It Up]

Good ideas there,but the smog test isnt an issue anymore,that was about 2 years ago,but i knocked that idea on the head at the time. Its reg'd as a classic in CA,so I just decided to leave it like that.

Just need to get it running properly,and maybe beef it up a bit,just make it a half decent street car capable of kicking a certain amount of ass,but I don't want to go over the top,I mean,I'm not going to be talking it to the track or anything. (Well actually I'd love it to kick total ass,but thats not going to happen without loads of mazoolah poured into it! )